Watching the English

by KateFox (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.29

  In WATCHING THE ENGLISH anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people. She puts the English national character under her anthropological microscope, and finds a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and byzantine codes of behaviour. Her minute observation of the way we talk, dress, eat, drink, work, play, shop, drive, flirt, fight, queue - and moan about it all - exposes the hidden rules that we all unconsciously obey. The rules of weather-speak. The Importance of Not Being Earnest rule. The ironic-gnome rule. The reflex apology rule. The paranoid-pantomime rule. Class indicators and class anxiety tests. The money-talk taboo. Humour rules. Pub etiquette. Table manners. The rules of bogside reading. The dangers of excessive moderation. The eccentric-sheep rule. The English 'social dis-ease'. Through a mixture of anthropological analysis and her own unorthodox experiments (using herself as a reluctant guinea-pig), Kate Fox discovers what these unwritten behaviour codes tell us about Englishness.

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $4.25

  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 people. 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.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $11.98

  In Watching The English anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks and habits of the English people. From the most famous national traits through to the most bizarre reflex reactions, she holds a mirror up to the English national character and finds a complex tribe, riddled with unspoken rules and unique codes of behaviour. Watching The English covers drinking, eating, shopping, driving, flirting, fighting, apologising and many more - all the things that make up a country world-renowned for its quirkiness. Through a mixture of anthropological analysis, observation and her own unusual experiments, Kate Fox shows how the peculiar idea of 'Englishness' has shaped itself over the years. Watching The English is written with an insider's knowledge but from an outsider's perspective. Combining anthropology with a dry wit and a writer's eye for detail, the behaviour of the English will never look the same again.