A great introduction for me into considering how genders, like cultures, have different ways of communicating. (My premise is that genders, like cultures, are socially-constructed to some extent.) ( )

This book came out at the same time as the more popular Men are From Mars, Women from Venus. I like this one best. The author has credentials to write this stuff. More importantly, it has been a great use in understanding how to communicate more effectively with the opposite sex. ( )

I worked at a Bookstop in the early '90s. This book was (and still is) vastly popular. Secertly, I made fun of the book and readers. "No MAN would confuse MY intentions and meanings." Granted, I am as subtle as a sledge hammer and have NO problem expressing myself.

Fast forward to Nov 2006, my wedding. By 2007, I was hounding my mother for her copy. I still haven't finished it (old prejudicies die HARD), but just knowing that I am not the only one that experiences the gap in communication with their partner. ( )

Very well done. Scientific and intelligent without being dry or pedantic. I can see why this has so thoroughly been absorbed as a cultural meme on understanding inter-gender communication. The concept of report talk verses rapport talk was eye-opening for me.

Finally, I understood all the little dissensions between my significant other when he'd say that I always make the topics "about me" when I'd chime in with a similar experience. What works for feminine 'we're alike' and thus relational conversations doesn't feel the same way to a man who has a paradigm more hierarchical and masculine.

While not every man always speaks in masculine ways nor does every woman only use rapport-talk, it is enlightening to see why and how we speak, and be able to choose our style to fit a situation, and understand some of the reasons that may take it 'off-track' when speaking across the gender gap. ( )

The book is more like a story-telling than a linguistic book. With lots of cases, it makes readers desperately realize that "they" just don't understand.