About this Item
Shipped within 24 hours from our UK warehouse. Clean, undamaged book with no damage to pages and minimal wear to the cover. Spine still tight, in very good condition. Remember if you are not happy, you are covered by our 100% money back guarantee. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780684854915
Bibliographic Details
Title: You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd 08/06/2000
Publication Date: 2000
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
About this title
Over the years, people have offered many different definitions of and opinions on flattery, and flattery itself has changed "from flattery as a technique for persuading a whole class of people to flattery as a technique for influencing a single person." Is it venal? Is it a victimless crime? Is it a diluted form of praise? Is it merely, as Lord Chesterfield suggested, "a complaisant indulgence for people's weaknesses"? Or is it just lying? In his book You're Too Kind, Richard Stengel ponders the meaning of flattery and charts a droll and whimsical history, starting with the Egyptians ("Laugh after he laughs, and it will be very pleasing to his heart," recommends Vizier Ptahhotep), and concluding with handy hints on how to flatter without getting caught: "Never be candid when a person asks you to be candid." In between, he asks questions such as "What is circumcision, really, but a kind of divinely enforced flattery?" in an irreverent discourse around the covenant with the Israelites, and looks at everyone from troubadours to Dale Carnegie, Puritans to Hollywood D-girls.
The dust jacket sports plaudits by impresario of flattery Jay Leno and spinmeister George Stephanopoulos, who vouch that You're Too Kind is indeed a diverting book for the reader--like yourself--with taste, discretion, and, ahem, humor. --J. Riches
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