The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities économies And Meaning

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. Youll never look at a table knife the same way again."-The New York Times.

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. Vissers 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.

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