Life, Journal And Letters Of Henry Alford, D.d.: Late Dean Of Canterbury

Alford, Henry

Alford, Fanny

History

Franklin Classics

In this witty guide for seekers of all ages, author Henry Alford seeks instant enlightenment through conversations with those who have lived long and lived well. Armed with recent medical evidence that supports the cliche that older people are, indeed, wiser, Alford sets off to interview people over 70--some famous (Phyllis Diller, Harold Bloom, Edward Albee), some accomplished (the world's most-quoted author, a woman who walked across the country at age 89 in support of campaign finance reform), some unusual (a pastor who thinks napping is a form of prayer, a retired aerospace engineer who eats food out of the garbage.) Early on in the process, Alford interviews his 79 year-old mother and step-father, and inadvertently changes the course of their 36 year-long union. Part family memoir, part Studs Terkel, How To Live considers some unusual sources--deathbed confessions, late-in-life journals--to deliver a highly optimistic look at our dying days. By showing that life after 70 is the fulfillment of, not the end to, life's questions and trials, How to Live delivers that most unexpected punch: it makes you actually *want* to get older.

How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth)

Biographies & Memoirs

Twelve

Community & Culture

@font-face { font-family: "Times"; }@font-face { font-family: "Geneva"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; color: black; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } "We all know bad manners when we see them," NPR and Vanity Fair contributor Henry Alford observes at the beginning of his new book. But what, he asks, do good manners look like in our day and age? When someone answers their cell phone in the middle of dining with you, or runs you off the sidewalk with their doublewide stroller, or you enter a post-apocalyptic public restroom, the long-revered wisdom of Emily Post can seem downright prehistoric. Troubled by the absence of good manners in his day-to-day life-by the people who clip their toenails on the subway or give three-letter replies to one's laboriously crafted missives-Alford embarks on a journey to find out how things might look if people were on their best behavior a tad more often. He travels to Japan (the "Fort Knox Reserve" of good manners) to observe its culture of collective politesse. He interviews etiquette experts both likely (Judith Martin, Tim Gunn) and unlikely (a former prisoner, an army sergeant). He plays a game called Touch the Waiter. And he volunteers himself as a tour guide to foreigners visiting New York City in order to do ground-level reconnaissance on cultural manners divides. Along the way (in typical Alford style) he also finds time to teach Miss Manners how to steal a cab; designates the World's Most Annoying Bride; and tosses his own hat into the ring, volunteering as an online etiquette coach. Ultimately, by tackling the etiquette questions specific to our age-such as Why shouldn't you ask a cab driver where's he's from?, Why is posting baby pictures on Facebook a fraught activity? and What's the problem with "No problem"?-Alford finds a wry and warm way into a subject that has sometimes been seen as pedantic or elitist. And in this way, he looks past the standard "dos" and "don'ts" of good form to present an illuminating, seriously entertaining book about grace and civility, and how we can simply treat each other better.

Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That: A Modern Guide to Manners

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That? A Modern Guide to Manners

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Life, Journals And Letters Of Henry Alford, Late Dean Of Canterbury

Americas

Kessinger Publishing

The Works Of John Donne V5: With A Memoir Of His Life

DONNE,John

Arts & Literature

A Plea For The Queen's English: Stray Notes On Speaking And Spelling

Literature & Fiction

British & Irish

Kessinger Publishing, LLC

A collection of essays that describe, among other exploits, taking a dog-grooming test, inventing a new snack food, and becoming an ear-lobe model

Municipal Bondage

Random House]

"I'd like to thank the Academy and all of the little people who made Henry Alford's hilarious book possible. Mr. Alford delivers a performance that is laugh-out-loud funny and written with high style." --Christopher Buckley, author of Little Green Men Henry Alford was a well-adjusted, critically acclaimed author living quietly in New York City. Then he decided to become an actor. In the course of this memoir, Alford is rejected by directors, ignored by casting people, abused by a sadistic acting teacher, and educated in the finer points of Shakespearean thespianism at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in England, where he fails to convince the Queen to attend his final performance. Along the way, Alford auditions for the role of Wil-bur the Pig in Charlotte's Web, triumphs as an extra in Godzilla, and takes his sixty-nine-year-old bird-watching, chain-smoking mother to improvisational-comedy camp. Hoping to broaden his range, he takes a job with a phone-sex business, where he assays many roles on a popular party line. Finally, Alford finds happiness and celebrity as the cohost of VH1's hit series Rock of Ages, on which he quizzes elderly Italian women, among others, about videos by heavy-metal groups. Original, absurd, and written with true comic grace, Big Kiss captures in a new and unforgettable way the experience of being a performer.

Big Kiss: One Actor's Desperate Attempt to Claw His Way to the Top

Villard

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