Nice is the secret ingredient to a better life. It makes us happy. It may even be what makes us civilizedwhen we say thank you, shake hands, send flowers, we're doing the nice things that bring people together.
?A compulsive and chunky book for lovers of trivia, popular history, customs, and cultureand a perfect gift to say you're niceThe Book of Nice is an entertaining, quirky compendium of those signs, traditions, and expressions that we so often take for granted, yet turn out to be quite fascinating. It's about why we cover a yawn (originally to prevent evil spirits from entering our bodies, now to hide the impression that something's boring us). About holiday traditionsit's thanks to Guy Lombardo's December 31 broadcast in 1929 that we now sing Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve. About customary offeringsthe wedding cake evolved out of the Roman use of wheat as a symbol of fertility (and it's much tastier than bits of grain). And about those simple yet esse
Trade Review
“Chetwynd explores being nice through chapters on gestures, songs, words, characters and offerings that spread the love and does so with wit and intelligence. It’s an important book.”
—The Huffington Post
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O Magazine“I have the nicest words to say aboutThe Book of Nice, a smart look at all things, well, nice.”
—Gayle King in Oprah Winfrey'sO Magazine
