How We Behave at the Feast: Reflections on an Age of Plenty

In an age of comfort and convenience, contends Currie, most people do not know how to enjoy their good fortune. As a remedy, the co-owner and operator of an independent bookstore in Vermont offers advice to the ""haves"" on how to enrich their lives by acting with ""civility and grace."" In good-humored but rather simplistic essays arranged according to the calendar year, Currie uses holidays and other seasonal events as a springboard to explore the ""feast"" of life, freely using food rituals as a metaphor for social behavior--sometimes to the point of overkill. For example, reflecting on the first day of spring, when there is a balance of light and dark hours, Currie points out that a potluck meal serendipitously provides a similar balance of food choices, because those who bring dishes to this communal meal are both competing and cooperating. According to Currie, the lesson of potluck is to try everything and respect what others have to offer. Tax time in April reminds him of how his female relatives divided the check at restaurant meals according to what each person ordered, and leads to the exhortation to pay our fair share of income taxes with a smile. Although Currie's reflections and philosophizing are difficult to disagree with, they are served up with a heavy dose of homily that some may find indigestible. Agent, Mary Evans. 15-city radio tour. (Jan.)