While much of what the authors have written may be true, the book is full of too many examples and not enough explanation. My personal favorite was the argument between a man and his girlfriend over how much she eats, I found the "ideal" conversation to have been far-fetched.I had to read this book for a class or I never would have picked it up. Basically it comes down to: consider the other person's viewpoint and act politely. If you can handle those couple of things, I may have just saved you having to read this book.