For the Forces of Good

Endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Author of INFLUENCE and PRE-SUASION

The joy Marie Kondo sparked for home organizing Lucia Kanter St. Amour has kindled for everyday negotiation.

Have you ever arm-wrestled for chocolates, gamed with the tit-for-tat robot, or booked a session with a negotiation stylist? No? Ever tried to get a toddler to eat their broccoli, been in a conversation where someone repeats themselves over and over, or tried to reason with a person who insists their opinion is indisputable fact?

Ever faced a bully? 

Yes? This book is for you. 

With plucky prose and arresting content, it offers handy Everyday Super Tips . . . and Girl Scout cookies. Accompanied by a runway fashion show of original art, you might call it the little black dress (or white pantsuit) of negotiation literature. It's as visually splashy as it is enriching.

Negotiation happens everywhere everyday and it can be anyone's everyday superpower - even through small acts and language. Yet, negotiation is still viewed by the general public as a specialized skill mastered by experts, and one that you either have or you don't ("Negotiation can't be taught. Some people just have the skill and others don't," as proclaimed by a high school senior, heading to Brown University to study International Relations, at the author's 2022 Easter dinner table). Women, in particular, still consider negotiation cringey - many are uncomfortable just asking for something, prioritizing so-called politeness over opportunity and success.

Well, guess what? Negotiation isn't just for business and boardrooms. Negotiation is sexy. Negotiation is stylish. Negotiation is powerful and accessible to you. Every day.

For the Forces of Good is inclusive and aimed at a general audience. It handily vanquishes the myth that negotiation is some rarified skill for special settings carried out by elite executives or gifted individuals. Far from a dry, technical text, it's a tasty just-so recipe of expertise and vulnerability. Lucia shows us all how to layer the cake with equal parts skills building, storytelling, social and historical commentary, and thought experiment.

The frosting on this yummy how-to book is how unbashfully it also flexes some intellect, imbuing the reader with that same intellectual prowess. Lucia navigates us multi-directionally, connecting the pieces - like the cunning video game super heroine unlocking each next level, making us smarter with every turn of every page, all the while sharing her humanity.

All of that packaged in a compact super-snack sized volume, designed to accommodate a broad spectrum of readers - - from the breezy social media surfer to the deep-dive comparative literature geek.&n...