Elliott Erwitt's Handbook

What is it about hands? We think we communicate with words, but has anyone ever told that to an Italian? Where did the expression "tongue-tied" come from? No one ever tied a tongue. But tie their hands and about half the world's communicators would be silenced. The human (and sometimes non-human) hands are, with the possible exception of the eyes, the most expressive parts of the body, asking for more or less, telling us to come or to go, asking questions and answering them, scolding, rewarding, searching and finding, and, at their most intimate, loving and lustful. Hands reward us, calm us, feed us, and scratch our backs. They intimidate, bless, encourage, and stop us. They soothe, caress, and sometimes go where they shouldn't. We may take hands for granted. But Elliott Erwitt does not. Here is Erwitt at his most serious-and-yet-whimsical best, giving us the moments which, without hands, would not exist. 100 duotone images.