Andrew Fuller - Tricky People

Clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller doesn't call annoying people annoying. He calls them ‘tricky'. In Tricky People he has come up with a list of their most common incarnations, and strategies for dealing with them. He has distilled their varied trickiness into 11 characters: back-stabbers, blamers, whingers, bullies, tyrants, controllers, high-and-mighties, avoiders, competitors and poor communicators.

The chapters are divided by character and you are introduced to each via a list of famous examples from history (such as Brutus, Judas and Lady Macbeth for the back-stabbers). There are lists on how to spot the various characters, anecdotes about interactions with them and then a nicely acronymed section titled CHILL PILL, where strategies for dealing with them are suggested. There is even a chapter for those that have a sneaking suspicion they might be the tricky person in the equation.  

The tone is light, full of maxims and quotes that generally poke a little stick at our human foibles, so it's hard to know whether to file this one under self-help or humour. But the reality of dealing with tricky people in everyday life is frustrating and difficult to laugh at, so it's reassuring that between the throwaway lines there is actually some sound advice. Nina Cullen

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