A look at the human comedy from a prize-winning writer who is "bright, funny and tells it like it is" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

In this insightful collection, an accomplished essayist and humorist offers a class in "Tyranny for Beginners;" warns about the snares of dinner parties; explains the mind-set of barbarians; suggests the perfect gift for Mother—a wildebeest—and tells what happens when his dog's barking drives him to thoughts of murder.

Roger Rosenblatt forces us to laugh at the silliness of the world we have created, refocuses our minds on what really matters, and alerts us to the injustice and cruelty that lie just below the skin. A recipient of a Peabody Award, an Emmy, and two Polk Awards, and the author of Rules for Aging and Making Toast, he offers an entertaining and enlightening read filled with his "trademark droll wit" (Tulsa World).

"The best thing about reading an essay by Rosenblatt is that he makes you think." —Town & Country