All About Love offers radical new ways to think about love by showing its interconnectedness in our private and public lives. In eleven concise cha...
read full description
reviews
Dec 17, 2009
Kim
rated it: 
bell hooks is one of the greatest theorists and cultural critics of our time. Her writings on racism and sexism are sharp, incitful and practical, as in they include practical solutions for healing the violence that these systems of oppression create. And she writes books that could be classified as self-help. This is one of them. All About Love begins with a working definition of love, a willful act to facilitate the growth of oneself or another person, and continues to discuss what love is, wh
More...
0 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
Jul 06, 2008
Kathy
rated it:
On this, the fourth anniversary, and beginning of the fifth year of the Iraq war, while thousands marched on the Pentagon in protest, I finished reading "all about love: New Visions by bell hooks, a truly visionary and life-changing read, which should be required reading for this entire nation. I was initially skeptical of her thesis that society needs to adapt a universal definition of love, but as I continued reading, the idea struck a chord of recognition within me that I certainly ho
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 22, 2008
Alyson
rated it: 
This is a tough one.. the library wanted their copy back before I finished it, and I honestly don't know quite what to think. As Evan rightly pointed out, hooks has an agenda, and it's pretty hard to avoid that. On the other hand, some of the stuff she was saying I found to be helpful in a specific self-help-meets-social-critique kind of way. But then she would launch into something else, where she was ostensibly angry at patriarchy - but to me read as angry at masculinity - and I would just hav
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 12, 2012
Ashley
rated it: 
My book club chose this book in honor of Valentine's Day. It's the first (and probably now only) book I've ever read by Bell Hooks, and I was excited to read it. When I checked it out of the library along with a huge stack of other books, the librarian pulled it out and said, "Oh, this book is SO good." Which made me even more excited to read it.
If she had stopped after the first two chapters, I probably would have recommended it as a worthwhile essay to read. I liked t More...
If she had stopped after the first two chapters, I probably would have recommended it as a worthwhile essay to read. I liked t More...
May 27, 2010
Katherine
rated it:
A wise and excellent antidote to almost all of the crap we've been taught about love. How many of us grew up believing that, for example, a romantic relationship was a place to get the love and acceptance we didn't feel as kids, or that we could find and keep mates through duplicity and game-playing, or that our selves were incomplete if we were single?
Defining love as "the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth," hook More...
Defining love as "the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth," hook More...
Jun 02, 2009
Emily
rated it: 
Casually leafing through bell hooks's All About Love: New Visions a few years ago in a bookstore, I was drawn by her idea that love should be regarded as a verb, not a noun. Traditionally, our culture thinks of love as a thing, a passive feeling of tenderness or affection that comes over us, into which we fall involuntarily, something instinctual over which we have little control. hooks argues, on the contrary, that love is a chosen action, something we must constantly affirm and on which we m
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jan 02, 2009
Enrique
rated it:
I'm in my second reading of this book. A couple of things come to mind this time around. How ironic it is bell hooks chooses Scott Peck's iteration of love's meaning as her starting point. I'm a fan of some of Peck's early work. But he seems to be the sort of male gender centric writer that hooks criticizes. Aren't men more dishonest than women? This doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the book though. Her choice feels right and fits nicely with the rest of what she has to say, love is a
More...
Dec 23, 2011
Natalie
rated it:
I really wanted to like this book, because I like bell hooks, her ideas and what she stands for.
But, my god! I found myself having to scan page after page in a half-read because I couldn't bare the self-help dialogue that she was engaging in. Furthermore, I found myself absolutely cringing over the books she referenced, not to mention how many times she quoted The Road Less Traveled.
Yes. I felt like some kind of academic snob while reading it, each time I would roll my ey More...
But, my god! I found myself having to scan page after page in a half-read because I couldn't bare the self-help dialogue that she was engaging in. Furthermore, I found myself absolutely cringing over the books she referenced, not to mention how many times she quoted The Road Less Traveled.
Yes. I felt like some kind of academic snob while reading it, each time I would roll my ey More...
4 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jan 20, 2010
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 26, 2011
Nicole
rated it:
A coworker of mine recommended bell hooks to me. I'm glad she did. The book's premise is an interesting one, and I agreed with a lot of what hooks' argues. Hooks contends that many in our society have forgotten how to love, what it is to love. If you love someone, you do not abuse them, physically or mentally. Hooks believes that there is a difference between affection and love, that many confuse the two.
Anyone who thinks "falling in love" is something that happens to you ag More...
Anyone who thinks "falling in love" is something that happens to you ag More...
Dec 17, 2009
Ravena
rated it:
I found this to be a thought-provoking read, one that could inspire healthy, useful discussions in society at large, as well as in intimate, interpersonal relationships. However, I disliked the at times, condescending attitude I sensed from Hooks. Also, she tends to belabor and literally repeat her points too often. I felt like this book could have been about half as long as it was.
Aug 04, 2010
Amanda
rated it:
I haven't read any bell hooks in awhile. I was impressed with this book overall. that someone like bell hooks can take on the topic of love should be encouragng. We all have the capacity to give and recieve love, but wedon't always know how. I like that she explores all kinds of love: friends, lovers, parents, children, etc. She even purposes that we might have a workplace filled with love. Sounds good to me! At times I felt I was reading a self help book, but bell hooks does not give eas
More...
Feb 15, 2009
Ren
rated it:
Bell Hooks has a very level headed approach to love. At times I found myself thinking that the book was a bit cheezey, but that is probably due to my cynical upbringing, as she points out.
I like the way she is very firm in her belief that anything less than complete mutual respect, trust, and nurturing is unacceptable in a loving relationship. Also that relationships ought to be chosen carefully and that they should not be based purely on feeling alone.
She points out that people, More...
I like the way she is very firm in her belief that anything less than complete mutual respect, trust, and nurturing is unacceptable in a loving relationship. Also that relationships ought to be chosen carefully and that they should not be based purely on feeling alone.
She points out that people, More...
Jan 02, 2012
Urban
rated it:
hooks is not only an activist for change, she is an activist and a believer in the right to and power of love - and her recent trilogy on the subject explores this eloquently. when i was in california back in february, a friend recommended these to me, and i’m so glad. definitely these are some of the best and most progressive books i have read on defining, understanding, and looking for love within the patriarchal morass we often find ourselves in. love, she posits, is subverted by popular noti
More...
May 18, 2007
Sarah
rated it:
read M. Scott Peck's Road Less Traveled first, (i did) she references him a lot. She also references a million other authors/people, this book will give you a LOT of other books to read. (As if you didn't have a pile waiting for you.) A great resource on the subject.
Jan 07, 2012
Ashleigh
rated it:
The first few chapters of this book were mind-blowing for me. I basically underlined the first 60 pages or so. The middle part of the book wasn't as great although I sincerely appreciate everything bell hooks has to say, just as a rule. She's brilliant.
The last few chapters were kind-of a let down, probably because I loved the first few chapters on love, family and children, so much. I've even seen her views at play both at work and out running errands. I loved how well she was able to tal More...
The last few chapters were kind-of a let down, probably because I loved the first few chapters on love, family and children, so much. I've even seen her views at play both at work and out running errands. I loved how well she was able to tal More...
Jul 19, 2010
"In the Mars-and-Venus-gendered universe, men want power and women want emotional attachment and connection. On this planet nobody really has the opportunity to know love since it is power and not love that is the order of the day. The privilege of power is at the heart of patriarchal thinking. Girls and boys, women and men who have been taught to think this way almost always believe love is not important or if it is, it is never as important as being powerful, dominant, in control, on top-
More...
Dec 15, 2008
Amanda
rated it:
Good Stuff. Led to a great nose to noser with Brooke about love, which evolved into the idea of having a sort of love workshop, discussion group/night about love. I realized this could be book two of the book report project.
My favorite ideas I can remember off hand are articulating a concrete definition of love. This way people would be able to know if they were loved and or loving and they would know that hurtful behaviors that people call or commit in the name of love are not th More...
My favorite ideas I can remember off hand are articulating a concrete definition of love. This way people would be able to know if they were loved and or loving and they would know that hurtful behaviors that people call or commit in the name of love are not th More...
Jan 11, 2010
Kate
rated it:
It's a good rough draft. Her main points are good, but they're not backed up with sufficient evidence. The only concrete example she offers is Clinton's affair, and she uses this example to illustrate three very different points in three different chapters.
It almost seems like someone said something that offended her and "all about love" was the response. The book is written as I would expect a crime of passion to be carried out. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, More...
It almost seems like someone said something that offended her and "all about love" was the response. The book is written as I would expect a crime of passion to be carried out. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, More...
Nov 20, 2008
Ciara
rated it: 
i find it astonishing that so many people i otherwise respect & admire got so into this book. i would love to try an experiment where this book is re-released under some nobody's name, rather than bell hooks, & we can see how people respond to it when they aren't actually responding to the whole bell hooks association. i have LOVED a lot of hooks's books. this was a big pile of crap, & not just that, it ushered in a whole generation of terrible crappy books written by bell hooks. there has been
More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Jan 27, 2012
Kelly
rated it:
i found a lot of useful things in here. i have been thinking of writing a scientific paper with the title "love- is it all around?" and that this would be a good reference material. magnetism..chemistry. ahem. a big thing is mostly, love as a verb! a feeling and an action. being loving. like when i was making this chili for myself, i was acting in a loving way towards myself. and talking about the will to extend oneself for the growth of another person. bell hooks writes really clearly
More...
Jun 02, 2011
Phoebe
rated it:
I am of two minds when reading ms. hook's "All About Love." One, that the idea of love as practice and process deeply resonates with me -a thinkers take on the heart's game. And I find it compelling/beautiful/comforting to bask in the perspective of a woman of color -a rare treat.
Two, ms. hooks theories are based in what, the anchor in the ground for her professing is what? Her readings and study of other thinkers? I wonder her credentials.
Still, what I take More...
Two, ms. hooks theories are based in what, the anchor in the ground for her professing is what? Her readings and study of other thinkers? I wonder her credentials.
Still, what I take More...
Jan 01, 2009
Jeanine Marie
rated it:
Simply, honestly and beautifully written, this novel by bell hooks (her signature lack of capitalization) recognizes how crazy-making the dual statements, "I love you" and "I do this (physical, emotional, or sexual violence) because I love you" really are. Acknowledging how complex and important the emotion and act of loving can be, hooks starts with a universal definition that recognizes human needs and grows outward. She begins the important, multicultural process of More...
Jan 02, 2012
Abbey
rated it:
bell hooks set out to write an authentic book about giving and receiving love. very critical of the self-help industry and individualistic new agey philosophy, hooks examines our culture of skepticism and offers a counter pro-love narrative.
it's such a positive, uplifting work that really got me to examine how love functions within my own relationships (romantic or not). i really appreciate her deconstruction of the phrase 'falling in love.' falling in love, to hooks, denotes this More...
it's such a positive, uplifting work that really got me to examine how love functions within my own relationships (romantic or not). i really appreciate her deconstruction of the phrase 'falling in love.' falling in love, to hooks, denotes this More...
Mar 06, 2011
Neil
rated it:
This is a great book. This is a flawed book. It deserves a better review than I can write now, but I highly recommend anyone and everyone read this book. bell hooks dares to challenge our notions of love, and to talk about love in a way that most are, for whatever reason, embarrassed or uncomfortable with. Each chapter views love through a differnt lens, all backed by a well thought out and well argued definition for love that should disturb most everyone.
hooks writes from the POV o More...
hooks writes from the POV o More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 01, 2012
Cailin
rated it:
All About Love is a cache of advice and freeing perspective; I read this book a few months ago and keep renewing it because nearly half the book is dog-eared. In bell hooks’ usual tenor, there is little sentimentality, though at the same time it is a true self-help book (though wouldn't call itself one). Love between two people, love unrequited, love abused, familial love, love invested in close friendships all have a much larger manifestation in cultural patterning and human nature. Bell hooks
More...
Jan 13, 2011
Brian
rated it:
Very nice. The first few chapters are beautiful, and the idea that love is an action rather than a feeling is particularly useful. For an individual trying to understand how love is expressed by caring people, this is a great book. Unfortunately, I felt hooks got a little carried away in the middle of the book, and again towards the end, in exploring the role of love in society. I think she was absolutely right to make the effort; she has the daring idea that a book might comprehensively loo
More...
Dec 16, 2010
Catherine
rated it:
I think I should have started with something different by bell hooks. This seems like a good book to read once you already know and love this author, and I could see myself really liking her, but not because of this book. That aside, I still enjoyed reading it. Her writing made me question why I felt uncomfortable with some of the things she said. She makes bold statements about love and dysfunction within a family and pushes her readers to consider how they have experienced love (and the absenc
More...
Jul 11, 2009
Cindy
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 09, 2010
Sidewalk_Sotol
rated it:
The dangerously industrious bell hooks is at it again. If you're reading this review, then you probably know that hooks' books (i couldn't resist that rhyme) provide extensive, radical analysis about the topics she holds dear: education, anti-racism, social/political consciousness, and feminism. And she is frequently inclusive of her own experience as a Black, African-descended woman in academia without putting on airs or trying to sell you something.
This is not a how-to book f More...
This is not a how-to book f More...
