Aaron Saray's Diary

Book Review - Influence: Science and Practice

Influence: Science and Practice
Robert Cialdini
ISBN: 0321011473

What do I think?

The best book I've read in a long time.  Cialdini explores the various levels of influence starting from the very base human nature influences to the more indepth relationships of scarcity and desire.  His level of detail is great for a casual reader, such as myself.  He states his facts, references studies, and includes an extensive References page - for those who wish to go more indetail.  He approaches the main points of influence in a 3 stage approach.  The first is a quick summary of a case and how it relates to an influencial property.  Secondly, he solidifies his statement with more individual study results.  Finally he ends the section with a section called 'defense' - where he brings up ways to watch for this influence in your life - and to make sure you can control it. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book.  His writing style was easy to read, and funny from time to time.  Every once in a while, however, the theme of the book seemed to get darker - especially with the section called "defense."  Little time was spent talking about the positive outcomes of influence on our society.  He ended each chapter with some summary points which is always great to reference again.  Pick up the fourth edition, and enjoy the roughly 230 pages of influence study.