Part great/classic advice, part silly. Some of which is now a bit dated, even for a self-described old soul. But this was enjoyable enough.

This is a great little tongue in cheek guide for the modern man or young man to learn a few basic life principles and a whole lot of culture. Superbly written with great use of the English language. I'd recommend this to all Bachelors, guys in college and 20 something’s.

A tongue in cheek primer on how to be a gentleman in the 21st century. The authors intently posit every conceivable SAT-styled word into the text in order to seem overtly wordy, with mixed results. The sections on the Inner Gentleman and social dynamics are worth the read, along with solid musical recommendations.

An essential reference to being a gentleman. We all need some help here. Covers all topics imaginable, literally 100's of useful tidbits concerning modern etiquette.

Example concerning flaskmanship: When is it appropriate to carry a flask? Guideline: Whenever you're wearing a sport jacket, otherwise you are under dressed.

Boring.

Although it's a reference, it reads like anyother book. It's pretty funny. I used it like I do GQ: I may not follow it all, but you gotta know the rules before you break them. These days, a semi-gentleman is the best your gonna get.

Phineas Mollod and Jason Tesauro masterly craft a pocket guidebook for those needing swift kick in the ascot. 329 pages concerning proper gentlemanly protocol on a variety of topics: entertaining, meeting the parents and flaskmanship; just to name a few. While not a definitive code of conduct, Mollod and Tesauro cover enough bases to make any Bush League Hooligan into a presentable Major League Player.

While extremely enjoyable, The Modern Gentleman is more than just a light read. Due to quick wit and vocabulary, the book is perfect for any 50 minute puddle jump or commuter train ride. While some of the guidelines are already outdated, such as proper answering machine ediquette, most of the proposed conventions are ideals worth striving towards.

In the end, the authors close with : "Best of luck to you noble Cavalier of Life. Go forward with strength, grace, mindfulness and the occasional glass of Chartreuse. The world will follow behind you."

Cheers

Exactly what the title says, only with extra awesomeness, savor, and panache. Everything from seating arrangements to gift and lit guides to threesome etiquette. And did I mention: Awesome! A must-have for any aspiring 20- or 30-something.

"Tuxedoed guests deserve cocktails in stems and highballs. A martini in a plastic cup is not a drink. Steer a raucus bunch away from the crystal and don't place a sippy cup in an enchanting lady's manicured hand."

That's one of two things wrong with this book. The first, as shown above, is that too often do the authors write to see their own words. Contrary to what they believe, it's not good writing when you use three full sentences just to say "use the good stuff at a fancy event." For that matter, use the good stuff for your guests no matter what. That's what a real gentleman would do.

Moving away from too-cute asides and lexiphanic verbosity, the second thing wrong with this book is that it has very little to do with being a gentleman, modern or otherwise. Skinny dipping, intimate rendevous, crashing parties, public drinking - and that's all BEFORE the chapter on vice, which discusses sex and substance abuse.

I don't know what these guys call the definition of a modern gentleman, but the entire book is filled with crass behavior diguised as what most would call just "being a guy." But here's the deal: being a guy is awesome. I AM one and I think it's great! This book deals with that very well, but adds to the greatness of guyness by giving endless tips on how to be a BETTER guy. These tips include jukebox mastery, throwing parties, being well-versed in literature and pretty much being as cool as one man could possibly be, while not actually being gentlemanly.

There may be a few pointers on gentlemanly behavior inside these boring and wordy pages, but chivalry and charm are not what this book is about. This book is about looking cool, getting over on the rules of society, telling good lies, using Cliff Notes to cram "knowledge," hooking up with coworkers and using incriminating photos of friends as blackmail. That's what they should've said this book was about in the first place because those things sound pretty darned interesting if that's what you're after.

Oh, and they use far too many words to do all this while trying to sound witty and smart. They messed that up too.

ah, men are pigs. not just in that chauvenistic way, but relating more to the fact that there are quite a few schlubs out there. yeah, you know who you are. this book is for you.

being only semi-schlubby, i thought the book touched on some points that i had, in fact, considered, but never really resolved in matters relating to etiquette & refinement. but it goes beyond that-what booze goes best in a flask, seating order at dinner parties, the proper orchestration of dating multiple women...being that it's a guide, some matters are more appropriate than others for perusal. but whatever topic one flips to, the advice is guaranteed to be eloquent, thoughtful, and many times quite funny.

Maybe a little overly biased on certain apparel opinions but this book is exactly what it claims to be: An essential guide to manners, savvy and vice. For that, I'll give it 5 stars with the included consideration that Mollod and Tesauro wield 2 very powerful lexicons. A good read for the up-and-coming man in his 20s.

This is not a book about Gentleman's manners, Savvy and Vice.

Thig that's standing out and makes this book bad is the author's personality (I wanted to say writing, but the things wrong with writing essentially mirrors the author's personality). Almost every sentence is "gitty" and with a joke or two. The author tries to sound funny and smart with every word, and it just 1) makes the point he's trying to make less important 2) wears the reader out.

I'm genuinely surprised someone even published it because 1) writing is as impractical as it could be 2) the title doesn't match the content in a sense that this is just an author's opinion on how to live life "modern" life by lying, being fake-smart, and hooking up.