Not quite as electrifying (personally) as Eats, Shoots & Leaves, but quite enjoyable all the same. I particularly enjoyed Truss's criticism of automated phone recordings (e.g. when you call the cable company), and how, despite the multitude of polite words the automated voices use, these systems are the opposite of polite because they do not attempt to meet the customer halfway; they are entirely for the company's convenience. Her examination of private/public space was also interesting; with the advent of cell phones, ipods, tablets, etc., people act as if they are in private even when they are in public, and expect to be left alone in their personal space bubble.

"It is no accident...that adherence to 'manners' has broken down just as money and celebrity have largely replaced birth as the measure of social status." (12)

...all the important rules surely boil down to one: remember you are with other people; show some consideration. (12)

Manners were never enforceable, in any case. Indeed, for many philosophers, this is regarded as their chief value: that they are voluntary. (13)

Manners are about imagination, ultimately. They are about imagining being the other person. (24)

When you ask, "Why?" these days, you instantly lose status. Asking, "Why?" usually signals the end of all meaningful exchange. So they get away with it, the bastards. (75)

Count the role models for respectfulness, and...you will have to admit there is only one: Babe. That's it. Just one small sturdy imaginary sheep-pig stands between us and total moral decay. (172-173)