The Liar In Your Life

In The Liar in Your Life, psychology professor Robert Feldman, one of the world's leading authorities on deception, draws on his immense body of knowledge to give fresh insights into how and why we lie, how our culture has become increasingly tolerant of deception, the cost it exacts on us, and what to do about it. His work is at once surprising and sobering, full of corrections for common myths and explanations of pervasive oversimplifications. Feldman examines marital infidelity, little white lies, career-driven resumé lies, and how we teach children to lie. Along the way, he reveals-despite our beliefs to the contrary- how it is nearly impossible to spot a liar (studies have shown no relationship between nervousness, lack of eye contact, or a trembling voice, and acts of deception). He also provides startling evidence of just how integral lying is to our culture; indeed, his research shows that two people, meeting for the first time, will lie to each other an average of three times in the first ten minutes of a conversation. Feldman uses this discussion of deception to explore ways we can cope with infidelity, betrayal, and mistrust, in our friends and family. He also describes the lies we tell ourselves: Sometimes, the liar in your life is the person you see in the mirror. With incisive clarity and wry wit, Feldman has written a truthful book for anyone who whose life has been touched by deception.

IIt's a fact: we all lie. And we lie a lot - two to three times in a ten-minute conversation is the average, as Robert S Feldman, one of the world's leading authorities on deception, shows in this groundbreaking book. From the 'white lies' of social niceties ('It's so nice to see you') to lies told with intent ('I promise to give you 20% of the total funds transferred to your vital bank account'), deception and dishonesty play a huge - and crucial - role in our society at every level, from the school yard ('I didn't do it!') to the halls of government ('Iraq could launch weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes'). Feldman draws on numerous examples from real life as well as research into deception to reveal why. You'll discover the truth about lying - why we all do it, what it costs us, how children learn to lie, who it benefits, why we're so often ready to accept the lies we're told, and how it can both succeed in helping us and fail with catastrophic results. You'll also learn to recognize the lies you yourself tell, and in doing so how you can embrace a more honest approach to life. It's an intriguing look at a major force in our lives - the everyday deception in which we all participate. Because anyone who says they always tell the truth is a liar.

We've all lied one point or another in our life. Perhaps it was to avoid embarrassment, to avoid hurting a person's feelings, out of sheer convenience, or for another reason with generally innocent intent. However, there are people out there who lie habitually, intentionally deceiving others without remorse. These people are known as "Pathological Liars." Oftentimes, the tendency to lie is so deeply entrenched in a pathological liar's personality that the lies become interwoven with reality such that even he himself believes them! If you know a person like this, or worse, if you're stuck in a familial or romantic relationship with one, it's only normal for your frustration level to skyrocket on a regular basis when you feel like you're constantly being lied to. In fact, living with a pathological liar can be emotionally dangerous. You can't trust or rely on them, and with such a lack of trust, it's impossible to forge a meaningful, honest, and fruitful relationship. I'm sure you're wondering by now, "So, can anything be done about this?!?" Fortunately, the answer is "Yes!" Although it can seem like a gargantuan task, with a little bit of understanding and a lot of effort, it is possible to turn the habitual liar in your life into an honest individual that you can finally trust. This book is designed to help you understand exactly what compulsive lying disorder is all about, including how pathological liars think in their own minds. And most importantly, it will also provide you with a framework within which you can learn to cope and help force them to stop lying to you altogether. So if this sounds appealing, then grab this book now and let's get started!

Everything in this book is true. The time Kelly peed her pants in the gas station. The time she stalked Leonardo DiCaprio through Los Angeles as a stoned teenager. The time she used her son’s diaper explosion to get out of a speeding ticket. And especially the time she was convinced David Copperfield could read her mind. Kelly’s more than half a million Twitter followers already knew she was hilarious, and Everything Is Perfect When You’re a Liar has proven it, spending months on the bestseller list, earning her love from both reviewers and readers, and proving “not only has she mastered the 140-character barb, but the long-form essay as well.”* Kelly’s adventures are now in paperback, with a brand-new story about how she and her husband, James, got married to fulfill their son’s desire to be a ring bearer. (But blew it, by forgetting a crucial detail.) From childhood to motherhood, from the zany to the tearjerking, Kelly covers it all and proves that when you live life unapologetically, there’s no need to lie.

An intense memoir about mental illness, memory and storytelling, from an acclaimed novelist. When Rob Roberge learns that he's likely to have developed a progressive memory-eroding disease from years of hard living and frequent concussions, he is terrified by the prospect of becoming a walking shadow. In a desperate attempt to preserve his identity, he sets out to (somewhat faithfully) record the most formative moments of his life—ranging from the brutal murder of his childhood girlfriend, to a diagnosis of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, to opening for famed indie band Yo La Tengo at The Fillmore in San Francisco. But the process of trying to remember his past only exposes just how fragile the stories that lay at the heart of our self-conception really are. As Liar twists and turns through Roberge’s life, it turns the familiar story of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll on its head. Darkly funny and brutally frank, it offers a remarkable portrait of a down and out existence cobbled together across the country, from musicians’ crashpads around Boston, to seedy bars popular with sideshow freaks in Florida, to a painful moment of reckoning in the scorched Wonder Valley desert of California. As Roberge struggles to keep addiction and mental illness from destroying the good life he has built in his better moments, he is forced to acknowledge the increasingly blurred line between the lies we tell others and the lies we tell ourselves.

Have you ever been lied to by a lover? In this straightforward and supportive book, therapist Susan Forward profiles the wide variety of liars, shows you how to deal with the lies -- from the benign to the lethal -- that these men spin, and gives practical strategies to stop them before they ruin your relationship and, ultimately, your life. Once you find out the truth about your lover and his lies, what do you do? Forward offers practical, proven, step-by-step methods for healing the wounds caused by his deception and betrayal. She provides all the communication and behavioral techniques you need to deal with a lover's lies, telling you exactly what to say, when and how to respond to his reactions, and how to present your requirements for staying in the relationship. With understanding and compassion, she helps you decide whether your relationship can be saved and shows you how to move beyond doubt and regret if you feel that it can't. But whether you stay or go, you can learn to love and trust again.

Piper was raised in a cult. She just doesn't know it. Seventeen-year-old Piper knows that Father is a Prophet. Infallible. The chosen one. She would do anything for Father. That's why she takes care of all her little sisters. That's why she runs end-of-the-world drills. That's why she never asks questions. Because Father knows best. Until the day he doesn't. Until the day the government raids the compound and separates Piper from her siblings, from Mother, from the Aunts, from all of Father's followers--even from Caspian, the boy she loves. Now Piper is living Outside. Among Them. With a woman They claim is her real mother--a woman They say Father stole her from. But Piper knows better. And Piper is going to escape.

An Elle Magazine 2019 Best Book of the Year "A brilliant fable about the lure of lying and the lure of fame. The writing is wonderful." --Joan Silber, National Book Critics Circle and PEN/Faulkner award-winning author of Improvement From the award-winning author of Waking Lions, a provocative novel about how one mistake can have a thousand consequences Nofar is an average teenage girl---so average, in fact, that she's almost invisible. Serving customers ice cream all summer long, she is desperate for some kind of escape. One afternoon, a terrible lie slips from her tongue. And suddenly everyone wants to talk to her: the press, her schoolmates, and even the boy upstairs. He is the only one who knows the truth, and he is demanding a price for his silence. Then Nofar meets Raymonde, an elderly immigrant whose best friend has just died. Raymonde keeps her friend alive the only way she knows how, by inhabiting her stories. But soon, Raymonde's lies take on a life of their own. Written with propulsive energy, dark humor, and deep insight, The Liar reveals the far-reaching consequences of even our smallest choices, and explores the hidden corners of human nature to reveal the liar, and the truth-teller, in all of us.