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A runaway bestseller in the UK, Watching the English is now available in the U.S. for the first time!
Witty and wise, Kate Fox reveals the quirks, habits and foibles of the English in her book Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior. Putting the national character under her microscope, Fox explores this strange and fascinating culture, governed by a complex set of unspoken rules and a bizarre code of conduct. Through anthropological analysis and a series of unorthodox experiments (often using herself as a reluctant guinea-pig), Fox discovers what these unwritten codes tell us about Englishness: the rules of weather-speak, the ironic-gnome rule, the reflex apology rule, the paranoid-pantomime rule, class anxiety tests and the money-talk taboo, among others. Watching the English is a biting, affectionate, insightful and often hilarious look at English society.
Introduction to the American Edition
Introduction—Anthropology at Home
Part 1 Conversation Codes
The Weather
Grooming-talk
Humour Rules
Linguistic Class Codes
Emerging Talk-Rules: The Mobile Phone
Pub-talk
Part 2 Behaviour Codes
Home Rules
Rules of the Road
Work to Rule
Rules of Play
Dress Codes
Food Rules
Rules of Sex
Rites of Passage
Conclusion: Defining Englishness
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
References
Index
Kate Fox, a social anthropologist, is Co-Director of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford and a Fellow of the Institute for Cultural Research. The author or co-author of four previous books, Fox's work centers on intriguing aspects of human behaviour including pub culture, gossip, flirting, horseracing, mobile phones, email, stress, drugs, crime, violence and social taboos. She lives in London.
”A wealth to enjoy. Fortunately she doesn’t write like an anthropologist but an English woman—with amusement!”—Daily Mail
”Fascinating…every aspect of English conversation and behavior is put under the microscope.”—Western Daily Press
”A witty and eloquent writer…an affectionate homage to English foibles.”—Metro
”Both hilarious and wincingly accurate at its portrayal of English society.”—What’s On in London
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