The selection for the next London Area Book Club is "Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour" by Kate Fox. This is a bit of a departure for the group, as it is not a novel, but is should provide the basis for a great discussion!
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.
The rules of weather-speak. The ironic-gnome rule. The reflex apology rule. The paranoid-pantomime rule. Class indicators and class anxiety tests. The money-talk taboo and many more . . .
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.
The meeting will be at 16:00, and we will post the place (most likely, near Victoria Station) as soon as it is confirmed.
Our group is very fluid, people come to the meetings as they can, so if you are a newbie, please don't be shy! We have had a different group each meeting, and wecome new members warmly! Come join us for interesting discussion, coffee, laughter and maybe even new friends.
