Review : Words fail us

Talking Nine to Five (Virago, £8.99, ISBN 1 86049 200 2), the third of
Deborah Tannen’s studies of conversation, deals with words in the
workplace—and problems arising from different styles of communication. If
every worker in every workplace read it and learnt from it, we might not need
managers any more. As usual, Tannen’s observations are detailed and fascinating,
constantly provoking the comment “So maybe that’s what (s)he meant when …”