"Captivates the reader, answers all those puzzling questions that caused your mother (or priest or guidance counselor or gym teacher) to blame...
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reviews
Apr 27, 2011
Paul
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Anatomy of Love offers an anthropological history of human mating, marriage, and infidelity written from an evolutionary perspective. A primary aim of author Helen Fisher is apparently to demythologize love, sex, adultery, and related topics, instead investigating them as nonjudgmentally as possible from a scientific perspective. She is especially ambitious in writing this book not for experts in her field but for a popular audience of varied backgrounds. That's a tall order for which she is p
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Dec 27, 2011
Brenda
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I would have given this one 4 stars except that the book was written in 1994 so I had this constant nagging that some of the info may have changed in the intervening years. She mostly looks back to our evolutionary past to make sense of monogamy, adultery, and divorce so I don't know how much that info has changed. She also looks at present traditional societies to look for clues.
The basic idea I took away from this book is that serial monogamy with plenty of adultery thrown in see More...
The basic idea I took away from this book is that serial monogamy with plenty of adultery thrown in see More...
Dec 17, 2009
Sherry
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An interesting topic with lots of information from a huge variety of sources. Very dry reading.
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Jun 18, 2010
Heather
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Well, the book is a little dated. Written long enough ago that it talks about baby boomers being in their late 20's.
As for the content, most of it was intriguing. I'm not sure I buy some of it though. I don't like it when anthropologists act as if they know what went on in the lives of Neanderthals or Cro-Magnon peoples. They don't. It's all speculation and inference.
Another part of the book that bothered me was the description of the sexual practices of certain cu More...
As for the content, most of it was intriguing. I'm not sure I buy some of it though. I don't like it when anthropologists act as if they know what went on in the lives of Neanderthals or Cro-Magnon peoples. They don't. It's all speculation and inference.
Another part of the book that bothered me was the description of the sexual practices of certain cu More...
Jun 10, 2009
Well who isn't interested in that thing called Love? This book presents a full analysis of what love/attraction is, why we pursue it, and with whom. Easy read, clearly written, lucid comments and generally very insightful. Much I knew or guessed but having it presented so clearly helps me to understand our common nature, in spite of different cultural influences and mores.
Dec 24, 2009
Jessica
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Great book - interesting theories about monogamy, animal mating rituals and our own evolution as humans. Not necessarily a quick read, however, as it can be a bit wordy at times and "scientific," which didn't always hold my attention.
Jan 09, 2009
Kevin
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An interesting discussion on just how many of the emotions supposedly behind love, are in fact largely determined by our evolutionary animal nature and are often controlled by chemicals in our brain.
May 08, 2009
Cameron
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Absolutely fascinating and illusion-shattering anthropological survey of love and marriage.
Apr 08, 2008
Tara
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I enjoyed this book, and it definitely gave me a lot to think about in terms of the biological/sociological urge to pair up and produce offspring.
The main problem in this book for me was that the writer tried too hard to convince me of her point of view. The book was written in defence of a particular theory, not as an exploration of a range of ideas.
I have no objection to the writing holding a particular viewpoint, I just prefer to find my own.
The main problem in this book for me was that the writer tried too hard to convince me of her point of view. The book was written in defence of a particular theory, not as an exploration of a range of ideas.
I have no objection to the writing holding a particular viewpoint, I just prefer to find my own.
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Sep 25, 2010
In spite of the horribly cheesy cover, this is actually a really intelligent and interesting book....
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Dec 16, 2009
KIM
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A sociologist discusses chemical responses and psychological/sociological research and comparisons of of human and primate mating behaviors, as well as the history of marriage. She also looks at statistics of marriage success worldwide, mating,dating customs around the world today. It's incredibly interesting stuff if you're at all interested in stuff like this-- which I am.
Mar 06, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
didn't finish the book, but Fisher definitely has an interesting theory- redefine the modern definition of Monogamy and the species Homo Sapiens are intrinsically monogamous.
Dec 17, 2009
From one review on here, it looks really interesting, w/ a sociological and historical perspective.
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