Member Reviews

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  • Rated 5 stars

  “After reading only 5 pages of this very sharp observation of the demise of manners I actually had to stop and think,did I write this book and just forget? I swear to God this was an 'I know!' experience times a thousand. Anyone who carries that little person in their heads who tuts and passes judgement on everyone and everything will feel at one with this book and sleep a little better knowing they are not the only grump on the planet. ”

  Louisa M wrote this review Friday, September 12 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 1 stars

  “Lynne Truss’ follow-up to her bestselling book Eats, Shoots & Leaves is another humorously titled book called Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six God Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door. However, that is where the comparison ends.
  
  In Talk to the Hand, Truss babbles on about her list of social no-no’s with an attempt at humor that just falls flat. She tries to justify her disgust with society by slapping us all on the wrist for our lack of respect and courtesy towards others. Yet she just comes off as a grumpy, negative person who feels the need to tell others all about her fussiness. For example, Truss rants about the internet and its use of menu options, which she calls choices.
  
  Full review on my blog: http://restlessreader.com/?p=576”

  Molly (Restless Reader) wrote this review Saturday, September 6 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 2 stars

  “I was bored by this book and could not finish it. She offers a discussion of the problem but offers no original way of looking at it and no possible solutions or constructive ways of dealing with rudeness when it occurs in your life.”

  Cindy R wrote this review Tuesday, September 2 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 3 stars

  “More snobbery from Lynne Truss. Not as interesting as her thoughts on punctuation, but this book definitely made me think about some of the rude aspects of our culture that I seem to have embraced without much consideration. One big strike against this book for me is Truss' rampant use of "them/they" throughout the book as a singular pronoun. Maybe in England this is no longer considered a subject/verb agreement error, but it still is at my house. Dammit.”

  Kate B wrote this review Thursday, June 12 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 1 stars

  “I read this last night. Yep. Picked it up at 7ish and finished it at 10ish.
  
  So, it's a quick read.
  
  That's probably the best thing I can say about it.
  
  I'm not sure if it's because I'm not of the right generation (ie, my elbow skin doesn't pucker enough) or because I'm not from the right country (read, not English) but I found this book highly annoying.
  
  I read the book feeling like the woman in the dentist's waiting room who shocked and outraged Truss when she said she was listening to the "hi-fi" that Truss wanted to turn off. There was so much of Truss' rant that I just didn't get.
  
  There was a preoccupation with class that also escaped me. Probably the whole not being British thing.
  
  Truss rants about rudeness but then disparages people who are "pro-social." She fusses about people who call her cell phone when she has bad reception but somehow can't come up with the solution of turning it off.
  
  I guess I'm just not in tune with the Grumpy Old Lady school of thought.”

  Bridget B wrote this review Saturday, May 31 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 3 stars

  “I felt myself becoming more polite with each pages as I realized I was guilty of some of the same kinds of rudeness. It's a good read, but it is dry in a few places. ”

  tmmercury wrote this review Tuesday, May 27 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 0 stars

  “its very enlighting...presented in a very funny way but i think its pretty hard to for us live by the book...i mean, in this world we're living today. to be polite when everyone else is not, it takes a whole lot more than patience...it requires sanity...but yeah, a good book altogether.”

  Nurul wrote this review Saturday, May 24 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 3 stars

  “2008: I did like this book, but reading this after Eat, Shoots and Leaves, it was a bit of a let down, I have to admit. Truss's grasp of manners and language is amusing, but the formula had been tried once before by Truss and ESL was done with far greater success than Talk to the Hand.”

  Elisha D wrote this review 2 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 4 stars

  “Not quite on par with Eats, Shoots and Leaves, but still good. Made me at first more aware of other's rudeness, but at the end, my thoughts had shifted to improving *my* manners as a way to improve the world.”

  kadair wrote this review Sunday, April 6 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 1 stars

  “Loved her Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Disapointed in this book.”

  Joyce M wrote this review Thursday, February 28 2008. ( reply | permalink )