Miss Manners and Emily Post are, to a certain extent, quite old-fashioned. Sure, good manners never go out of style, but social customs evolve over time, and there are always new situations cropping up that the advice columnists of centuries past could never have anticipated.

Stephanie Pierson and Barbara Harrison -- along with a host of expert advisers -- come to the rescue with What to Do [When No One Has a Clue]: Advice for the Brave New World. This slim book, just over 150 pages, offers light-hearted suggestions for how you can handle awkward encounters and avoid common missteps in today's fast-paced, highly digital world.

Published in 2010, the book might already be slightly out of date ... but only slightly. For the most part, the topics discussed here are still current and, more often than not, problematic.

Topics are sorted into several helpful chapters" "How to tame technology," "How to make it eventful (from Botox parties to weddings)," "How to date," "How to live with your family," "How to have babies," "How to eat and drink," "How to be patient (medical center)," "How to get through the day (from book groups to baristas)" and "How to deal (when things that never happen happen to you)."

Questions range from the practical and familiar to the quirky and outlandish. Among the topics discussed: Am I a dinosaur if I still have a landline? How do you handle risque bridal shower gifts when elderly, more prudish relatives are among the guests? Should you buy a second home close to your kid's college? Who should you tip? Do you have to look at your coworker's graphic photos of her child's birth? Is it OK to buy a fancy dress for a special event and then return it afterwards? Should your pet have its own social media presence? Who gets the custody of a pet (or a pet's ashes) after a divorce? Is it OK to ask a grieving family to live-stream the funeral that you are unable to attend?

If your neighbor is taken away in handcuffs, should you call his wife? Should you be impressed if a dog owner, after getting him neutered, gifts him with "testicular implants"? How should you react if a client asks you to touch her new boobs? How do you react if the school calls to tell you your 11-year-old daughter was caught "sexting"?

Rather than simply giving their own opinions on the matters at hand, Pierson and Harrison have solicited responses from close to 100 contributing experts. Among them, you'll find chefs, wedding planners, journalists, designers, medical professionals, lawyers, bloggers, editors, funeral directors, time-management experts, animal welfare experts and professors. Oh, and a surprisingly high number of anonymous sources.

The authors don't always offer concrete answers. In fact, sometimes they offer more than one response that contradict one another. Generally, it seems like their goal is less about offering the definitive view but to get readers thinking about how they would handle each situation.

I'll be honest, few of these tips will ever have much bearing on my life, so the book isn't all that useful to me. But it's amusing, a little tongue-in-cheek, and ultimately of use to people who have these sorts of problems.