The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities, and Meaning of Table Manners

“The book progresses like a feast. Read it, because you'll never look at a table knife the same way again.” —The New York Times Book Review

This award-winning work by Margaret Visser is a wry and remarkable exploration of the way we eat. Solidifying her standing as a preeminent observer and scholar of everyday life, Visser takes on the sweeping history of table manners, from the civilizations of ancient Greece and medieval Europe to the ancient Ainu people of Japan and the cannibalism of the South Pacific. She writes of the development of mealtime manners across societies, the surprising origins of tableware, and the many cultural idiosyncrasies that surround the preparation and consumption of food. Blending folklore, sociology, history, and humor, The Rituals of Dinner is a feast of beguiling fact and observation on the origins and evolution of one of our most primal rituals: the meal.