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More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:A Natural History of Loveby Diane Ackerman
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:The bestselling author of A Natural History of the Senses now explores the allure of adultery, the appeal of aphrodisiacs, and the cult of the kiss. Enchantingly written and stunningly informed, this "audaciously brilliant romp through the world of romantic love" (Washington Post Book World) is the next best thing to love itself. Review:"Following up her well-received A Natural History of the Senses, poet and journalist Ackerman less successfully attempts to limn the complex emotion of love for the general reader. Her perspective is both long — beginning with the first writings about love from ancient Egypt and Greece — and wide, encompassing love of pets, religious fervor and altruism, along with her principle focus on romantic love. Ackerman's impassioned prose occasionally takes on a purple cast ('Love feeds a million watchfires in the encampment of the body,' she observes in a discussion of how love is often felt as a burning), but seems well suited to both the topic and her often personalized approach. Chronicling the changing views of love through mostly Western history from Roman times through the Middle Ages and the era of Romanticism to the present, she cites the writings of Plato, Proust and Freud, among others. Delving into anthropology, psychology and neurology, as well as literature, she considers the social and evolutionary roles of love, marraige rituals and such love objects as horses and cars. Ackerman's overview is more selective than comprehensive, but that very idiosyncracy may add to the popular appeal of the volume, sections of which have previously appeared in Parade and the New York Times Magazine." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"[E]xplores the neurophysiology of love and exposes the components of modern-day relationships, from the 'New Age Sensitive Guy'' to sexual chic." Library Journal Review:"[Ackerman] glides from the peaks of poetry to the secretive valleys of science to the plains of personal musings with ease, apparent pleasure, and a frankly feminine form of confidence." Booklist Review:"Beginning with a somewhat interesting history of ancient mythological love, Ackerman's...book quickly degenerates into a regurgitation of stereotypes about differences between men and women." Kirkus Reviews What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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