Miss Manners Rescues Civilization

In an era of American history that has shown a heightened sensitivity toward the ideals of democracy, self-expression, freedom, and individual rights, we are paradoxically experiencing a breakdown in our nation's ability to function as a civil people.

From athletes who shout obscenities on national television to surgeons who blast their favorite music while operating, from gang members who kill those who've "dissed" them to mourners who treat funerals casually, we trample over the rights of others in a savage pursuit of individual agendas. We have cashed in etiquette (yes, the "E word") for a generous helping of self-importance, and the exchange is crippling our ability to function as a civil society.

In her ground-breaking new book,MISS MANNERS RESCUES CIVILIZATION: From Sexual Harassment, Frivolous Lawsuits, Dissing and Other Lapses in Civility, Judith Martin puts etiquette on the public agenda in response to our nation's cry for a return to civility.

A thought-provoking book that calls on etiquette to champion the quest for civil decency, MISS MANNERS RESCUES CIVILIZATION discusses the futility of using the law to correct our ever-increasing list of societal offenses cluttering the courts and declaring new laws has proved to be both costly and ineffective. However, a rebirth of good manners places the privileges and challenges of a civil society back where it belongs in the hands of the individual. This witty, thoughtful, and timely book responds to the public cry for a return to civility and puts etiquette on an equal plane with morality as society's most powerful guiding force.

Born a perfect lady in an imperfect society, Miss Manners considers it her duty and privilege to lead the way to a more civilized and possibly even pleasant society.

In her Miss Manners column, distributed by newspapers nationwide by United Features Syndicate since 1978, Judith Martin answers questions on etiquette three times a week. As readers accept her view of life as a comedy of manners, they have increasingly sent her not only their table and party questions, but those involving the more complicated aspects of life romance, work, family relationships, and child-rearing.

In contrast to Miss Manners, but with her indulgence, Mrs. Martin is also a novelist, journalist, lecturer and frequent guest on national television and radio shows. She recently presided over her own PBS television special, "Miss Manners and Company."

She has been called, by George F. Will, "the National Bureau of Standards." Mrs. Martin gives advice, in the words of People magazine, "as if she had access to the stone tablets that Moses mislaid." Miss Manners explains the etiquette element that can be found in just about every aspect of life.

Born in Washington, D.C. and reared there and in foreign capitals, Mrs. Martin spent 25 years at the Washington Post, where she covered social life at the White House, embassies, and the zoo, before becoming a film and drama critic. A graduate of Wellesley College, Mrs. Martin has been awarded several honorary degrees.

Mrs. Martin is a member of the Editorial Board of The American Scholar, the Board of Directors of the Washington Concert Opera, the National Advisory Council of the Institute of Governmental Studies of the University of California at Berkeley and the Board of Management at the Cosmos Club.

Judith Martin and her husband, a scientist and playwright, live in Washington, D.C. They have two perfect children.