The book is a pretty good introduction to tongue diagnosis. It could have been more exhaustive, though.

My chief complaint, however, is that the 50 or so color plates designed to show various phenomena are based on actual case studies where the subjects were (as is usually the case in Chinese medicine) suffering from any number of various effects. In other words, I would have preferred to see a completely normal tongue except for some jagged marks on the sides which signify spleen chi deficiency. Then I would know what spleen chi deficiency looks like on the tongue. But when the book talks about spleen chi deficiency, there is no picture. The pictures come in the end, and there some of the tongues manifest jagged marks on the side along with countless other shapes, textures, and discolorations, and I am never really sure what is what. And I am still not sure what a 'normal' tongue looks like.

But the subject is exciting, though. Most of my reviews are written about religious or linguistic subjects, and I am sure a lot of the people who read them are religious or intellectual and scoff at such subjects as tongue diagnosis in ancient Asian folk medicine. But keeping in mind that the tongue is essentially a bundle of nerves that runs right down the center of the body, and, being the governor of one of the body's five senses, plugs directly into the brain in a very significant way. After reading this book and seeing these 50 or so color plates, I am ASTOUNDED at the differences found from one tongue and the next, and do not at all doubt that the many shapes, colors, sizes, and conditions of people's tongues does have a lot to say about many aspects of their health.

This book is not too expensive and truly fascinating. Its writer is revered as a paragon of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the West. It is indispensible if you are in the TCM field, as there just aren't that many books of its type out there. My low rating and initial complaints are primarily for the benefit of the author, who is sure to expand the book in future editions. Please add more pictures above and beyond the case study method used presently. I want to see a few normal tongues. I also want to see pictures of tongues that are normal except for only one unusual feature so that I can see what that feature looks like on its own.

Another Giovanni book. He's like the Chinese Medicine Mafia - he's italian, he's everywhere, and he's never wrong. Yeah, right.

I didn't read the whole thing, but I did look through the case studies and look at their tongues. Particularly of note is his "rootless" tongue coat, also known as "patchy," which he says indicates Stomach yin xu. I hadn't seen this from any other author, so it was news to me... and key info to have in your brain for the test.

Not bad for OM students in general... no other book out there like it.

This is one of the most useful, attractive, and interesting books on TCM that I have in my library. The writing is good and well organized, the illustrations are excellent and the photographs are worth ... well ... a thousand words.

IMHO, this is one of the most important books a student of TCM can have. I think it should be the 2nd book a TCM student buys. The first would be a good fundamentals book (such as Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine by Wiseman and Ellis).

Highly recommended.

This is the best text on tongue diagnosis I know of. It is clear and to the point and leads you through the many difficulties in tongue Diagnosis. The study of this book will help and serious student of TCM with his/her diagnostics. This is a must have, in my opinion, for all TCM students.

tongue diagnosis in this book gave me a lot and in the best easy way that can be explained in such a complex way of diagnosis.it began with a history of the tongue diagnosis, that followed by a short explanations of the diffrent ways of diagnosis through all the chinese dynasties,but the method that represent here in this book is the most practical comprehansive yet simply and gives you the reader a more deep understanding and diagnosing of this art of diagnosing,for instance:while some tongue diagnostics used (in the past mainly)to observe only by the color,and some others by the shape,some on marks on the tongue, this book explains what are the meanings of each one of them, and how they can be worked together in the diagnosis.the method that are used in this outstanding book is the one that can be detected and aproved by clinical tests,and i as a orthomoleculr-nutritionist that use the basic of the knoledge of this book in order to have a wide veriety of diagnostic tools can say in a very confident way:it is simply true and the best book on the subjecy!