The Definitive Book of Body Language

Starred review from June 15, 2006
The Peases (coauthors, "Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps") have updated and expanded Allan's 1984 international best seller, "Body Language "(published as "Signals" in the United States). Illustrated with attention-grabbing pictures of politicians and celebrities, this entertaining, easy-to-read book shows how to interpret posture and gestures, understand nonverbal behavior (including one's own nonverbal cues), and use body language to get desired reactions in social and business situations. Noting that a gesture may have different meanings in different situations, the authors emphasize the importance of clusters of gestures, congruence with verbal message, and context, situation, and cultural differences. Each chapter stands on its own and expounds on various situational behaviors (e.g., -Ownership, Territory and Height Signals -) or gestures (e.g., -How the Legs Reveal What the Mind Wants To Do -). An expanded table of contents compensates for the lack of an index, and extensive references are provided for further reading. Highly recommended for all libraries, especially for popular psychology and self-help collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 4/1/06.]" -Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., CA"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.