Rating:  Summary: Sampling of cheap tricks, and the games people play Review: Lieberman's books are in general a bit (though not a large bit) above the usual pop psychology standard. They are not good psychology, technically, nor do they summarize the ideas particularly well, but they are filled with potentially helpful ideas with examples. He compiles a combination of most well known principles of influence and a few more obscure ones, and turns them into specific scripts. Like NLP books, the "script running" approach is likely to immediately inspire some reasonable skepticism and some revulsion in many readers. Lieberman is thankfully free of the annoying jargon nd repetitive slogans of NLP, but takes on much the same approach, and those who find one objectionable are likely to dislike the other as well. People don't want to think that their daily lives are so heavily filled with stereotyped behaviors and predictable games that can be taken advantage of. But the sales figures of star performers and the success of charming manipulative people makes it clear that there are chinks in our rational defensive armor that can frequently be exploited. To what degree our lives are ruled by these tricks is an open question, Lieberman clearly thinks they are the way we normally do business with each other. There are not a whole lot of original ideas here, but the author has done an enviable job compiling some of the more interesting ideas and providing simple examples. I think most people will quickly find that the scripts are examples only and not "formulas," but the principles are clear enough to use, and to protect yourself from others playing cheap psychological ploys on you, knowingly or inadvertently. Lieberman has a lot of simplistic but funny comments like his explanation that seemingly undesireable men who end up with desireable women probably met them under circumstances where the women were aroused by something else. There doesn't seem to be much room for rational decision making in Lieberman's world, the reader is left to wonder how close it is to their world as well.
Rating:  Summary: PRETTY GOOD... BUT NOT THE GREATEST.. Review: Once you start reading this book you won't be able to put it down... however it was not the best I've read on psychological tactics of manipulation. Some of the scripts were too dull or not real world and just plain common sense!
Rating:  Summary: Helpful, tactical and practical, though manipulative Review: or even Machiavellian
To sum up the negative comment of other reviewers:
The book does not live up to its promising title; It's highly manipulative and its effectivness depends on the kindness of its targets; It's highly tactical that each of its 40 chapters just focuses on how to handle one specific situation; It lacks the depth of an averge book on psychology; It's a copy and paste of popular NLP techniques blah blah blah.
The above criticisms are all valid. However, I still rate it a good book for common readers who just want to work better and make life easier. Below please find my views that counter the negative comment above:-
Those who expect a 180 page book to teach "anybody" to do "anything" might just overexpect; The author admits the manipulative nature of his recommendations in page 54; It's natural for a book with 40 chapters to be relatively tactical than strategic. Otherwise, it will become sheer talk of little practical value; For fans and intellects of psychology, look elsewhere. In fact, please make sure you had completed the 18 volumes of Sigmund Freud before your complaint against others' lack of depth; If it works, it works. A patient goes to a doctor for recovery from illness, not medical knowledge with originality.
In short, a good and interesting read, something that can be put on your desk for quick reference in a variety of situations that can save you a lot of trouble.
Rating:  Summary: Very clever if you ask me... Review: Pop psychology at its best, this stuff really does work. I don't know that you can get anybody to do anything, but you sure can get sway a lot of people to do a lot of things you couldn't before! I give it 5 stars easy. Other self-help books I liked include "The No-Beach, No-Zone, No-Nonsense Weight Loss Plan, A Pocket Guide To What Works."
Rating:  Summary: Recommended for writers Review: Since I just finished it, I can't say that this book has somehow made some dramatic impact in my own life. However, I will review it from a different perspective than a "practical" application manual in taking control of your life. If you are a writer, or a struggling writer, a book like this can be an invaluable resource on day-to-day human psychology and interaction. You can see situations, interactions, and even conversations develop for your characters based on Lieberman's insights and examples. This book can potentially break writer's block, if you're stuck in a scene, you know what your characters want but don't know how to show it (a man coming off too strong to a woman, someone trying to break bad news to a loved one, someone wanting to manipulate a favor out of someone else, ect.), this book offers suggestions on how your characters should act, or more importantly, how they *shouldn't* act. Since Lieberman's observations based on real life, learning and internalizing the positive and negative consequences of the behaviors described in this book can add some realism to your short stories or novels. As for the lessons themselves, I now see how in many times in my life I have done the wrong thing, and this book explains why I just made things worse, like in past relationships, in job interviews...mistakes we have all probably made. Beyond any practical applications, this is just a fascinating book for those who are interested in human interaction.
Rating:  Summary: Recommended for writers Review: Since I just finished it, I can't say that this book has somehow made some dramatic impact in my own life. However, I will review it from a different perspective than a "practical" application manual in taking control of your life. If you are a writer, or a struggling writer, a book like this can be an invaluable resource on day-to-day human psychology and interaction. You can see situations, interactions, and even conversations develop for your characters based on Lieberman's insights and examples. This book can potentially break writer's block, if you're stuck in a scene, you know what your characters want but don't know how to show it (a man coming off too strong to a woman, someone trying to break bad news to a loved one, someone wanting to manipulate a favor out of someone else, ect.), this book offers suggestions on how your characters should act, or more importantly, how they *shouldn't* act. Since Lieberman's observations based on real life, learning and internalizing the positive and negative consequences of the behaviors described in this book can add some realism to your short stories or novels. As for the lessons themselves, I now see how in many times in my life I have done the wrong thing, and this book explains why I just made things worse, like in past relationships, in job interviews...mistakes we have all probably made. Beyond any practical applications, this is just a fascinating book for those who are interested in human interaction.
Rating:  Summary: Not Worth It Review: The book promises more than it delivers. I found it to be shallow, manipulative, and lacking examples that could be practiced every day. The book reads as though Lieberman wrote it over a couple of weekends. The classic treasure on this subject is Dale Carenegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. It is much more complete and useful than Lieberman's book.
Rating:  Summary: Looks like the auther's tactics Worked on us - the buyers! Review: The predatory nature of this attemp at pop-psych should be a giveaway that these "tactics" would only work on a "target person" with an extremely low IQ... but you only know that AFTER you buy the book. Lines like "... become the perfect psychological warrior!" probably made every used-car sales manager go right out and buy a copy... they would have been better off buying works of several other authors sold here, like Stephen Covey, or Joseph O'Connor. I personally (thankfully) don't know anyone stupid enough to fall for the "techniques" outlined in this book. I would have spent my book-money on better authors if I'd only known.
Rating:  Summary: A pragmatic application of some psychology Review: The strategies are practical and in some cases elegant. I have not used any of the strategies yet so can't comment personally on their effectiveness, but they sound completely plausible. I also found it useful as providing examples of how one might apply theory and psychological research to the real world. I have read some of the research he cites but never thought of it in these ways.
Rating:  Summary: Good Read but Simplistic Review: This book is generally a good read, with some practical tips. My only critcism is the book is too simplistic. Human behaviour is very complex and in a vacuum yes many of this strategies would be useful. But in real life they may not work. There a lot factors such as culture, personal beliefs, values that effect human behaviour and to generalize to a set single theories to solve life's problem is a bit ridiculous. The book's language is a little manipulative with words like Never, any Situation, Really, Ever. I would recommend this book as a good guide on human behaviour and use it as reference not as absolute truth.
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