Mary Killen Mary Killen

Mary Killen: Sandi Toksvig is wrong about the placement of the pudding fork

But her book Peas and Queues gives good advice to youngsters about phone and plane etiquette

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issue 09 November 2013

Sandi Toksvig, as this book’s cover declares, ‘makes Stephen Fry look like a layabout’. The broadcaster, author, comedian, actress and mother of three has also had time to churn out 20 books in 20 years. This one, a guide to modern manners, although dedicated to ‘Mary’, an eight-year-old girl whom she addresses regularly throughout, is said to be aimed at adults, or Mary when she grows up.

There is no snobbery within, but Toksvig makes the point early on that

The fact is you will do better in life if other people like you and find you are a pleasure to have around; if you know how to behave.

She talks the reader through ‘modern minefields’ such as Facebook and Twitter etiquette, work bullying and how to cull a wedding-guest list, and how to deal with them using Sandi’s correct form which is based on Commonsense, Comfort, Context and Consideration.

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