It's classic book but now it's very outdated. The principles are still solid but examples just reinforce some ways of nonproductive and manipulative communication.

I won't recommend reading it if you don't have at least basic understanding of principles of assertiveness, listening, and emotional intelligence. Only if you do, you would be able to sift through the valuable information.

This is a very decent read. It has a lot of helpful insight as far as assertiveness training.
In my opinion the dialogues of people practicing assertiveness situations that occur in life was the most helpful.
However, I believe it is easy to read and say, “well that makes a lot of sense!” But putting it into practice is a totally different story.
Overall, a decent informative read, but a little dated and some of the dialogue was quite funny with very “flower power” type wording used. Such as, (groovy, right on, as well as elusive ways of speaking of sexual situations that are now not such a big deal).

Creo que leerse este libro sin un mínimo de inteligencia emocional y comprensión del conductismo como corriente que deja fuera otros factores a tener en cuenta a parte de la simple relación estímulo-respuesta (expuesta con diálogos difícilmente aplicables en situaciones reales) podría ser un poco peligroso. La parte de derechos asertivos y un par de técnicas son, en general, realmente útiles, pero el resto o bien es repetitivo o bien imposible de leer sin levantar una ceja en pleno 2020 (no era consciente de que fue publicado hace más de 40 años... and it shows). Aun así, me alegra haberlo leído.

The book is 49 years old and you can feel that. Full of long repetitive dialogs, most of them now are happening via email or apps on your phone, law gives you the right to return faulty items etc. Communication changed a lot since internet and smartphones came to our lives. Being overt and assertive works well raising your kids and dealing with disrespectful neighbours but if you just say to your family, co-workers or friends "I don't want to meet you" without an excuse is recipe to social isolation. There are many modern books that will help you, even some from that era like Wayne Dyer's books

A book from the 1970's yet with so much relevant content in today's world, a small and powerful thought provoking read. I really liked the dialogue examples throughout as a means to actively using the techniques learned in the book. The techniques are somewhat difficult to put into practice due to already learnt behaviours such as 'fogging' with criticism, but the caveat is to dispel the power of non assertive people's manipulation and I can see that this is a sure way to being true to your own mind and happiness.

At first, I was excited about this book. As a woman who often finds it difficult to assert herself, systematic assertiveness training seemed like a wonderful idea. While the assertiveness system was probably good, the examples were so crazy that I couldn't take the book seriously, and ended up looking to see when it had been written. When I saw 1975 as the publishing date, it suddenly made sense why all of the examples were horribly misogynistic. In one example, a man drops a cake on his wife's head, threatens to hit her, and runs out. When they go to therapy together, the author says that the therapy didn't work because the wife wasn't willing to change! The author uses words like: nag, pussywhip, and bitch to describe the behavior of women. In the final section on being assertive about sex, there's a ridiculous example where a husband is trying to get his wife to agree to go to a nudist colony where there is group sex, and when his wife doesn't want to go, the author presents it as being something wrong with her for not agreeing. Seriously, don't read this book. The misogyny is egregious, and there are lots of books about assertiveness that aren't this terrible.

Underwhelming so far.

Statements like, "Most people seen by therapists are seeking help as a result of over-reliance on fight or flight in various, sometimes bizarre forms", had me checking the date of publication. He also missed at least two major fear responses Freeze & Appease (+ and I've heard it convincingly argued that going crazy is another strategy, when all others fail - an extreme form of dissociation).
I've seen no mention of trauma, or comprehension why a woman in an office might be opposed to habitually making the coffee for and waiting on everyone, and mysteriously feel unable to say so directly

More broad scope than the title would suggest, this book teaches communication skills everyone needs to learn. Properly employed, these skills allow you to be polite in society while at the same time being up front about your own needs.

Solutions seem rigid and geared towards destroying relationships than developing them.

Classic assertiveness training manual

Take a trip back to the 1970s, when leisure suits, long sideburns and “assertiveness training” were all the rage. Psychologist Manuel J. Smith was a pioneer in the life-changing assertiveness training movement. Reading his bestseller about it decades later adds a new perspective. Some of his advice still feels relevant, particularly when he urges you to beware of those who try to impose their standards of “right” and “wrong” to manipulate you. Smith lists your 10 “assertive rights,” the most important being the right to be the ultimate judge of your own behavior. He details several verbal techniques you can use to block manipulation, and encourage productive communication and negotiation. He supports each tactic with sample dialogues from real-life situations. Although some of his counsel may seem as dated as disco, getAbstract recommends his classic training manual to anyone who still feels guilty about saying “no!”

This book not at all what I expected. It covered some case studies of commercial transactions where being persistent and asserting your rights will result in improved results.

Most of the examples covered people simply repeating what they wanted broken record style. I don't think this is effective in many scenarios as things need to be escalated to management, external regulators or through legal action.

There was on example of a parent with irrational fears about the safety of his daughter when she went out in evenings with her friends. The book supported the father chastising his daughter for her being out despite the man's beliefs being largely irrational.

Being assertive is generally good but asserting irrational beliefs is not good and you should be working on being more rational and then perhaps focus on assertiveness training.

There was another example about a woman increasing her assertiveness to not be led into unwanted sexual encounters. A few chapters later the example was a man being assertive to literally force his wife to go to a nudist colony which was clearly against her wishes.

The book might be great for academic purposes and in some limited situations but in many real life examples, this will not help at all.

Extremely helpful book. My therapist recommended it. It was by far the best recommendation she gave. I loved how practical and helpful it was. I'm actively looking to work on the skills that this book discussed.
I hope I find more like it!