Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1448 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-20
• Released on: 2007-03-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780805083392
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
There has been huge interest from the media in this fascinating book and Paul is over here at the moment doing publicity. He has done an interview for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH where the journalist and Paul went round the National Gallery looking at the paintings with Paul reading the emotions on the portraits. He has also been interviewed for the GUARDIAN, which will run in their LIFE SECTION on 19 June. Paul wrote a big piece for THE OBSERVER which ran in theircrime supplmenent on Sunday 27 April. While he was here Paul was interviewedon THIS MORNING (ITV) 3 June, THE FI GLOVER SHOW (BBC Radio 5 Live) 2 June, JOHNNIE WALKER SHOW (BBC Radio 2), 2 June, EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER (BBC Radio4), BBC RADIO SHROPSHIRE and NEWSTALK 106 for Ireland. Reviews are just starting to come in: 'Here Paul Ekman doyen of contemporary emotion researchers, turns to the practical management of emotion in everyday life. The result is an outstanding example of popular scientific writing.'NEW SCIENTIST 'There are some fascinating titbits along the way. I was struck by his suggestion thatwhile emotions are vital tools for dealing with the outside world, moods area destructive by-product and that we'd be better off without them. Ekman canbe riveting on the minutae of facial expressions, especially the way that anexpression can be observed even when an emotion is being half-felt or suppressed.'Robert Hanks, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A brilliant and gripping read'THE GOO

About the Author

Customer Reviews

Absolutely Excellent book on Concealed Emotions
btw I'm Susan Gill's son.

Dr Ekman has been getting alot of attention lately, due to the fact that he is the scientific consultant for the new show on Fox "Lie to Me". The show is even based off of his science. In fact, it's the reason I got into this type of behavioral science. So if like me you want to strengthen your ability to catch liars or see hidden emotions in the face, this book is without a doubt your best bet.

What makes this book so good is that Ekman includes pictures of every single emotion, and describes them in detail so that you should know which emotion should be felt at which time. Pictures are abundant in each chapter for each specific emotion On top of that, the book even has a test you can take to see how well you can read emotions before, and after you read the book.

Another very helpful thing is that he even gives a negation signal people can make in the face called "mouth shrugs", and the difference between a mouth shrug and sadness. This was an issue if you've seen the "Moral Waiver", because it was hard to spot in that particular episode what exactly a mouth shrug looked like. In fact, I know what a mouth shrug looks like and I STILL have a harder time seeing what they did with it, so on that note this book is very useful.

As for using it for lie detection, the extra chapter included in this edition is extremely useful. It describes the two types of errors a person can make when interpreting signals for lying, but not in so much detail that it kills you (I.E "Telling Lies"). It's almost as if it summarizes some of what "Telling Lies" says, so it's really good after you read "Telling Lies" to read that chapter if you're having any issues.

My only complaints for the book is mostly the way Ekman set up the chapters. He wrote why and when we feel the emotion BEFORE you learn to recognize it. This was a problem for me because it made me want to get to the faces and how to read them. If he had done that first, I may have been more interested in understanding WHY or WHEN certain emotions occur.

On a different note, Ekman really makes it seem that he doesn't have a lot of confidence in his lie detection system, but if you watch "Lie to Me" you can see clearly that his research can be well over 90 % accurate based on the context of the situations, and looking for changes in behavior instead of just one sign of lying only.

One last thing, if you to want to learn how to detect lies and how to read faces and body language like the people on "Lie to Me" (and like Ekman), this isn't the only book you should get. It's more of a concentration on the Face instead of the "whole picture" you'll be looking at.

This is my opinion, but you should really get Ekman's book "Telling Lies" and Alan and Barbara Pease's book "The Definitive Book of Body Language" if you want to get really serious about lie detection. Each book contains certain information that's more in depth on each subject. Like the use of Manipulators is alot more in depth in the Body language book than in any of Ekmans books (which is really needed because Ekman barely covers that topic). On top of that, reading body language can give you a better assesment of a person's behavior based on their positive and negative body language. Coupled with the "Tells" that Ekman describes, you should have a really good understanding of how the system works.

Ekman's other book, "Telling Lies" is a bit of a tougher read, but it includes valuable information on the body and lying that none of the other books have. It goes more in-depth on the two errors a Lie catcher can make, and give you a much deeper understanding on how and why people lie (make sure you buy the 2009 remake version though, it has the best information, and makes it sound more conclusive about his studies towards the end of the book).

So if you're interested in concealed emotions, buy this book immediately. If you're interested in lie detection however, buy this book, and "Telling Lies" (Paul Ekman) and "The Definitive Book of Body Language" (Allan, Barbara Pease) and to watch "Lie to Me" every week to get a better understanding of how to use his science.

*****EDITED NOTES*****

Just to let you know, I've edited my review to make it easier to read, and that I've written a review on "Telling Lies" if you'd like more information on that book.

An intriguing look at our faces and emotions
In Emotions Revealed, Ekman discusses how a person's face can be "read" to determine what kind of emotions s/he is feeling. The author then proceeds to focus on emotions such as contempt, disgust, sadness, happiness, and anger. In each chapter he has a model who shows different expressions. He explains in great detail how to read the facial expressions as well as what they seem to mean. He also has an exercise that people can do to use facial expressions to invoke feelings. Overall, it's a fascinating read, which shows how much the face is integral to feeling emotion as well as expressing it. At times, the book is dry and can be a bit of a slog to read through, but Ekman does a fairly comprehensive job of explaining the subject. I'm already eager to see how I can apply the concepts in my everyday communication.

Likely Good Information Poorly Shown
I'm sure the author is an expert and knows his material, but the book is very poor. Poor in that the pictures are disjointed with the subject matter; too much referenced material from others that is descriptive but not very explanatory in just the textual sense, i.e., telling me what something looks like is difficult for me to understand when I've never seen it before - and I believe that's the key to micro expressions - observing the face and how it looks in order to be able to interpret it!

The section on how to tell if someone is lying is useless in respect to actually being able to use micro expressions to do that. Define it - show me - then test me. There is an overkill in defining IT, awful and poor trying to show me, and the real test you have to buy on-line for more money! In my opinion, the entire book was like a teaser so you'd have to buy another book or his on-line "training."

Bottom Line - I would not recommend this book for someone believing that after reading this book (even multiple times) one could put any of the information in it to real use - other than to talk about it in a very high level conceptual manner. I gave it a two star rating because I'm sure the Author knows how to use the material that HE couldn't explain so that I COULD (even) begin to use it. A total waste of money and time.