Customer Reviews

I Know What You're Thinking: Using the Four Codes of Reading People to Improve Your Life

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

"I Know What You're Thinking" is Oprah material. There is nothing wrong with that, particularly if you like page after page of vignettes and lots of quizzes where the first option is always the "right" one. Talk-shows is what the author does, and her book reflects that vocation far, far more than it does her doctoral degrees. Even the testimonials on the back cover are by people who have absolutely no professional credentials in the field she writes about.

For those times when you simply want something very light and glib to pass the time, this book will do fine. But if you are serious about the vocalization and kinestics (body language) fields, leave this one on the shelf.

(I found "Signals" by Allan Pease probably the best on this subject so far in my studies, though not as easy a read. Similarly Gordon Wainwright's "Body Language" is quite good, though his exercises are a bit annoying. Finally, R. Don Steele's self published "Body Language Secrets" has some insights if you can stand his arrogant and patronizing style.)

In preparation for a speech I was about to give for Toastmasters, I was looking for Desmond Morris's famous book "Manwatching". Instead of finding "Manwatching", I found this one and decided to check it out. My first observation on this book was that it looked too watered down as if a bunch of little tid bits of information were just placed in a book and listed. After reading further into the content however, I was really impressed. To me, it really doesn't matter if the author has two PhDs. The important thing is the content and how it's presented.

For a person who has two PhDs, Lillian Glass sure does write in a simple and easy to understand style. A teenager or preteen can understand the information in this book which is good. On the other hand however, I think in an effort to be less scholarly she tends to oversimplify things. For example... she writes in her book that rubbing or scratching the nose is a sign that the person is being deceptive or lying. This is not always the case however. Rubbing or scratching the nose can mean that the person is unsure of something or that he/she is under a great deal of stress. There are other things contained in this book that I would strongly suggest that people be very careful about. Don't jump to conclusions based on one or two little gestures... give it some time and study a person before jumping to conclusions. Use the code the author suggests (speech, voice, body, face). If you are really serious about becoming an expert in detecting lies and reading people, I would also suggest that you get the book "Conquering Deception" by Jeff Nance.

Buying this book is a waste of money. Reading this book is a waste of time. The author is evidently narcissitic. The author is not shy about dropping names of the famous people she has treated. All the examples are of famous and affluent people she knows. The thoughts are only partially developed. She begins a subject and leaves you hanging. The chapters are very generic and things you already know. The book is an advertisement for herself and at the back she has a full page devoted to contacting her to do business with her. Your money and time would be well spent looking elsewhere for help on this subject.

No you do not know what others are thinking.

I just received this author's verbal self-defense book (on my way to reviewing it). I had been hoping to gain some insight and useful ways to deal with hostile, verbally or emotionally abusive type people. You know, the kind of stuff you can't really see or explain well, as with physical violence, but it's just as bad. Her material is so negative it is just not something you want to poison your thinking with. She's got people pigeon-holed into nice neat little packages based not on 20 years of experience but on a general dislike of people. Reading through some of her stuff, I am appalled at the negative attributes she puts on people for things she obviously doesn't understand. I hope she is not a practicing psychologist. She is in the wrong field for helping people or helping people to understand themselves or others. Not a book based on kindness, love for or generosity towards others or oneself, or spirituality. No, I wasn't really expecting all that, but would expect more kindness and understanding from a psychologist than what I have read of her book -- which is going into the trash for what it is - GARBAGE (no resale for poison). I hope this is not representative of how most psychologists think of people. What a horrible influence on our world.

As she would say -- run for your life. (And you will be very lonely if you follow her philosophies on people.)

I don't know what those cynical reviewers are talking about, I thought the book was great! I helped me out a lot. For example, be weary of people who tell you inappropriate and way too personal info, they don't have boundaries and they are emotionally unstable. People who change the topic during a conversation need to feel like they are in control and the center of attention. After reading this book, I noticed so many bad behaviors in other people and a few in myself (Which I changed afterwards).
Of course the book isn't perfect-I felt like Dr. Glass had to oversimplify some topics to market her book to a mainstream audience. I hope she writes another book on how to read people, but with my psychoanalytical depth into why some people exhibit toxic behaviors. But like I said before, this book has amazing insights and it changed the way I read other people.

This is a fun and eye-opening read. This book can really give you an edge in both social and professional situations. Not only does it teach you about your own body language and speech patterns, but also how to interpret the same in others.

There's some useful information but it's extremely difficult to find through all the pointless little quizzes and stories about how awesome the author is at reading people.

As far as reading people, this book is an okay guide. She breaks things down into easy to use categories, though much of what she says is obvious. On the plus side, there are a few interesting revelations (the info on lisping, for example), and there are quizzes to help assess your abilities to read people (though there are the inherent dangers of self-deception and misinterpretation in such self-scoring tests). She only devotes a page or two to cultural differences and neurological problems, and she makes the common mistake of assigning specific interpretations to various acts of body language. There are also some glaring signs of sloppy editing as, at one point when talking about Lady Di, she makes a reference to a previous mention of her in the book which does not exist, and at another point refers to information in an appendix which does not exist. If you must read this, skim or speed-read it, as it's not worth much more of your time than that.

I paint and got this to understand people to make a point in my paintings. It is real entertaining. Enjoy!

I found the first third of the book to be interesting and useful in helping me become aware of people around me. I notice a lot more about people in public after reading that first portion.

The rest of the book was very single-minded, opinionated, and arrogant. It was very difficult to drag the helpful information from the book. Most of what she lists in the book are examples of extreme personalities, and aren't helpful when trying to "read" people in average situations (at a meeting, conference, or restaurant).