A Book about Chivalry

Gentlemen and chivalry are topics that rarely surface in this century. I must say I had not given either topic much thought during my life, which is perhaps why Brad Miner's book The Compleat Gentleman caught my eye. I heartily recommend this book be read by the modern man. In essence, Mr. Miner suggests that a modern gentleman is a combination of a warrior, a lover, and a monk. This may seem to be an antagonistic combination, but it is fully explained in the book. Here is a passage from the chapter Chivalry in a Democratic Age:

...I once went to pick up my older son, now fifteen, when he was in kindergarten at PS 87 in Manhattan. There had been a fight in his class, I was informed by a student teacher, and Bobby was involved.

"Who started it?" I asked.

The student teacher looked at me with pure loathing. Men!

"I don't think that matters," she said coldly.

I smiled, wishing I had more Zen.

"But of course it matters," I said.

"Why? So we can lay blame?"

"That's part of it. After all, there's a big diference between aggression and self-defense. Or do you want them all to be little Gandhis?"

Well of course she did.

"Don't you?" she asked incredulously.

"No. I want my sons to be little Galahads."

Isn't that a great exchange? What man would not want his son to be a little Galahad? Galahad was all holy business, whose comtemporaries cared more about gluttony and rapine than honor and faith.

Enough already, read the book!