Rating: 
Summary: Read it and it will change your life!
Review: Every one should read this book no matter how old the text is. It will change your life and if everyone used only a small fraction of the advice in this book the world would be a better place for all of us. This is a great read for anyone interested in improving relations between, family members, employees, children ect.
All in all a great book!
Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Classic Everyone Should Read.
Review: The stories of success and inspiration that Carnegie adds to make his points alone make this book wroth reading. Some reviewers on this page have said that this book is out of date, no way, this book is a classic, how people think and what motivates them haven't changed much in the last 70 years. Carnegie spells out simple practices that you can use in your everyday life on how you can improve your relationships, making sales, and improve your own image with other people. If your looking to meet new people or just read it for the entertainment value of the storys alone, its clearly a book that you won't want to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Packed With Knowledge!
Review: In the book that gave birth to the self-help genre, Dale Carnegie spells out his plan for getting what you want from other people by changing the way you behave. Carnegie developed these principles by drawing from examples of persuasive people in history, like Abraham Lincoln, and from his own experiences. Since Carnegie wrote his book in 1935, many of his examples will of course seem dated, but his basic principles are timeless, eminently useable and presented in an easy-to-read and personal style. We [...] recommend this classic to everyone, since even in the 66 years since Carnegie published this book, no one has said it better.
Rating:
Summary: More than I expected
Review: I got more out of this book than I ever expected! The principles in this book are timeless common sense, yet we all tend to forget them. Principles include:
don't criticize other people; praise other people; let the other person do the talking; remember people's name; smile; if you're wrong admit it, even if your not wrong, saying your wrong might help the outcome. all these things our grandmother taught us, but we seldom use. Make it a "game" to try to put these ideas into your every day life; you'll be surprised how effective they really are. i thought they were all a little hokie at first. but i promise, my business life, personal life, & self confidence have all made dramatic improvements in just 1 WEEK! Read it & benefit!
Rating:
Summary: Quality never ever goes out of style
Review: On of the best self help books I ever read, was simple to follow and the facts were so true.
This book was written in the 1920's but the Truths in this book is for the year 2002
Rating:
Summary: Perfect!! (Cass.Per.5.JNoble)
Review: This was my first time reading Dale Carnegie's influential book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," and I found it to be an amazing resource of information on how to deal with people. For a book that was written in 1936 it was truly a great resource then and still is now because no matter the century, technology changes but people and human nature remain the same. This book explains ways to have people respond to you in very positive ways. And teaches you how to develop into a leader by explaining the most effective ways to deal with complaints, arguments, and people in general. This book teaches you and gives examples of how to use Dale Carnegie's messages through really short stories about really interesting and cool people. I found this book both thought provoking and fun to read because it sends its message in easily understood terms. And each chapter ends with a principle thought to remember and elaborate on, through the use of real world examples. In short, this book is a valuable resource for people struggling to make friends or trying to understand people. It is also a good tool for executives, teachers, or anyone in a leadership type role. This book will help you gain the success and respect you want.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely astounding
Review: I cannot say enough about how true this information is. I put it to use before I was even done listening to the entire book. There is so much information in this book that I think that it will take years to master. I have listened to the book twice already in 1 week. I have always had a difficult time with people because of my inabilities. I have been able to handle 3 difficult situations in the first week, and I was able to win people to what I wanted. No one could spend their money better! This book can change your life if you let it. Thanks Dale
Rating: 
Summary: Is what "works" always what's best? Or: "gag."
Review: You're really going to let me have it, aren't you? How DARE I give but one star to the great How to Win Friends and Influence People?
Forgive me. I do so as a matter of principle.
This material works -- depending on how you define "works." What is your objective? If your principle aim in reading this book is to improve your likeability in more superficial day-to-day relationships, in business contexts in particular, you have found your manual. If your capacity to rationalize is strong enough to allow you to believe you aren't constantly being insincere when putting this book's advice into practice, or you simply aren't bothered by insincerity, then buy the book, and again, please forgive my low rating. You will, following the advice, be more likeable and persuasive. And if your definition of "friends" is sweeping and indiscriminate, you'll make more of those, too.
I have two criticisms of the book.
First, I find much -- not all -- of its advice unbearable to follow. You may be nothing like me, and would not have this problem. But while I recognize the importance of friendliness, care with others' feelings, and "getting along," I can endure only so much insincerity. This book goes too far. The awkward word would be "schmoozing"; How to Win Friends and Influence People is a guide to mastery of that practice. Were I to follow the advice given closely, I would be unable to look myself in the mirror without nausea. If working towards your black belt in schmoozing isn't for you, you might feel as I do about a substantial portion of Carnegie's advice.
My second criticism is the real reason for the single star. This is where principle comes in. A reviewer below expresses it well, and got few helpful votes for it. But I believe he has it *right*: THIS SORT OF MATERIAL CAN BE USED JUST AS EASILY FOR EVIL AS FOR GOOD. (Sorry for shouting.)
Let me illustrate with the situation that resulted in my becoming motivated enough to write this review, even though I read the book over two years ago.
There's a fellow who represents one of the resellers we do business with where I work. We buy a lot of computer networking gear from him. I have absolutely been able to determine that this fellow is unscrupulous and dishonest. He really tries to get away with things, like surreptitiously altering final lease agreements before the upper-level boss signs them, claiming he doesn't remember points he agreed to, and changing figures and pricing because the changes may not get noticed (that happens!). When (if) these things get noticed, he just claims they were "mistakes."
I tried to point these behaviors out to two of my bosses, but somehow they couldn't accept it. They kept saying things like, "[First name]? No, [first name]'s a 'good guy'; there must be some mistake" and "I don't buy that; [first name] is one of the most decent, customer-focused reps I know." I even got myself in a little hot water with one of these managers by writing a "harsh" e-mail about this rep.
This was driving me *nuts* because I know this is not true. This rep is dishonest. So, I tried to figure out why neither of my bosses were willing to accept, or even consider, what I was telling them. Why does this guy seem to be able to get away with anything?
I am confident I figured it out: he has VERY STRONG SOCIAL SKILLS. I've been in a few meetings with him and had one lunch with him. He is soft spoken and mild mannered, he takes a seemingly genuine interest in you and what you're up to in your job and even your life, he compliments you and your efforts with remarkable sincerity, he expresses admiration for you ("that is something; I really wish I had your ability to..."), he is self-deprecating, he smiles, more. It's quite disarming. He seems to be very effective at putting the principles espoused in Carnegie's book INTO PRACTICE.
And that's why he is, I must say, a likeable fellow. But because of this, he gets away with a marked lack of integrity in his practices. Yes, there's no question Carnegie's principles work (see above on "work"). It would be foolish not to incorporate at least some of Carnegie's basic suggestions into one's social repertoire. But again, these principles can be used for "evil" just as easily as they can be used for good. People all too easily mistake likeability for such things as integrity, ability, and sincerity. Do we want to encourage insincerity for the sake of social effectiveness?
By all means, getting along is an essential skill. And some people use the importance of being "sincere" as an excuse to be crass, to be disrespectful, to be careless with others' feelings. As such, some of Carnegie's advice has its place. But I feel that what we really need, over all, moderated with kindness and care, is more TRUTH in our interpersonal relationships. And less effort directed towards the use of social skills as a tool to manipulate others in pursuit of our personal goals.
My single star won't hurt the average on Carnegie's book. There are many stellar reviews. But if you were to ask me whether the world would be a better place with or without this book, I'd hesitate.
Then I'd answer: "without."
/\/\
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A little follow-up. I sent an e-mail to another fellow who proffered a less-than-glowing review. In corresponding with him, I learned that people from Dale Carnegie Training (proudly listing "Franchise Opportunities" on their Web site) had written him many times with unflattering (at minimum) commentary in response. Remarkable, no?
Insofar as the non-helpful votes, maybe I was more helpful than I thought. :-)
Rating:
Summary: This book is now obsolete.
Review: "Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automation, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain...he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality..." As I can validate with the man who recommended this book to me, this observation by Erich Fromm is 100% on target with "Win Friends and Influence People".
This man, who practiced this book, presented himself as superficial, artificial, irregular, and consequently very annoying. He proved to me that these techniques do not facilitate communication- they stifle it. Instead of being direct, this man would only have the courage to give hints or make indirect statements in the form of questions. If I would attempt to explain something to him he didn't understand, he would immediately light up and go, "Oh! I see what you mean buddy." In my head I would think 'You couldn't possibly understand- I didn't even start explaining!' But that's how this "Win Friends" philosphy made him- he's not willing to go through any difficulty at all to understand and communicate with others.
The techniques in this book basically converted this man into a robot. Nobody really knows what kinds of things he's interested in - although at first you think his interests have a lot in common with yours. The man has no sincerity or credibility. When I see him smiling I don't know if he is genuinly happy or just trying to appear pleasant. When he says he agrees with me, it means nothing because he always seems to agree with everyone. I've come to take his liberal and exaggerated complements of me as insults because in doing this, he ignores what is truly worth praise and I know that anything he does for me is really only for his image. I'll sum up this book for you:
1. Fake interest in other people's hobbies to get what you want out of them.
2. Pretend to agree with whatever people tell you so you'll be more popular.
3. Only express positive feelings ; do away with sincerity.
4. Make false excuses for your actions that people would be embarrased to turn down, called "Appealing to the Nobler Motives."
5. Talk your way out of what you behave yourself into (as if this was possible).
I witnessed the ineffectiveness of a man who devoted himself to this book; I tried this book myself for a while. My conclusions: It contains nothing more than deceptive, manipulative, superficial techniques that have no use and will lead to the detriment of yourself and your relationships. Instead, I recommend reading the book that made this one obsolete: "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Dr. Stephen R. Covey.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive Classic
Review: As a salesman constantly reading new material to keep my attitude sharp, nothing beats How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. I am constantly going back to this classic to focus on the basics-smile, compliment, talk about others, listen... Like a football player, six weeks into the season, practicing the basics-blocking, tackling, ball handling-I find myself returning time and time again to the solid instruction presented in this fine book. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to be a better, happier, more influential person.
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