36 of 38 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Eerily similar, but not as good, as Definitive Guide to Body Language, Dec 29 2009
By Christine Baker - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Body Language For Dummies (Paperback)
I've been on a body language kick ever since Lie to Me came out. I just finished reading The Definitive Guide to Body Language and making my way through Body Language for Dummies. I also have What Every Body is Saying and Telling Lies on the way. That said, Body Language for Dummies is really just a reworded version of the Definitive Guide to Body Language, with a whole mess of unnecessary anecdotes and "examples" that are worded for a pre-teen (ex: Joe and Jane meet at her house, but Joe's crossed arms and crossed legs clearly indicated that Jane was unwelcome. So Jane left.) The substantive examples are all taken from The Definitive Guide to Body Language, such as Princess Diane's looks, JFK and Nixon prior to the debate, and nearly every item - particularly the examples of other scientists and sociologists - were nearly copy and pasted into this book and reworded for the "Dummies" style we're all familiar with (if you read a lot of these as I do). It was so blatant that I actually looked at the copyright dates to see who lifted material from whom. The content, then, is pretty good, but you have to sift through many paragraphs of "Anecdotes" (as called in the book) that are unnecessary and provide no value. If you've already read The Definitive Guide to Body Language, save your money on this book; it is the same thing. If you haven't, I'd recommend that over this. The only upside to this is that I planned on reading that book again to pick up things I may have forgotten and with this, I don't have to. I'll review the others when I receive and finish them.
58 of 81 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Buy this book if you are British and live in a cave, Jan 31 2008
By DixieFlatline "DixieFlatline" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Body Language For Dummies (Paperback)
I was hoping for insight. I was hoping for some new and interesting information. My hopes were for naught.
The author clearly has NO idea how to write for anyone other than a UK audience.
`John lives in London but his girlfriend lives in Manchester, you can imagine the fuss...'
No, actually I can't.
`Mark was acting like a pageboy...'
Acting like a what?
`Prince Charles fiddled with the cuff-links given to him by the Duchess of Cornwall...'
...and?
The author also seems to think that everyone but her has never left their house. Most of what she writes about is so painfully obvious to, um..., EVERYONE, it's difficult to read the book and not just skim through it.
Yep, frown means sad, laugh means happy, thanks for wasting my time.
There are some interesting bits here and there, but they are difficult to glean.
12 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous analysis, distilation and interpertation, Nov 27 2007
By Wendy W. Keleher "wendy keleher" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Body Language For Dummies (Paperback)
Thanks to the author, the ever so subtle messages we send with our body language, may be implied but now can be intended!!! This study provides many ah-ha! moments as well as identifing in either social/family or business context how these body signals are read by others and how we can learn new body language emitting more positive energy as well as translate this language into our daily observations enabling better communication and understanding. Really fabulous, deeply insightful and very very fun!!!! Great gift for anyone.