Silent but Deadly

<p><strong>An entertaining anthropological tour through the big answers to life's little questions.</strong></p><p> </p><p>Why do farts evoke laughter and disgust? Is the aversion to the left hand universal? Are dogs <em>really</em> humankind's best friend? Why do we tip wait staff but not teachers? Can you still spot the difference between a Brit and an American by their teeth? In <em>Silent but Deadly: The Underlying Cultural Patterns of Everyday Behaviour</em> Kirsten Bell an anthropologist who has lived in five countries on four continents-and learned about cultural gaffes by constantly committing them-places our everyday behaviours under the microscope.</p><p> </p><p>Boldly going where no anthropologist has gone before no topic is too small or insignificant for Bell's attention whether it's the propensity of Brits to place their washing machine in the kitchen the disinclination of Americans to buy rounds at the pub Australians' well-documented obsession with toilet paper or Canadian sensibilities around swearing. The kind of book Jared Diamond might write if he was more concerned with the meanings of bodily emissions than the collapse of civilizations <em>Silent but Deadly </em>deciphers the cultural patterns that underlie our everyday quirks foibles and habits.</p>