Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Handwriting Analysis, 2nd Edition

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a sucker for unique skills and psychology. The Body Farm fascinates me, not that I'd want to be the scientist who digs into the putrid place, but the mystery and marvel of the human body amazes me. My Psych 101 class included The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat as one of the required textbooks. I loved learning, and still remember twenty years later, some of the details of the way a mind can twist.

Handwriting analysis is another one of those quirky sciences that grab my mind. I even sent my handwriting away to be analyzed during my Psych 101 days and the results we astonishingly accurate.

My fascination with the subject may color my review. I can't tell you how accurate or spot-on Sheila Lowe's information is or how it compares to colleagues. But I can tell you that this book is cool. The basic whys, hows and how-tos are included as are juicy evaluations and samples of handwriting styles.

If you are fascinated by the subject I think you might find this to be an excellent beginning look into this intriging skill.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Handwriting Analysis by Sheila Lowe is a MUST HAVE for everyone who plans to interact with people in any situation, be it professional or romantic or familiar. Understanding how the subtleties of a person's handwriting can tell us different things about that person, and may keep us from falling into bad relationships (business or personal) is invaluable. This book is so chock full of useful information, it is worth its weight in gold!

I highly recommend this book.

I found the book easy to understand.I also like the fact it wasnt dry, but written with humor.

Sheila Lowe's book is very well organized, well written, and is a wealth of information from years of experience. I have read the book and used it in my work and training. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in the field.

Shielah Lowe knows wherefrom she speaks and writes. This book contains more "how-to" and "what-is" information about graphology...handwriting analysis...than any other I have read, with the possible exception of Victor Povsner's (Allan K. Grim, Jr.) book "Strokes." I mention Povsner's work because in her book Lowe addresses the gestalt, or 'whole page' viewpoint of analysis and Povsner looks at handwriting from the atomist, or individual stroke, perspective. Until I read Lowe's book I was an atomist. Because Lowe exudes credibility via her writing convinced me to accept the fact that the two approaches to handwriting analysis, taken together and used by a professional, will yield the most comprehensive and correct analysis of a given sample.

Lowe's book contains many sample handwriting illustrations to go with a seemingly endless supply of graphology features that will keep a reader occupied as he or she learns to interpret page after page of handwriting, much of it from names most readers will recognize. She wastes few words in her text. As they say, "Highly recommended."

If you have been caught up in the "the methods incorporated in graphology vs. the other methods" debate, I believe that this book will go a long way towards ending the debate in your mind...if it doesn't end it altogether. I respectfully request that readers ignore review comments written by those who state that there is no basis for handwriting analysis. As usual, Europe leads the way, so do your research starting over there, then come to a conclusion about the art and science of handwriting analysis after carefully reading Shielah Lowe's book and practicing what she preaches before making snap judgments about handwriting analysis.

As with Ms. Lowe's first idiot guide, this book sounded much better in theory than it was in practice. First of all, it only demonstrates the bare basics, and while it certainly examines those basics in depth, it is still a rather slim offering. The book is also terribly organized. It jumps around from individual letters to strokes then back to an individual letter and back and forth. It is neither user-friendly nor particularly enlightening. Furthermore there are not enough picture examples of the traits discussed. To make matters worse the few examples provided are BLURRY and appear to be PHOTOCOPIES taken from other PHOTOCOPIES. While this edition has more samples, they are also of poor quality. This book does a decent job introducing one to some of the basics of handwriting analysis, though it falters when it comes to equipping the reader with the basic skills needed to do a proper analysis. Another unnecessary addition were the "tip boxes" and "anecdote boxes" on almost every page. They were so scattered and didn't always apply to the topic on that particular page. I got the distinct impression that this book was a "front" for pushing specific brands of software. If you're looking for some parlor tricks to amuse your friends than this is the book for you. If you are a serious student, shop around on Amazon and you will find high quality books on handwriring analysis by trained experts in the field.

Dear reviewers of this book,

To quote another reviewer (Deborah K. Dobbins, Feb. 15, 2007), "this book examines the basics in depth." It also offers lots of sample handwriting analyses which are so key for the beginning handwriting analysis student. Deborah K. Dobbins was quite right again that this book is "Not for the serious students..." but that's because it's a "Complete Idiot's Guide to Handwriting Analysis." I thought the whole point of the "Complete Idiot's Guide" series was to make information on a subject understandable for complete idiots, not serious students!? If that is the case this book will surpass your expectations!

Greatest book on the market in this field. Simple, yet profound! Easy to read with clear illustrations to promote understanding.

There have been lot of studies concerning handwriting, and the verdict of the scientific community is firm: there is no good data about its usefulness. Just call your nearest university and ask for professor in personality psychology and the response is the same I argue here. My specialty is psychometric studies of personality traits, so I regard myself as an expert.

Markku Ojanen, PhD
Professor of psychology
University of Tampere