Curious Customs

School Library Journal

YA Like the proverbial peanut, this book compels curious browsers to read one entry after another. It covers etiquette, gesture and posture, superstitions, holidays, and more in a style geared more toward readers of pop psychology than serious scholarship. However, the sources for these two- to three-paragraph entries are given in a lengthy bibliography. It may come as a surprise to discover how many of our rituals and traditions have their roots in capitalistic America's concern with money. Of particular interest to students may be the origins of such oddities as writing on bathroom walls (although a bit graphic in its wording) and the audience's lighting of matches at rock concerts in tribute to the musicians. Wedding bands are explained as symbols of female captivity with only brief mention of the circle as the symbol of eternal fidelity, and no mention is made of rings as remembrances of absent mates. Basically for the trivia buff, this book may find limited use as a research aid. Carolyn Praytor Boyd, Episcopal High School, Bellaire