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From the archives

Between Words

Anne Carson’s new book-without-a-spine, and the spiritual experience of centrelessness

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

A postmodern elegy from our most original writer

Boredom as a Political Weapon

Saul Bellow fought banality—and taught us to look hard at the world

Margaret Visser

Margaret Visser is a Canadian broadcaster and lecturer, and the author of six books. She lives in Canada and in France.

Articles by
Margaret Visser

A Millennium of Manners

A comparative survey of good—and bad—behaviour October 2009
Modern voices are often raised in protest at what is perceived to be a rising tide of incivility. Loud conversations in restaurants, no one offering to give up a seat on the bus to someone old or pregnant, litter in the streets, queuing rules broken—rivers of discontent about infractions of manners such as these flood the internet and the…