Ten Stupid Things Couples Do to Mess Up Their Relationships

Rating:
Summary: Great New Ground for Dr. Laura
Review: I must admit as much as I've enjoyed previous Dr. Laura books and benefitted from them, I could be thrown off by the occasional "because God says so" justifications--I've personally believed evolutionary psychology provides a much more thorough scientific / rational / "intellectual" explanation of behavior beyond what she's offered, as accurate as she can be in principle.

However, I've found "10 Stupid Things Couples Do..." to be Dr. Laura's most down-to-earth, reasonable, thorough book yet. It's advice is true-to-the-bone, and my only critique is that its release was delayed by a few months, when I think it was severely needed even sooner.

Bravo, Dr. Laura! If I ask anything, it is that scientific discoveries be incorporated even more into your works (things such as Robert Wright's "The Moral Animal"). Books such as this are needed now more than ever, and I fully recommend it, be one's relationship believed to be in trouble or not (yet?).

Rating:
Summary: i enjoyed it
Review: I think the book really focuses on the key points of how couples really mess up their relationships

Rating:
Summary: 10 Stupid Things Couples Do to Mess up Their Lives
Review: I think this is a wonderful book, written by a fantastic author, published at a perfect time when there is so much unrest in the country. If couples would read this book together I think they would have a much happier, healthier relationship.

Rating:
Summary: average to disappointing
Review: I've enjoyed other books by Schlessinger, but this one seemed flat -- less focused and more repetitive than her other books.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I've enjoyed this book a lot - if we can do what Dr Laura tells us to, we will all have a great relationship with our partner. In Chris' book he teaches us how to be happy within - together these two books create a great synergy. I also want to recommend Creating Extraordinary Joy by Chris Alexander.

Rating:
Summary: I have to admit, this is a great book
Review: I've heard so much bad stuff about Dr. Laura, that I had to find out for myself how such a cute little woman could inspire so much rage. And I have to say, I don't get it. I read this book and loved it. Sure she's tough -- that's what we need when we are caught up in a haze. Sure she expresses strong opinions -- but like it or not, she's merely pointing out the obvious. I especially liked the chapters on egotism and power. There are great messages to take away from this book and you feel like you are one on one with Dr. Laura. Go buy it!!! It will bring you clarity!

Rating:
Summary: More of Dr. Laura's best
Review: If you've read any of Dr. Laura's "10 Stupid things..." books, you know what to expect here. Pithy, clear, no-nonsense advice. Even as an avid listener of Dr. Laura's radio program, I found some interesting insights in this book. Dr. Laura makes me think about my relationships in a new way. When I read a book like this, I hope to come away with 2 or 3 interesting new thoughts or concepts. I cam eaway from this book with at least a dozen. Note: Not all of the book applies to all readers! You may only be doing 2 or 3 stupid things! Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: 10 Stupid Things Couples Do To Mess Up Their Relationship
Review: Im a guy I don't normally read relationship books but some buddies of mine told me about this one. I think this has helped me look at my relationship in a better light, and I think it will help me be a better husband and father.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and eye-opening
Review: Laura Schlessinger's best book remains her first, _Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Relationships_. Her next book in that vein was for men, yet it lacked both the snap and the balance of her first advice book. By the time Ten for Men was published, Schlessinger had hitched her wagon to the conservative multiverse, and her no-nonsense viewpoint began unravelling.

This latest work in her Ten Stupid Series, for couples, is heavy on the reader replies and light on Schlessinger's original deft touch. While easy to read, the comments are often at odds with each other, and it appears Schlessinger didn't read them through enough to notice how they weakened her own thrust. Furthermore, little of the advice in this book on relationships moves beyond what was covered in the Women and Men books. Tolstoy observed more than a century ago that unhappy families are each unhappy in their own manner, yet Schlessinger doesn't allow more than Ten Stupid failings per book, and she is reusing a few.

Since this book is thus more of an anthology than her own original work, kind of a Ten Stupid Kinds of Chicken Soup for the Messed-Up Soul, for it to succeed its editor needed a consistent series of tales culminating in each chapter's lesson. But some of the reader contributions don't fit under the chapter heading and only seem to be there so one chapter wasn't three times longer than another. And is Stupid Power (never backing down, never apologizing) really a different problem than Stupid Excuses (never taking responsibility)? Aren't both merely defense mechanisms? What really is the difference between Stupid Egotism and Stupid Happiness? The readers certainly describe these similar topics using similar terms. One almost wonders if some of the contributors had a name-change moving into a new chapter.

Finally, no review of a Laura Schlessinger book would be complete without mentioning her tendency to politicize an advice manual. It isn't enough that a caller is irresponsible; she is irresponsibile because she's a liberal, or a feminist, or was corrupted by the public school system and is too lazy to take her kids out and put them in Fine Religious Private Schools. Long-time observers of Schlessinger's radio show have noted that if a call (or caller) upsets her, there's probably some personal history involved, and some of the political rants seem to spin off messages from readers who struck too close to home. Second wife resentful of husband's devotion to children of first wife? Selfish brat (but no mention of how Laura ignored her husband's three children by his first wife after stealing him away). Husband uninterested in attending church with his wife? Lazy liberal (but no mention of her path into Judaism without her husband, then Orthodox Judaism with, only to desert again in summer 2003). Stupid hobbies or liaisons endangering the marriage? Not okay for her callers, but okay for her, regaling her listeners with sailboat race stories featuring Laura and an all-male crew. Thus, any book by Schlessinger always abounds with unintentional humor for the well-informed Lauralogist, but the casual reader will miss such gems.

This book, having fewer words by Schlessinger than her others, thus doesn't stay focussed on political rants, and the letters do offer some useful suggestions. However, uneveness and poor focus mean it's still not that good a book, and fans of her seminal 10 Stupid Things Women Do will be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Some of her listeners have good advice to share
Review: Laura Schlessinger's best book remains her first, _Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Relationships_. Her next book in that vein was for men, yet it lacked both the snap and the balance of her first advice book. By the time Ten for Men was published, Schlessinger had hitched her wagon to the conservative multiverse, and her no-nonsense viewpoint began unravelling.

This latest work in her Ten Stupid Series, for couples, is heavy on the reader replies and light on Schlessinger's original deft touch. While easy to read, the comments are often at odds with each other, and it appears Schlessinger didn't read them through enough to notice how they weakened her own thrust. Furthermore, little of the advice in this book on relationships moves beyond what was covered in the Women and Men books. Tolstoy observed more than a century ago that unhappy families are each unhappy in their own manner, yet Schlessinger doesn't allow more than Ten Stupid failings per book, and she is reusing a few.

Since this book is thus more of an anthology than her own original work, kind of a Ten Stupid Kinds of Chicken Soup for the Messed-Up Soul, for it to succeed its editor needed a consistent series of tales culminating in each chapter's lesson. But some of the reader contributions don't fit under the chapter heading and only seem to be there so one chapter wasn't three times longer than another. And is Stupid Power (never backing down, never apologizing) really a different problem than Stupid Excuses (never taking responsibility)? Aren't both merely defense mechanisms? What really is the difference between Stupid Egotism and Stupid Happiness? The readers certainly describe these similar topics using similar terms. One almost wonders if some of the contributors had a name-change moving into a new chapter.

Finally, no review of a Laura Schlessinger book would be complete without mentioning her tendency to politicize an advice manual. It isn't enough that a caller is irresponsible; she is irresponsibile because she's a liberal, or a feminist, or was corrupted by the public school system and is too lazy to take her kids out and put them in Fine Religious Private Schools. Long-time observers of Schlessinger's radio show have noted that if a call (or caller) upsets her, there's probably some personal history involved, and some of the political rants seem to spin off messages from readers who struck too close to home. Second wife resentful of husband's devotion to children of first wife? Selfish brat (but no mention of how Laura ignored her husband's three children by his first wife after stealing him away). Husband uninterested in attending church with his wife? Lazy liberal (but no mention of her path into Judaism without her husband, then Orthodox Judaism with, only to desert again in summer 2003). Stupid hobbies or liaisons endangering the marriage? Not okay for her callers, but okay for her, regaling her listeners with sailboat race stories featuring Laura and an all-male crew. Thus, any book by Schlessinger always abounds with unintentional humor for the well-informed Lauralogist, but the casual reader will miss such gems.

This book, having fewer words by Schlessinger than her others, thus doesn't stay focussed on political rants, and the letters do offer some useful suggestions. However, uneveness and poor focus mean it's still not that good a book, and fans of her seminal 10 Stupid Things Women Do will be disappointed.