"A guide to delivering life's most awkward messages"--Cover

Relationships -- Friendships -- Work -- Family -- Strangers.

"Life constantly requires us to give other people some hugely awkward messages: that we don't love them anymore; that we do love them (though we're not meant to); that they smell a bit; that they're fired; that we're furious with them (though we adore them); or that their music is too loud ... Often, out of embarrassment, we just stay quiet. Occasionally we explode. And, typically, we stumble about, looking for the right words - dreading that we didn't find them and thereby causing more hurt than we should. This is a book to help us locate the best possible words to get across a range of life's most difficult messages. In 20 case studies drawn from relationships, friendships, work, our families and interactions with strangers we are gently shown what we might - in an ideal world - find ourselves saying to make our intentions known while causing minimal harm. We laugh, we recognise our troubles - and we're introduced to a range of deeply empathetic ways to navigate some of our most acute social dilemmas."--Back cover