BODYTALK: The Meaning of Human Gestures ...

BODYTALK: The Meaning of Human Gestures by Desmond Morris (Crown: $14; 231 pp., illustrated). In this intriguing volume, Morris describes more than 600 hand gestures, many of which have widely disparate meanings. The hitch-hiker’s thumb gesture is virtually indistinguishable from a sexual insult in much of the Middle East and Mediterranean. Thumbs up means OK in many countries, but in Japan, a similar move can mean “number 5;” in Northeast Spain, it means “Long live the Basques!” and in the Western Punjab, it signifies “nothing doing!” “Bodytalk” may persuade some readers to keep their hands in their pockets.