Every now and then, a book comes along that makes you ask yourself: why didn't I think of that? In this instance, I'm referring to a volume that contains within its slim covers every essential piece of information that a man is likely to need in order to be a man; a manual of manliness; an elegant bible packed with facts, and padded, but not puffed, with original observations that are always provocative, and often profound. But first let's deal with Dylan Jones's book.

The editor of the men's lifestyle magazine GQ purports to have written the book described above, but, in fact, he has produced something rather different. In his introduction, he describes Mr Jones Rules as 'the complete modern guide to being a man, a proper etiquette guide for real men ...