The Rituals of Dinner

With an acute eye and an irrepressible wit, Margaret Visser takes a fascinating look at the way we eat our meals. From the ancient Greeks to modern yuppies, from cannibalism and the taking of the Eucharist to formal dinners and picnics, she thoroughly defines the eating ritual.

"Read this book. You'll never look at a table knife the same way again."—The New York Times.

Introduction
1. Behaving
The Artificial Cannibal
Ritual
Feasting and Sacrifice
2. Learning to Behave
Bringing Children Up
Inhibitions
Aspirations
3. The Pleasure of Your Company
Company
Hosts and Guests
Invitations
Coming Right In
Taking Our Places
4. Dinner is Served
The First Bite
Taking Note of Our Surroundings
The Prospect Before Us
Fingers
Chopsticks
Knives, Forks, Spoons
Sequence
Helpings
Carving
The Red, the White, and the Gold
Table Talk
Feeding, Feasts, and Females
All Gone
5. No Offence
Pollution
The Rules and Regulation of the Mouth
The Proprieties of Posture and Demeanour

Postscript: How Rude Are We?
References
Bibliography
Index

Margaret Visser is a writer and broadcast with a particular interest in the mythology of everyday life. Her books include The Gift of Thanks, Much Depends on Dinner, The Rituals of Dinner, The Way We Are, and The Geometry of Love. Many of these have been bestsellers and have won major international awards, including the Glenfiddich Award for Foodbook of the Year in Britain in 1989, the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Literary Food Writing Award, and the Jane Grigson Award. Her Massey Lectures on CBC radio were later published as the bestselling book Beyond Fate. Visser's books have been translated into French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. She frequently appears on radio and television, and has lectured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.