Rating: 
Summary: negotiate this
Review: a great book; educational & entertaining, an unusual combination.
i recommend it for laymen & professionals alike.
Rating: 
Summary: Irrelevant rumble, effort not worthy the mention
Review: Compared to "You Can Negotiate Anything", there is nothing new here. While "You Can Negotiate Anything" is a very ordinary book itself (way overrated in my opinion) this is an absolute waste of time! Rich on "anecdotes" but short on substance. Lots of irrelevant rumble, too. This book will NOT teach you how to negotiate. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? No, judging by how much the author learned in two or so decades from the release of the first book. He simply uses his name as a brand so people will buy the second book hoping for a revelation or negotiating miracle that will transform them into good negotiators overnight. No miracles of any sort here - the only miracle is that people are buying this book in large numbers! I bough this book and, luckily, managed to sell it on e-bay straight away. You may not be so lucky! Stay away!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Informative
Review: From the small things to major life decisions, Cohen's book is funny, concise and well thought out. A great primer for negotiating and a quick read.
Rating:
Summary: The master, playing the game with you while you read...
Review: Given some of the detailed comments of other reviewers, I won't go into too much detail in my review. However, it needs to be pointed out that Mr. Cohen applied his theories for negotiating to his book with quite a lot of success, to the point where you are convinced of what he's telling you. I want to clarify that I do not disagree with his strategies for negotiating: indeed, I think they work so well, it is hard to distance yourself from the book enough, to the point where you can realize that Cohen is a master at getting (most) people into buying into his ideas. All in all, this is a book I highly recommend for readers of all types: the MBA type who's going through a Negotiation class, the manager who faces a tough face-to-face with someone (s)he needs to convince, the mother or the father who needs to talk the kids into something, or simply the casual reader "passing by" who feels like having a good time flying through the pages of this highly enjoyable and very useful book by one of the world's most respected negotiators. Otherwise, you can imagine how tough it can be to receive praise such as the one printed on the book's backcover, from the likes of Donald Trump, Mario Cuomo and Larry King.
Rating:
Summary: This is MUST have for any library
Review: Herb Cohen has done it again! With his humor and wisdom he has created yet another masterpiece. He is brilliant in his approach of delivering a message that makes it easy for a reader to grasp and, more importantly, apply these phenomenal negotiation techniques to win in almost any area of one's life. Herb uses stories to illustrate valid points. There is simply no better way to learn. Herb makes the subject of negotiation a fun and enlightening learning experience providing so much value. Invest in this book and you'll see your investment returned to you multiplied.
Rating:
Summary: "NEGOTIATE THIS" HITS THE BULLSEYE
Review: Herb Cohen has given us an impressive book that is lively and readable. It's filled with realistic and amusing anecdotes that make his points come alive.
Not only is this the best book ever written about negotiating but decades from now it will be regarded as a classic in psychology, sociology and the human condition. On the scale of 1 through 5, "Negotiate This" is a six.
Rating:
Summary: NEGOTIATE THIS HITS THE BULLSEYE
Review: Herb Cohen has given us an impressive book that is lively and readable. It's filled with realistic and amusing anecdotes that make his points come alive. Not only is this the best book ever written about negotiating but decades from now it will be regarded as a classic in psychology, sociology and the human condition. On the scale of 1 through5, "Negotiate This" is a six.
Rating:
Summary: This follow-up is worth the wait...
Review: Herb Cohen's YOU CAN NEGOTIATE ANYTHING is my all-time
favorite book on negotiations . . . I still recommend it as the
absolute best book ever written on the subject. Amazingly, that book was written in 1980 and Cohen did not
write a follow-up until now . . . as he notes in the Acknowledgments to his latest effort, NEGOTIATE THIS!, "This book has been incubating in me for some time. To be sure, if you believe in the academic axiom, 'publish or perish,' I would be long dead." Fortunately, that is not the case. Cohen lives, and that's a great thing because NEGOTIATE THIS! is a worthy successor to his earlier effort . . . it is filled with useful examples and practical advice that is applicable to virtually any negotiation. In fact, that is one of the real strengths of the book; i.e., it will be useful to a wide range of folks--salespeople, diplomats, even parents. (A whole chapter is devoted to them!) The key is to keep in mind the subtitle to NEGOTIATE THIS! . . . you can succeed BY CARING, BUT NOT T-H-A-T MUCH. There were several memorable passages; among them:
* Basically, there is a twofold explanation for why we often do not achieve our potential as negotiators. One, as we've seen, is that we are too emotionally involved, caring too much. The second reason is that we have too much authority. What I'm saying is that the last person who should negotiate for a country, corporation, or business is the chief executive officer. Take that one step further and realize that the worst person to negotiate for you is-you. Clearly this presents
a practical problem that can be solved by limiting your own authority. Always give yourself room to say, "That sounds good to me but I'll have to check with my board." If you don't have a board, then substitute the word banker, attorney, adviser, boss, or even spouse. * What is really happening? This experienced salesman was merely
playing the game. He knew that offers that come from the side of
the mouth in soft tones have 37 percent more credibility that those made in a normal fashion. * Years ago, when I was first employed by a particular government
agency, they asked for my fee schedule. At the time, I really wanted this assignment, but we both knew there was no way they could afford my regular price. Then, during a face-to-face meeting, I said, "Honestly, I want to work with you on this. Since I trust you 100 percent, I know you'll get me as much money as you can. Whatever that amount is, I'll still do it." Two months later when I arrived at their headquarters, I learned
from a third party that my negotiating partner had spent endless
time and energy looking for ways to increase my fee. Finally, he
had to go into the next year's budget for additional funds.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent strategies and fun to read.
Review: How can you get people to say "yes" to you? Herb Cohen knows. He packs a lot of punch into 300+ pages: colorful anecdotes from decades of his own negotiations, wise examples from the Book of Exodus to Winston Churchill, the importance of humor ("Humor, of course, is no laughing matter"), and how to turn powerlessness into power. Cohen's prophecies about mideast terrorism, first written in the mid-1980s, show he was way ahead of everyone else. I found his section on Jimmy Carter's bungling of the Iran hostage crisis to be particularly thought provoking - and infuriating - and very relevant to the world's post 9/11 crises. Highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Zen and the Art of Negotiation
Review: I first heard, and heard of, Herb Cohen on the radio when Don Imus interviewed him one morning this past year. He sounded like a late great-uncle of mine: mild-mannered and self-effacing, with an endearing Yiddish-inflected speech pattern. (And the photo on the dust jacket reinforced this connection for me, although there's no facial resemblance.) But this "average schlub" -- my phrase, not his -- has been at the helm of some of the world's most tension-fraught negotiations in the last several decades. When you read "Negotiate This!", you can see why. Most of my praise for this book would merely echo that left by others, but I did want to touch on two matters. To answer the two or three people who panned it: This isn't an instruction manual, nor is it meant to be, any more than a Zen ko'an is a detailed instruction on how to live life along the lines of shari'a. In fact, the title of this review typed above would have been a great alternative title for the book. If you want blow-by-blow instructions and nothing else, check out his earlier books or those written by others. This book tells you not only the *what*, but the *why* -- and is highly entertaining, too. I noticed that only one other reviewer went into detail about Cohen's having tried to negotiate the Iranian hostage crisis on behalf of ex-president Jimmy Carter, or his experience in high-profile, high-stakes international negotiations in general. I think those in and of themselves are reason enough to read the book, even if you don't feel you could stand to brush up on your negotiating skills (though I can't imagine anyone who couldn't use a little such fine-tuning). As the other reviewer remarked, Cohen predicted long, long ago that we'd be having much more trouble with that part of the world in the future. Needless to say, he was right. And his attempts to solve the hostage crisis were frustrated at every turn because "Dhimmi" Carter refused to play the game, out of both a pathological sense of "honor" -- Cohen doesn't use this word, but I got the sense that Carter considered hard-nosed wheeling and dealing beneath his dignity -- and his delusion that because the mullahs were of an "Abrahamic faith," we could appeal to their "better nature" (my phrase) rather than bargain as if we were in a souk or bazaar, as they expected us to all along. Cohen's version of the story echoes the frustrations of many of us today who see others in the West grossly underestimating the threat posed to us by Wahhabi Islam.
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