Perfect Behavior: A Guide for Ladies and Gentlemen in All Social Crises - Paperback 1949
 
First published in 1922, this parody of etiquette and social mores makes fun of the pitfalls of courtship, engagement, and marriage, as well as such social settings as dinner parties, sporting events, and the theater. With satirical Jazz-era illustrations by Ralph Barton, known at the time for his caricatures of actors and other celebrities, the book's humor holds up remarkably well today, with such "crises" as how to deal with a screaming baby in a crowded, confined space or how to write a proper love letter to one's fiancée. With Marx Brothers–like literary slapstick, Perfect Behavior is the perfect impulse gift for anyone who enjoys a good laugh over everyday social foibles.
 
Donald Ogden Stewart was an actor, humorist and screenwriter who was blacklisted for Communism in 1950. He emigrated to England in 1951 to avoid consequences of the blacklist and lived there until his death. Two of his most famous screenplays are An Affair to Remember and The Philadelphia Story. Stewart's best known book is his spoof of H.G. Wells in A Parody Outline of History. Perfect Behavior mocks, in roaringly funny fashion, the etiquette books of its generation.
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