The Man Who Pleases and the Woman Who Charms

Cone, John A. (John Albert), 1860-1928Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.0
Word count
160K words
Chapters
17

Tags

English Originals Relationships Social EtiquetteSocial CustomsCharacter TypesGender RolesCharacter CharmInterpersonal AttractionSocial ConductCharm BuildingAccessible Reading19th Century

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Man Who Pleases and the Woman Who Charms by John A. ConeAuthor: Cone, John A. (John Albert), 1860-1928,Language: English, Class: BJ: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Ethics, Social usages, Etiquette, Religion, Release Date: Apr 3, 2011

Editor's review

This is an old book of etiquette and self-cultivation. John A. Cohn discusses manners, social propriety, and character around the figures of "the pleasing man" and "the charming woman." Its value lies in presenting early twentieth-century views of social etiquette and gender expectations, making it light reading for observing the spirit of the age; the text consists mostly of short exhortative chapters in a gentle tone, easy to read. Some ideas are inevitably limited by their era, and readers should view them historically, taking the general principles of respecting others and expressing oneself properly while discarding outdated gender stereotypes. It suits those interested in old-fashioned etiquette, social history, or English exhortative prose for casual reading or extensive English reading; those seeking modern interpersonal skills or psychological grounding should not rely on it.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read it as a historical text, noting which ideas belong to a particular era
  2. Read one or two chapters at a time; no need to follow a continuous plot
  3. Compare with contemporary communication books to see how etiquette discourse has changed
  4. English learners can excerpt short sentences to practice old-fashioned written expression

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17

FAQ

Is this book suitable for learning modern social etiquette? Not for direct imitation. Many of its norms are rooted in the early twentieth-century social environment and are now distant from contemporary etiquette and gender views. Read it as historical material to understand social expectations of the time; for modern practice, consult contemporary etiquette and communication books.
How difficult is the English, and what level of learner is it for? It is exhortative prose with short sentences but somewhat old-fashioned vocabulary, moderately easy overall. Anyone with basic English reading ability can attempt it; old-fashioned expressions can be understood from context. It suits extensive reading and sentence-excerpt practice.
Will the content seem outdated? Some content is indeed limited by its era, especially statements about gender roles. Readers can distinguish two kinds of content: general principles about respect, consideration, and proper expression remain relevant, while specific norms should be understood in historical context and not taken as standards for behavior today.

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About the author

Cone, John A. (John Albert), 1860-1928 Author · 1860–1928

John A. Cone (1860–1928), whose full name was John Albert Cone, is an author about whom little biographical information survives. Publicly available sources on his nationality, education and career are limited, making a definite account difficult. One work by him is held in the collection, The Man Who Pleases and the Woman Who Charms. Judging from its title, the book deals with charm and the art of getting along between the sexes, and belongs to the popular instructive literature addressed to general readers. Such works were common in English-language publishing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, discussing social manners, personal cultivation and interpersonal appeal in an easy tone and catering to contemporary readers' interest in self-improvement. Because materials are scarce, his writing style and influence cannot yet be described in detail, and his life and writings await further study.