Customer Reviews

The Definitive Book of Body Language

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was so poor that I decided to waste my time and write my first review on amazon. Where to start?

400 pages? Yes; filled with a font size only required for the elderly and an array of useless diagrams and gags. The authors also freely waste a sizable amount of every other page by quoting the content found on the very same page, except in a much larger, bolder font.

Unlike facial expression, body language analysis is a very ambiguous science, and a very limited amount of valid research has been published. The authors, seemingly unaware of this, use obscure case studies to say things like "scientist A at university B proved C". Where C is nowhere near related to the research presented, and the fact that the authors think that scientists `prove` anything perfectly displays the ignorance found in this book.

The biggest problem is that the authors consistently make extraordinary claims without citing any evidence. Page after page statements about the evolution of certain postures or behaviors, or of the universality of a body expression are simply asserted without any reference to scientific research. Some of the most heavily relied-on supporting evidence is gathered from comical, out of context, selections of pictures of famous leaders engaged in postures or behaviors described in the chapter.

Money well wasted.

It has a lot of information and is very interesting. There are some particular parts where they oversimplified it too much which eroded some credibility but for the most part it makes a great book to learn body language.

It has been a while since I have read such an interesting book. Every page is filled with interesting and easy to apply advices and observation tips. This is a must read for anyone interested in body language. I can't tell you how much you NEED to read this book if you work in education, sales, management, customer service, etc.

This is a very good read. 300 pages, all worth it. There's a lot of pictures for you to understand what's wrong and what's good to do. There's a lot of recommendations for you to use your body language in a better way, so that other people will approach you more because you will look more like an "opened" person.

The proofs are rather hard to swallow if you're not the kind to believe everything on the first shot (a.k.a if you're someone who always needs scientific proofs), but still, they do have a lot of proofs and they kind of make sense when we think about them seriously. They will also defend some of their sayings with real scientific studies and their final results. So part of it is very well defended, the rest could be a little better, but as I said, it DOES make sense.

I've been recommended this book by a friend and I would also recommend it to others who want to understand the non-verbal language more. Maybe 10% of the book will seem like déjà-vu, as in, you'll say to yourself "Yeah, it's obvious that someone with the arms crossed is more close-minded", but trust me, the other 90% is very well worth it, you could never find it all by yourself.

This book serves well as a layman's introduction to reading body language. Its method is to build up a base of individual signs and what they mean and then get the reader to practice reading those signs together as clusters. Sketched pictures accompany the text throughout and are useful. There's a chapter for the major body parts such as palms and eyes as well as behaviours such as mirroring.

A great intro to get you thinking about body language and the way space is used to create a covert message - and it pays to be perceptive in life!

Allan Pease is an excellent author. In this book, he provides very interesting information accompanied by pictures which teach you body language quickly. This book is my favorite book, becasue it had changed my life all the way around. I highly recommend it!

I found this book to be quite helpful in understanding the body language of people around me. My husband and I do some counseling, and it is helpful to be able to read the person beyond what comes from their lips. What disturbs me about the book is the ridiculous assumption that we evolved from apes! If one can overlook that bit of idiocy, the book has a lot to offer and I would recommend it to others.