diff --git a/csvkit/table.py b/csvkit/table.py
index 168aebe83..777284e67 100644
--- a/csvkit/table.py
+++ b/csvkit/table.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from csvkit import CSVKitReader, CSVKitWriter
 from csvkit import sniffer
 from csvkit import typeinference
+from csvkit.cli import parse_column_identifiers
 
 class InvalidType(object):
     """
@@ -179,7 +180,7 @@ def row(self, i):
         return row_data
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_csv(cls, f, name='from_csv_table', snifflimit=None, **kwargs):
+    def from_csv(cls, f, name='from_csv_table', snifflimit=None, column_ids=None, **kwargs):
         """
         Creates a new Table from a file-like object containing CSV data.
         """
@@ -198,20 +199,30 @@ def from_csv(cls, f, name='from_csv_table', snifflimit=None, **kwargs):
         reader = CSVKitReader(f, dialect=dialect, **kwargs)
 
         headers = reader.next()
-
-        data_columns = [[] for c in headers] 
+        
+        # Prepare the proper number of containers
+        if column_ids:
+            column_ids = parse_column_identifiers(column_ids, headers)
+            # Spin off list of chosen column names
+            headers_copy = list(headers)
+            for i, c in enumerate(column_ids):
+                headers[i] = headers_copy[c]
+            data_columns = [[] for c in column_ids]
+        else:
+            column_ids = [i for i in range(len(headers))]
+            data_columns = [[] for c in headers]
 
         for row in reader:
             for i, d in enumerate(row):
                 try:
-                    data_columns[i].append(d.strip())
+                    data_columns[i].append(row[column_ids[i]].strip())
                 except IndexError:
                     # Non-rectangular data is truncated
                     break
 
         columns = []
 
-        for i, c in enumerate(data_columns): 
+        for i, c in enumerate(data_columns):
             columns.append(Column(i, headers[i], c))
 
         return Table(columns, name=name)
diff --git a/csvkit/utilities/csvstat.py b/csvkit/utilities/csvstat.py
index f0f1a2a20..83b36fc36 100644
--- a/csvkit/utilities/csvstat.py
+++ b/csvkit/utilities/csvstat.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import datetime
 
 from csvkit import table
-from csvkit.cli import CSVKitUtility 
+from csvkit.cli import CSVKitUtility
 from heapq import nlargest
 from operator import itemgetter
 
@@ -14,9 +14,11 @@ class CSVStat(CSVKitUtility):
     def add_arguments(self):
         self.argparser.add_argument('-y', '--snifflimit', dest='snifflimit', type=int,
                             help='Limit CSV dialect sniffing to the specified number of bytes.')
+        self.argparser.add_argument('-c', '--columns', dest='columns',
+                        help='A comma separated list of column indices or names to be examined. Defaults to all columns.')
 
     def main(self):
-        tab = table.Table.from_csv(self.args.file, snifflimit=self.args.snifflimit, **self.reader_kwargs)
+        tab = table.Table.from_csv(self.args.file, snifflimit=self.args.snifflimit, column_ids=self.args.columns, **self.reader_kwargs)
 
         null_excluder = lambda i: i is not None
 
diff --git a/docs/tutorial/examining_the_data.rst b/docs/tutorial/examining_the_data.rst
index e6c216652..c37f7b34c 100644
--- a/docs/tutorial/examining_the_data.rst
+++ b/docs/tutorial/examining_the_data.rst
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ Searching for rows with csvgrep
 
 After reviewing the summary statistics you might wonder where your home state falls in the order. To get a simple answer to the question we can use :doc:`/scripts/csvgrep` to search for the state's name amongst the rows. Let's also use csvcut to just look at the columns we care about::
 
-    $ csvcut -c 1,"TOTAL" 2009.csv | csvgrep -c 1 ILLINOIS
+    $ csvcut -c 1,"TOTAL" 2009.csv | csvgrep -c 1 -m ILLINOIS
     State Name,TOTAL
     ILLINOIS,"21,964"
 
@@ -117,7 +117,6 @@ Now we can use :doc:`/scripts/csvsort` to sort the rows by the first column::
     40402,TEXAS
     36394,FLORIDA
     33986,ARIZONA
-    21964,ILLINOIS
 
 The -r tells ``csvsort`` to sort in descending order.