What is the etiquette of greeting an opposite-sex colleague in a social situation? Should you shake hands or air-kiss?
Are you surrounded by people who continually complain about being broke but manage to pop over to Bali for a holiday?
Do you like saying the names of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Aung San Suu Kyi just because they sound good?
Do you secretly envy surgeons because they get to scrub right up to their forearms, or feel uncomfortable unless the television volume is set to an even number?
Have you ever left a social function thinking, ‘Am I the only normal person in the world?’
If any of this resonates with you, then Bernard Salt is your fellow traveller. Decent Obsessions is a rollicking—some might say slightly obsessive—journey through the manners, the mores and the minutiae of modern life.


Bernard Salt is widely regarded as Australia’s leading social commentator, having appeared regularly on radio and television programs for more than 20 years. He is a twice-weekly columnist with The Australian, a business advisor as a KPMG Partner and a corporate speaker at the highest level. Decent Obsessions is Bernard’s fifth book in just over a decade.