I See Rude People

First, a hat tip to my friend Shari for lending me this book. I basically read the whole thing on a plane from Vegas to DC. REALLY amusing but also quite interesting, and also really well-documented.

Amy Alkon is a syndicated advice columnist and blogger, who seems to have made it her mission in life to take down rude people one at a time. She is (it seems) not afraid to confront anyone about their rude behavior, and does so in some clever ways. For instance, she often takes notes on loud cellphone talkers and either calls their phone and leaves them a message (amazing the number of people who shout out their cell numbers in public places), or posts the content of her notes on her blog. She also takes pictures of rudeness and posts those on her blog. She's courageous, if a little intense.

There's a lot to like about this book. First, Alkon has a really warm, approachable voice - she writes like she's talking to you, which I really like. She's also very funny and self-deprecating. And I like that she backs up her stories with research. For instance, she explains why hearing just one side of a conversation is much more annoying and invasive to us than hearing both sides. She also, to be honest, does a lot of stuff that I totally applaud (she bills telemarketers for interrupting her at home!).

This was a good, quick read, and I went back through the book after I finished it to write down some web sites and other info that I want to check out. I'm also going to check out Amy's blog. So I'd say I really enjoyed this book.

I See Rude People: One woman's battle to beat some manners into impolite society