It’s obvioulsy dated. It’s advice comes off as trying too hard today (maybe that was true when it was written too). But I think it’s helpful. I read it because it was there on the bookshelf, but maybe other books would’ve helped me more. ‘Supercommunicators’ was way more valuable, but I’d say covers a deeper level of social skills, ‘How to Make Friends…’ coveres the basics better.

I think the true title of the book is “How to Make Shallow Friends and Manipulate People”

Great advice for making acquaintances at work but definitely do not apply it to your personal life

It’s quite dated, and there are some blatent white-suburban-privlage references, but if you can get past that, it’s not bad for business relationships. If anything, the book is an eye opener to disingenuous relationships.

The biggest take away was recognizing when others are using the techniques. You really notice it if you deal with a salesperson. Go buy a car and watch them flick between different items from the book; trying to use your name as much as possible, trying to figure out and relate to your interests, etc.

It’s not meant to be revolutionary - he even said so himself in the introduction. He just collated the best bits of advice and wisdom on the topic, and presented it in an easily digestible way. It’s like an alcoholic asking a therapist for advice, and the therapist says he should stop drinking, and the alcoholic says “that’s not very revolutionary”. We all have things we screw up and we know how and why, and the answer is something obvious. I think considering the time he wrote it, it was a pretty innovative way of telling people things they already know, but in a way that they might want to start listening.

For a balanced point of view, you should also read How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People by Jonar C. Nader.