Review of Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money (Hardcover)

There are many things this book does well. (In fact, everything this book does, it does well.) First, and most remarkably, it tells stories. Not only is the author brave enough to reveal his own financial foibles, he includes interviews with individuals who have suffered financial ruin and lived to tell the tale. The stories are striking in their variety and poignancy, and they are made all the more salient by Vyse's beautifully written prose. The author paints a clear picture of his subjects' various crises, so that each story--no matter how different it may be from our own--has a sense of familiarity. We understand that these are fellow Americans who for the most part have worked hard and played by the rules, and we can't help recognizing their humanity and vulnerability as our own.

Moving beyond the stories that open each chapter, Vyse looks not only at the internal, "psychological" processes associated with financial difficulty--such as the seemingly inexplicable tendency to overpay for items on eBay--but he also uses a broad lens to examine the social and political forces that conspire against our best efforts to stay ahead in the financial game. Rather than simply attributing the bankruptcy epidemic to "shopaholism" or endemic self-indulgence (as many others blithely do), Vyse weaves together hard science, cultural criticism, and macroeconomic analysis to create a disturbing image of our personal--and national--economic landscape.

Finally, the majority of Vyse's suggestions for not going broke are practical, common-sense solutions that almost every American can employ. But even in presenting his suggestions, Vyse acknowledges that there are larger forces which need to be addressed before a majority of Americans can enjoy financial security. Far from being a panacea, Vyse presents his suggestions as something of a self-defense strategy in a world where our senses and sensibilities are constantly bombarded, and our financial futures are bought and sold by corporations without hesitation or regulation.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in human behavior, American culture, economics, politics, or public policy--and to anyone who just wants a good, thought-provoking read.




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Review of The Psychology of Persuasion: How to Persuade Others to Your Way of Thinking (Hardcover)

The Psychology of Persuasion is written for the person who wants to influence others. Hogan reveals more communication and influence secrets in one book than you might expect possible. The phallic paradigm of persuasion begins with the concept of Win/Win (which the author clearly believes in and repeats over and over throughout the text) and finishes with some very complex and advanced persuasion techniques that are difficult to describe in a book review.

Having been in market research for seven years, I can tell you that his insights into what works and what doesn't is pretty accurate. I also learned a great deal I hadn't come across in my work with P&G.

Specifically, the section about power words is worth a great deal to a person running their own business or for a salesperson. (It's also nice to have this information as a mother of a teenager!)

The next information that is striking (and there are some basics in the book like building rapport, elementary sales tools, and the like that make this useful for beginners as well as those of us who use this material to make a living)is the detailed discussions about nonverbal communication and strategic movement. I've never seen discussions of strategic movement in any book and the body language components are mature and insightful. Everything seems well researched and ready for use.

Another very nice benefit of this book is the subject of collecting intelligence. It seems that most everyone in the influence and persuasion professions have ignored this element and Hogan pulls a rabbit out of his hat here. Using simple examples, he shows how to really gather useful intelligence whether you are a marketer with a big budget or a small business person.

The most exciting material is the second half of the book. Here Hogan describes advanced techniques of persuasion that, once again, I have never seen anyone discuss. What again seems like magic is described carefully and with a simple but scientific precision.

Appropriate to news events of the year 2001, brainwashing is discussed in detail in the book and in light of current events, these revelations should be read by all.

The Psychology of Persuasion is a fun read. It is written so that you can be more influential with your kids, your boss or your business dealings.

The only drawback of this book was that most of the stories are about small business people. Those of us in corporate America have to extrapolate how to use these one on one tools, or small group strategies to the much larger audience of America and Western Europe. Aside from that, there isn't anything to complain about.

This was a big win for me.



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