Can good reading promote good breeding? Books can certainly be a shield against life’s little snubs,
says Miss Manners, a reader since the gentle age of three. "Carrying a book can be an etiquette aid," she explains.
“It gives one the patience to wait politely in lines that don’t move."
Book clubs are central to her reading life. She
belongs to three: one for appreciating the classics with the help of
professors, a second for sharing favorite poems and a third in which one
member presents a literary paper at the monthly meeting.
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"Carrying a book gives one the patience to wait politely in lines that don’t move."
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"There was another one, consisting of working writers," she confides, "but they all blackballed one another until there was no one left."
Have you ever wondered what Miss Manners’ famous salutation of "Gentle Reader" actually implies? A writer
in the June 1934 issue of The Atlantic Monthly distinguishes the gentle reader from the
ordinary one; ironically, it is the gentle reader who has a fierce love for
books:
An ordinary reader sits up at night to 'finish' a book. A gentle reader
becomes so much a part of his book that he dreads the moment when it will
be finished. An ordinary reader would think you mad if you suggested that
he read the same book twice. A gentle reader, if he loves a book, loves it
more and more on the second, the fifth, or the twentieth reading.
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Be mindful of your outward display of affection for your gentle addiction of reading.
"This is no excuse for walking into people."
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Just be mindful, Gentle Reader, of your outward display of affection
for your addiction of reading. Miss Manners cautions: "Oddly enough, the
very people who disapprove of others going around plugged into music, on
the grounds that they are shutting out the rest of the world, are charmed
by those who walk around reading books, oblivious to the world. This is no
excuse for rude behavior, including walking into people."
Judith Martin, better known as the beloved Miss Manners, was a speaker at the
Books & Books at Levenger Author Series on May 4, 2005. The audience was excruciatingly polite.
Mim Harrison is the senior writer for
Levenger and the editor of Levenger Press.
