BODY LANGUAGE: HOW TO READ OTHERS’ THOUGHTS BY THEIR GESTURES Reviews
BODY LANGUAGE: HOW TO READ OTHERS’ THOUGHTS BY THEIR GESTURES
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T. Hooper 7:59 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by T. Hooper for BODY LANGUAGE: HOW TO READ OTHERS’ THOUGHTS BY THEIR GESTURES
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This book introduces body language from the point of view of business executives. The authors specialize in the use of body language for business and politics. I found the illustrations and photos that accompany the text to be very funny and appropriate. This is not a very scholarly book, so if you’re looking for a very serious and academic book about the study of body language, then this isn’t the volume you’re looking for, but if you’d just like an introduction to body language from a practical point of view, then this is a perfect book to read. In addition, it is very easy and entertaining to read, so I can recommend this to anyone.
Patrick Smith 8:30 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by Patrick Smith for BODY LANGUAGE: HOW TO READ OTHERS’ THOUGHTS BY THEIR GESTURES
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This book is full of information, but it is poorly presented. The authors may know what they are talking about, but it’s hard to tell. It’s like that poorly written term paper your friend asked you to proofrean and you had to completely rewrite. I learned more from the Introduction of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Body Language.”
My main beef with this book is that after reading it, I know a lot about the “basics” of body language, but not really how to read it. They take a lot of time to point out that you have to look at “clusters” instead of any one signal, and then spend the rest of the book interpreting individual symbols! They also tend to present most of the gestures as “absolutes” or definite, while every other book warns you that all gestures can have multiple interpretations and you must be careful.
Honestly, not a bad reference, but hardly “Definitive.” don’t make it the only book you read!
Dirk J. Willard 8:38 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by Dirk J. Willard for BODY LANGUAGE: HOW TO READ OTHERS’ THOUGHTS BY THEIR GESTURES
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This is a fascinating book! What I liked most were the many illustrations demonstrating the authors’ points throughout the book. Read the text though–there is so much more to this book. The author’s sense of humor, though a little dry, added entertainment to an already enlightening read. I especially liked the courtship section. It is amazing that women send signals an average of 5 times before the men they are interested in respond. It just shows you how dense we men are. I found it unsettling that if you are interested in another woman at a party, the woman you are with will pick up your signal is a New York minute. And, if another woman starts flirting with you from across a room, the woman you are with will send recognizable body language to the other female: “hands off, he’s mine–you’re looking at trouble.”
After reading this book, I guess I will never go into another meeting without subconsciously, or consciously, trying to recall the lessons in this book. I hope someone in the Harvard business school considers teaching this text in a course.
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Ilaxi S. Patel 9:21 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by Ilaxi S. Patel for BODY LANGUAGE: HOW TO READ OTHERS’ THOUGHTS BY THEIR GESTURES
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I got this book a year ago and indeed this book is a reflection of the soul! What people say to us is different from what they think and feel! With Body language wiz by Allan Pease, one can correctly interpret other people’s thoughts by their gestures. This book has quick references as ‘How To’ :
1. Find out if someone is lying
2. How to be more likeable to others
3. How to get cooperation
4. How to successfully conduct interviews and handle business negotiations
5. How to pick up a partnerMore n more – What I like about this marvellous book of Allan is the illustrated Gestures. The eye signals and Hand-to-face gestures are simply terrific illustrated readings and Allan sure has deep roots to indepth study of Body Language, it seems. Hand and arm gestures,way of using cigars,cigerettes, glasses, head gestures, courtship gestures and signals and more wide areas are selected which is very interesting. A good Interesting read and good to explore.
G. Chang 10:02 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by G. Chang for BODY LANGUAGE: HOW TO READ OTHERS’ THOUGHTS BY THEIR GESTURES
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I became interested in a body language book after hearing about it from my prof in grad school. The title of this book made me think that it was a “definitive” or “complete” book, but it was not.
What’s good about this book is that it is written from the perspective of experienced salesmen. That is very good in itself (you’re paying to learn from their expertise). They cover common body language signs and explain what they usually mean. They also give practical advise on learning/reading body language for many different kinds of settings (business, dating, etc). In other words, this book is very practical and easy to read. I did learn new things about body language by reading this book. However, it did not cover some things that are important from a more purely psychological or medical point of view (such as psychomotor agitation, etc).
What I hated about this book:
1) It is loaded with questionable scientific information. The experiments were not really experiments, and the authors use scientific names and information like pharm reps would. I noticed use of weasel words and lots of sketchy information to “sell” their ideas. That is what made me lower my rating the most. It cheapened the feel of the book and made the reading less enjoyable. (-2 stars)
2) It contains extraneous information, such as sections on why laughing is good for your health. I also got annoyed at how much of the beginning of the book was dedicated to scientific information when none of them are clearly qualified or well-informed on the subject.
3) It is ultimately NOT a book that’s purely on body language. Read it and you’ll see why. They should add a subtitle or change the title. (-1 star)
D. Mabey 10:52 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by D. Mabey for Spark Notes I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
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In a poetic, yet detatched way, Maya Angelou captures the heart of her struggles growing up female and Black during the Depression. Her style and description draw in the reader and keep her spellbound even during the most painful scenes. You feel deeply for the author and her little brother as they drift through their lives living for a bit of affection. Neglected by their divorced parents, Maya and her brother get sent to Arkansas at ages 4 and 5 to live with their grandma and handicapped uncle. Although life is hard and love not demonstrated, Maya learns much from her grandma and uncle. The theme of this book is the quest for the child to be loved by the adult. Maya feels inferior. She feels ugly and compares herself to her magical brother Bailey. Both children are starved for true affection and daydream a white movie actress on the screen is their long lost mother.Maya and her brother are eventually united with “Mother Dear” in St.Louis when she is eight. Unfortunately Mother’s boyfriend begins to abuse Maya(…). This is graphically portrayed in the book. Maya’s feelings of not belonging and not being truly loved are compounded after the abuse. I admire all the autobiographical books by Ms.Angelou. She has achieved a lot in her life for a person who started out in such a sad situation.This book should be read and re-read.
Michael J. Mazza 11:12 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by Michael J. Mazza for Spark Notes I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
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“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou, is the first volume in this author’s extraordinary series of autobiographical narratives. “I Know…” begins with her childhood and takes us into her young womanhood. This book has, since its publication, become a beloved contemporary classic of African-American literature.After their parents’ separation, young Marguerite (her given name) and her brother, Bailey, are sent to live with their strong-willed grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, deep in the segregated South. Angelou also describes her time spent with her other grandmother in St. Louis, as well as her young adulthood in San Francisco. The overall time period of the book overlaps that of World War II.”I Know…” offers important insights into the world of racial segregation, and painfully records the toll taken by racism in its various forms. Also powerful and important is Angelou’s recollection of surviving a brutal sexual assault when she was a child. Angelou recalls vividly the authors who made an impact on her during her childhood and young adulthood: James Weldon Johnson, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, and others. The book concludes with her sexual awakening as a young woman.”I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is an American classic which has lost none of its power in the 30 years since it first appeared. Angelou’s prose is direct and personal, and marked with passages of wit and beauty. For scholars of African-American literature, women’s studies, or literary autobiography, this is an essential volume.
Michele Eshleman 11:24 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by Michele Eshleman for Spark Notes I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
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May I tell you why I choose to have my ninth grade students read it? I have noticed a lot of reviews by young people, which I applaud, but an adult perspective might be helpful. I don’t particularly feel the need to defend its merits. (I am not articulate enough to do justice to that task.) As with any book, some will love it and some won’t. Guaranteed, it will make you uncomfortable at times, because one chapter describes the rape of a young person–which is painful for any compassionate human being to hear. Plus, there are other sexual issues, largely stemming from the earlier assault, but also because she is a teenager in the last phase of the book. Such questions about love and sex are characteristic of the teenage years. Many young people, as well as adults, are confused about such topics. While these are generally the most controversial segments from the book, the fundamental lesson of the book goes far beyond the survival of one victim. I won’t supply you with the answers as to what one should take away from the text. It is a personal experience for each of us. We can all learn from Maya’s honest account of her childhood journey. We can all try on her experiences and live vicariously through her for a while, and see how it changes our own perspective on what it means to be a human being. I’ll be the first to admit, this book is a challenge for all my students in one way or another. Some because they are white and live in the northern US. Some because they are male and it’s difficult to view life through a woman’s eyes. Some because of the adult vocabulary and extensive use of figurative language. Some of these experiences are so remote from their own, while others are very close to home. It helps them to see how much we actually do have in common with those who at first seem very different. They all can benefit from reading it, if they give it a chance. (Adults may be better equiped to appreciate fully this text. However, young people can take so much from it. Maybe one day, we can have an abridged version, so it is still rich in language and meaning, yet condensed so more young people can access its many gifts.) Beyond the darkness of some of those experiences (discrimination, rape, humilation and fear) lies a powerful sense of hope, dignity, determination and resilience. One of my favorite aspects of the book is its emphasis on the power of education, language and literacy. Throughout Maya’s life–books, poetry, impassioned voices have all inspired her. Her autobiography is a moving tribute to a literate way of life and an enduring legacy to that tradition.
Aussie Jan 11:24 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by Aussie Jan for Spark Notes I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
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Maya Angelou can write, there is no question about that. Her descriptions in this book are so vivid and expressive that I feel, in a small way, I know what it might have been like to live in Arkansas during the 1940s.I found in the reviews that there seemed to be 2 reasons that people didn’t like this book:1) kids forced to read it for school – I’m not surprised. If I was 14, I probably would have hated it too. Kids want books with action and a story.2) suggestions that Maya Angelou is a racist – this book is told through the eyes of a young black girl who rarely met a white person and those she met treated her in ways that stripped her of her dignity and her personhood. Any negative feelings she had are entirely understandable.Maya writes with honesty and such feeling that at times it is almost painful to read but I’m glad I did. I’ll never know what it feels like to be black and the target of bigotry but Maya has helped me understand just a little by letting me walk a while in her shoes.
Elizabeth Green 11:43 am on September 22, 2010 Permalink
Review by Elizabeth Green for Spark Notes I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
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I was intrigued by the mixed ratings of this book & the various comments about Maya Angelou being racist towards whites. This book is written throught the eyes of a young black child growing up in a community where there is segregation & discrimination on account of skin colour. To see ‘differences’ between ‘black’ & ‘white’ is something she has grown up with.Taken by her Grandmother with severe toothache to a white dentist (the black dentist being a days journey away), Maya is refused treatment with the excuse – “I’d rather put my hand in a dogs mouth than in some niggah.” This man had borrowed money from Maya’s Grandmother to keep his surgery open during the depression. He refuses to treat a ‘black’ child……but ‘black’ money is ‘acceptable’. With such hypocrisy, surely you can understand how Maya would feel a little disgruntled towards her white countrymen? Who wouldn’t?Being a ‘white’ female, I will probably never encounter such racial discrimination or even understand how another person prejudices could effect your own peace of mind. Read it & remind yourself of the similarities between human beings rather than superficial differences.