Miss Manners' Basic Training: Eating

We eat every day, three or more times, yet the skill of taking nourishment properly has all but disappeared from our society. We are afflicted with fear of forks and baffled by the sight of more than one plate before us on the table. Blame it on the demise of the family dinner or the advent of "do your own thing, many of us have never learned, or have simply forgotten, the rules for eating in civilized company.

In her fabulously witty style, Miss Manners reacquaints us with the proper use of implements for navigating nourishment from plate to mouth and gives specific, practical advice on all manner of mealtime issues:


Serving takeout food
How to fillet a fish, pound (pop open) a crab, and cope with the mysteries of the mango, the artichoke, a thick, juicy steak, and that long stringy glop of cheese atop French onion soup
Safely feeding children in restaurants
Place cards and seating plans for dinner parties
Rules for vegetarians and other special cases
The spinach-in-teeth maneuver
How to signal with your napkin whether you've left the table for good or will soon be back.


Give this essential volume to your children, your husband, your coworkers, your mother-in-law, and never be grossed out at the table again.