Bernard Mandeville's "A Modest Defence of Publick Stews": Prostitution and Its Discontents in Early Georgian England Book

2.5 stars. This book is less annoying than the title might make you think. Starting from the basic premise that you have 90 seconds or less to make an impression, the author covers four different areas that can help to build rapport with someone: attitude, synchronization, conversation, and sensory preferences. Many of his suggestions are pretty commonsensical, but the sections on synchronization and sensory preferences were fairly new to me. He follows the general format of outlining an aspect of human behavior with light reference to scientific studies, sharing sample stories, and offering exercises for the reader to try. The text is very accessible and the exercises make it very concrete.

I would recommend this book to people who are in the business of dealing with other people. Or possibly to people who find social interaction incredibly awkward. This book probably won't revolutionize your life, but it may lead you to be more thoughtful about the ways that you listen and interact with others, and it offers concrete suggestions that may seem hokey but probably help those really struggling with communication skills. I picked up a copy because I frequently have to conduct interviews for my research--it's a really quick read with a few interesting nuggets of information.