If you are among the 10 percent of people who happen to be left-handed, you've had to endure such derisive terms as "gauche" and "a left-handed compliment." At school you may have been forced to write with your right hand. And in another century your proclivity might have gotten you accused of witchcraft.

Any left-handed person, or the spouse, parent, or friend of one, will be captivated by this essential and eye-opening book. With bracing wit and a flawless command of current research, psychologist Stanley Coren answers such questions as:

Is left-handedness acquired genetically or socially?

Are southpaws more creative than their right-handed fellows?

Why do left-handers seem to die younger than right-handers?

What can left-handers do to counteract the perils and prejudices that confront them in a world that leans to the right?