KIRKUS REVIEW
A primer on ``Sex Talk Differences'' by Hollywood guru Glass (Say it Right, 1991, etc.--not reviewed), offering practical advice on how to succeed in love and business by overcoming gender traits in conversation. Opening with a quiz to discredit sexual clichÇs such as women's being more intuitional than men, Glass (who coached Dustin Hoffman for his role as a woman in Tootsie) goes on to establish 105 new ones--divided into ``Body Language'' (men gesture broadly, fingers together; women gesture close to their bodies, fingers curled or apart); ``Facial Language'' (men cock their heads, frown, and squint; women duck their heads, smile, and nod); ``Speech and Voice Patterns'' (men mumble and interrupt; women are precise and allow interruptions); and ``Behavioral Pattern Differences'' (men are analytical, women emotional; men yell, women cry). In personal, social, and business relationships, Glass says, people should find out what appeals to the opposite sex and do it: Men should use more terms of endearment; women should learn to talk about ``what men enjoy''--sports, news, cars, art, and music. Some of the author's advice involves basic social skills (avoid cursing, dirty jokes, teasing, nagging) and some is basic psychology (women should learn to express anger and men should learn to ask for help). Glass offers help to herself at book's end with a menu of the services she provides--including videos, tapes, and telephone evaluations- -and concludes with a surprisingly academic bibliography that mentions the far more interesting, useful, and subtle You Just Don't Understand (1990), by Deborah Tannen. Glass's oversimplified analysis disregards occupational, generational, regional, racial, educational, economic, and class differences. Might prove of use, though, if you were preparing to play a transvestite in a movie.
