Saturday, December 12, 2009

An Open Letter Regarding Miss Manners' Guide To A Surprisingly Dignified Wedding

Dear Norton & Company, Judith Martin's Press Representative, and Whomever Else This May Concern:

It has come to my attention that you are sending popular wedding bloggers advanced copies of Miss Manners' Guide To A Surprisingly Dignified Wedding for review, but have not contacted me about where to send my copy. There seems to be some mistake. Surely you know that my entire philosophy of sane weddings is based on the fact that I started pulling Miss Manner's books off the shelf and sneakily reading them when I was just 10? (All I will say on this matter is that I notice my father put Miss Manners books on very low, child-reachable shelves.) I'm sure you are aware that I extensively studied Miss Manners chapter on Marriage (For Beginners) before I even considered getting engaged (as all smart, interesting woman should do).

But, one must remain open to the possibility that you are not aware, so I present you with this:I'm very much looking forward to my advance copy of Miss Manners' Guide To A Surprisingly Dignified Wedding, and I'm sure all my readers will be excited to buy one of the few sane wedding books (soon to be) in print in Hardcover. These women are level headed, getting married, and know their way around a bookstore. In short, they and their mothers are your target audience.

I'll look for your email.

Best,
Meg, Editor
A Practical Wedding

UPDATE: Crisis averted. Book on it's way. Publishing date is January 11th. Mark your calendars ladies, because someone is about to be on your side (and explain it to your Mamma like you never could).

18 comments:

amber8184 said...

{giggles} fingers are crossed for a speedy correction to their oversight!

MegsDad said...

Of course I put them on low, child-reachable shelves. I know quite well that forbidden fruit always tastes sweeter.

Princess Christy said...

How did they miss you?!?

Anonymous said...

So they actually forgot their manners?

Anonymous said...

Miss Manners is the proto-Meg! APW is the natural outgrowth of Miss Manners' wonderful sanity. Please bring them together officially, publishers!

I love (Painfully Proper) which I check out from the library, and would love to hear about Surprisingly Dignified perhaps to purchase, especially in the wake of wedding blogs... Looking forward to your review, Meg, *fingers crossed*

Princess Christy said...

Award for you on my blog!
http://disneyprincessc.blogspot.com/2009/12/you-might-have-noticed-ive-been-tad.html

Anonymous said...

Oooh Meg, you bring up (yet another) good issue. What are some of the **sane** wedding/wedding planning books out there? I'll kick it off with One Perfect Day by Rebecca Mead. By far the most revolutionary wedding book I've ever read.

http://www.amazon.com/One-Perfect-Day-Selling-American/dp/B001QXC4V8

nina said...

How can we fix this injustice??

Sarah said...

Gods, yes. If there is any blog which epitomizes etiquette for the sake of sanity and rationality, it is this blog. If there's any person who epitomizes practicality, honesty, and common courtesy, it's Miss Manners. This is a match made in wedding-heaven, and I certainly hope the publishers get their act together.

After reading this post, actually, in a fit of impracticality, I actually purchased (dang, I always forget the library) On Weddings after reading the first two pages on Amazon.com and wishing I could turn another page. Practical, dignified, honest weddings! Bit by bit, we Practical Brides will make them less of an oxymoron. I feel like a superhero. :)

Kyley said...

Ah, yes! You certainly need this book as you, single-handedly, have turned me onto the awesomeness that is Miss Manners.

lauren said...

speaking of books, i suggest you have a look at elizabeth gilbert's committed, which i'm halfway through and enjoying, when it comes out; i'm not behind every last paragraph of it, but she has an interesting take on marriage (and she has a knack for throwing in chewy random details). i think you'd get along. (note that i haven't read eat, pray, love, nor do i have a burning interest in doing so.)

sam said...

I love Miss Manners with her straight-forward and sassy wisdom :)

Nicole said...

Ha! It made me giggle with joy when I first started reading APW and saw the link to Miss Manners. Surely there's been a mistake- no one as wise as Miss Martin could have overlooked you.

Meg said...

@Lauren
Yes, I'm excited about that, though my feelings on "Eat, Pray, Love" are... mixed.

Kahlia said...

I love reading Miss Manners' column and very much look forward to your review of the new book!

brendalynn said...

Hey Meg, Did I miss your review?

I'm asking because I *think* I pawed through Surprisingly Dignified a bit at the bookstore, and was surprised that an awful lot of it sounded similar to Painfully Proper. In fact, they seemed so similar that now I'm not even certain that I was looking at the new book! Maybe I had the titles mixed up, while I was standing there in a bookstore with no Google to guide me?

Anyways, I thought I would check back to see what your thoughts are, and... no review yet? Is this confirmation that one is merely a re-package of the other?

Meg said...

@brendalynn
Haven't done a review yet, I probably will do it with OBB next week. It's NOT a new book though, it's a slightly updated book. If you have painfully proper, you essentially have this one.

brendalynn said...

Thank you!