The secret to self-confidence is to know and understand the rules of social engagement before you're in the middle of an uncomfortable situation. Do you know how to: Pick the right fork? Shine at a networking event? Write a Thank you Note? Shake hands? RSVP to an invitation? Say no to a request for a favor?Use social media with clarity?Behave at a sporting event? Say the perfect thing at a funeral?Smoke a cigar in public? Etiquette isn't just something you need on formal occasions. It's a blueprint for how to behave every day, in every situation, to make interactions between people smooth and pleasant, with no ruffled feathers, misunderstandings or hurt feelings. It helps you smoothly transition from college to corporate life, and from professional obligations to personal ones. Etiquette doesn't exist to add a layer of extra rules to life—it's there to guide us to treat each other with kindness and consideration in our personal and professional lives.

On the one hand, nobody wants to be a dick. On the other hand, dicks are everywhere! They cut in line, talk behind our backs, recline into our seats, and even have the power to morph into trolls online. Their powers are impressive, but with a little foresight and thoughtfulness, we can take a stand against dickishness today. How Not to Be a Dick is packed with honest and straightforward advice, but it also includes playful illustrations showing two well-meaning (but not always well behaved) young people as they confront moments of potential dickishness in their everyday lives. Sometimes they falter, sometimes they triumph, but they always seek to find a better way. And with their help, you can too. Just see the agreement at the beginning of the book: I pledge to use the tools and techniques provided in this book to help make the world a less dickish place. "Doherty fires absurd twenty-first-century zingers that happen to be really, really, really funny."—starred, Booklist

The Sandman's comin'. Like an evening breeze in the rice, the Sandman could not be stopped. From the tepid rice paddies and steaming jungles came the one who made the soldiers sleep. This enigmatic persona and bane of the North Vietnamese as well as the American and South Vietnamese Forces again emerges after 30 years to describe the emotional journey that forged the psyche of a dreaded assassin and the dedicated ally of the Vietnamese who knew this special operations officer. The Sandman in Vietnam, Essays on Engagements, presents a fresh perspective and provides critical insights on the Southeast Asian Campaigns in the Year of the Monkey-1968-and how those events continue to affect our lives and mold our society. The Sandman places the aloof accounts of military operations second to the emotional battles that were fought, lost, and seldom won. The Sandman offers readers a view of the soldiers' paradox: Soldiers must-by military doctrine-do the impossible. Simultaneously, the soldier must deny the existence of emotion-that which spurs one to do the impossible. Here readers can experience the conflict and find themselves within reach of the highs and lows that only the combat soldiers know. As you read The Sandman, you will find yourself laughing till the tears run down your cheeks, then notice you are crying at the profound sadness. Further, The Sandman offers the millions of family members and friends of these soldiers a frame of reference that helps them understand their sons, husbands, and lovers and how the experience of Southeast Asia affected their relationships. These readers, who have been dealing with the residual damage of Southeast Asia, can come to understand the basis for the soldiers' point of view, and the soldiers' methods for processing information. Reviewer comments: This book reveals the legend of the Sandman. Arguably one of, if not the most, notorious and terrifying assassins of the Vietnam War. As with most legends this book presents sparkling kernels of truth interspersed in the miasma of fear and danger that was inspired through the embellishments of North and South Vietnamese as well as American soldiers. Yet today, the one who made the soldiers sleep has, with God's help, successfully beaten the sword into a plowshare and I am proud to call The Sandman friend -Maj. John M. Lonergan, M.D., 19th Special Forces Group, (Airborne). The tale is told with the same haunting detachment that became the Sandman's cloak of survival, the details of The Sandman's Essays on Engagements burst from the page like the lethal spurts of an assault rifle. Then we glimpse, for just a moment, at that which is everywhere and nowhere-that which answered the Country's call--the 'intelligent vapor' that is the soul of the Sandman -Francie M. Dalton, International Management Consultant. This thought-provoking book is not the McNamara version of 'winning the hearts and minds of the people.' Furthermore, not everyone will find The Sandman entertaining nor will they agree its underlying message, but not often does everyone agree with the truth. Some may not even believe it, but they won't be able to avoid thinking about it and what it means -J. Bruce Medaris, Lt. Col., Retired, USMA, West Point Class of 1959.

An upbeat, illustrated guide to less-familiar social conduct provides coverage of everything from acknowledging gifts and saying the right things at a funeral to smoking in public and attending an open house, in a guide that also shares advice on how to remember names and share a work cubicle. Original. 40,000 first printing.

The National Bestseller, Featuring a Brand-New Introduction by Karen Santorum As a mother, Karen Santorum grew frustrated by her inability to find a book of manners that instructed through engaging stories and poems rather than by dull lists of dos and don'ts. She set out to solve the problem. The result is this wonderfully rich and instructive anthology. A national bestseller, Everyday Graces has become a beloved feature in homes, schools, churches, and libraries across America. It speaks to the fact that manners are seldom discussed anymore—and are practiced even less. Good manners are a prerequisite for the growth of moral character; they are the habits of conduct by which we express in the most ordinary circumstances our fundamental respect for others, whether parents, friends, colleagues, or strangers. Under such headings as "Honor Your Mother and Father," "Please, Thank You, and Other Kind Words," "Be Considerate at the Table," "Good Sportsmanship," and "Respecting Our Country," Everyday Graces gathers stories and poems that will develop and enrich the moral imagination. This marvelous anthology features classic selections from such well-known authors as Hans Christian Andersen, Beatrix Potter, Mark Twain, Frances Hodgson Burnett, C. S. Lewis, Max Lucado, and Arnold Lobel, as well as forgotten gems that deserve a new hearing. Find out why Everyday Graces has struck a chord with tens of thousands of families. Both inviting and informative, this book helps instill good manners in our children—and takes a stand against the decline in civility and the coarsening of our common life.