Games People Play · 1964
A classic look at how ordinary conversation often hides repeating psychological games - familiar scripts that people draw each other into without noticing. Berne lays out dozens of these games in family, work and social life and shows the hidden payoff each player is really after. A lively account of why we so often act differently from what we say.
What Do You Say After You Say Hello? · 1972
A continuation of the conversation about games, now asking how separate scripts add up to the shape of a whole life. Berne introduces the life script - a plan we unknowingly write in childhood and then act out for years. A book about whether that script can be noticed and rewritten.