It's nice to finally find a book on social psychology that is actually useful. Most books that purport to teach you something about social influence are full of obvious rules such as "don't be rude to people without reason" or contradict themselves. This one doesn't.
This book is primarily a study of psychological compliance-- what causes a person to agree to something they normally wouldn't. Cialdini rushes to explain that the techniques explained here aren't a panacea, something that elevated him in my mind-- this wasn't an "unbeatable control over everyone you meet" book. It's well-supported with references to both real-world situations and psychological experiments, and the author explains in great detail not only how the techniques are used, but also why they work and how to counteract them.
What I found most interesting, however, is how many of the same compliance techniques Cialdini uses to get us to accept his ideas. For instance, this book is written as a guide for the victims of compliance techniques: us (Cialdini goes to great lengths to include himself in this group, using the techniques of similarity and cooperation). This is enhanced even more by his consistent use of the word "us"-- he wants us to think of him as one of us, because it increases compliance: in this case, acceptance of the book.
This comes off as more amusing and instructive than anything else, because it really is a well-written and interesting book, with all sorts of helpful information in it. Probably the best book in the field.
