The introduction of the book didn't do its job very well. Seventy percent of this book is knowing your personality type according to color (Red, Yellow, Green or Blue). There's a 'blink and you miss it' sentence that says the color personalities don't apply to people who aren't neurotypical, but dude, that comes off as a Cover Your Ass moment. The colors can apply to anyone, no matter how their brains work. The passages that discussed color were often funny, and I liked how the information and examples were presented. Psychopaths are mentioned very, very little. This is a guide on how to deal with them according to your color personality. Thirty percent of the book is, anyway. There's dialogue you can practice saying that will help. I repeated it often out loud and wrote down examples. I knocked off half a star since it took me a bit to adjust to what the author was doing. Spending so much time on color personalities had a reason. It took awhile for that reason to sink in. And the book dragged at parts and could be repetitive. I'm still super glad I read this.. ( )

I wish Erikson had introduced this book years earlier. Had I read it before taking a certain full-time job, I would have been better prepared to handle a former supervisor who displayed unmistakable psychopathic tendencies almost daily. In my 40 years of employment spanning more than 15 bosses, this was the only overseer who displayed such alarming tendencies. But before readers delve into the devious lives of psychopaths, there’s homework to do in the first quarter of the book. Readers must wade through occasionally dense material involving specific personality types. Some will be familiar with the DiSC model that places people into red, green, yellow and blue categories. Time spent on these lengthy explanations and examples are worth it in the long run as the author presents a smorgasbord of scenarios in which psychopaths ply their manipulative strategies in homes, workplaces and other settings. Although a few anecdotes feel a bit redundant, most vividly illustrate the problems and offer enlightening strategies for grappling with psychopathic landmines. True, some of the vignettes seem to be fueled by personal hostilities and could be interpreted as axe-grinding on Erickson’s part – or even a tad narcissistic. But “Surrounded by Psychopaths” presents many intriguing news-you-can-use insights. ( )