Table of Contents
Introduction: The Body Electric xiii
Part 1 A Panoramic View of Grace
1 Flair to Remember: Why Cary Grant Epitomizes Grace 3
2 Grace Among Others: Jay Gatsby, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Other Good Hosts 24
3 Grace and Humor: Maggie Thatcher, Johnny Carson, and My 105-Year-Old Highball-Sipping Great-Grandmother 34
4 Grace and the Art of Getting Along: How the Baby Boomers Derailed Centuries of Manners Instruction 47
Part 2 Looking at Grace
5 Superstar Grace: Lessons from Motown 77
6 Everyday Grace: Cooks, Waiters, and Roadies 91
7 Grace in Art The Sculptor Who Set the Body Free 105
Part 3 Grace in Action
8 Athletes: Roger Federer, Olga Korbut, and Others Who Play with Ease 117
9 Dancers: The Grace of Transcendence 145
10 Walking With Grace: Catwalks, Crosswalks, and Presidential Bearing 164
Part 4 Grace under Pressure
11 The Pratfall Effect: Stumbling into Grace 183
12 Working at Grace: Lessons from Vaudeville 188
13 "To Become Unstuck": Finding Grace despite Physical Difficulties 194
Part 5 Understanding grace: Theories and Practice
14 The Science of Grace: Survival of the Graceful 211
15 Amazing Grace: Religion without Judgment 236
16 Leap Into Grace: Techniques for Graceful Living 255
Conclusion 271
Tips For Moving Well Through Life 277
Acknowledgments 280
Notes 283
Illustration Credits 294
Index 297