Rating: Summary: THIS BOOK REVOLUTIONIZED MY LIFE! Review: I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is in or who has ever been in, or who wants to be in a successful relationship. This book changed my life. I no longer have the arguments when we both come home from a long day at work and I want to speak, and he doesn't, now I understand why. Understanding the basic principles of the differences in communication between men and women is spelled out clearly, is easy to grasp, making it an extremely readable and highly enjoyable book. This is one for the bedside table. A must buy, a true bestseller in my book!
Rating: Summary: A sort of Australian Mars/Venus book. Review: The authors start from two straightforward premises:Men and women are very different in the way that they act, react, think and feel. These differences are the inevitable consequence of our biology. The first of these is a lot less controversial than the second and, perhaps the book would have ruffled fewer feathers if the authors had stuck to the first premise. However, the caveman-cavewoman analogies do help them to illustrate their points. The book is well put together in a pretty light-hearted style. While not being unputdownable, it is an easy read. One quibble though has to be that, after a while, many of the jokes seem to be a little tedious. As well as illustrating the differences between men and women, the book gives examples of how these lead to conflict and misunderstandings. Their advice is pretty much to learn about the differences and grin and bear it. Of course, the book goes over much the same ground as the Mars-Venus stuff but, it does so at a somewhat simpler and, some would say, superficial level. If you get to the end of Mars-Venus and absorb what it says then this book is not for you. On the other hand, If you found M-V to be too heavy and a bit pretentious then the lighthearted and more direct style of this book could be just what you need. At the end of the book, there is a substantial list of references and further reading. This varies from other popular psychology books to research papers which provide the scientific backing for the authors ideas. Unfortunately, they just list these with no comment and no attempt to categorise the items. This means that the list is of little use to a reader interested in exploring further topics or referring to some of the research on which the authors ideas depend.
Rating: Summary: Description, Reviews & Author bios Review: "If you want to have raging love relationships, this book will show you how!" Mark Victor Hansen Editor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series Have you ever wished your partner came with an instruction booklet? For their controversial new book on the differences between the way men and women think and communicate, Barbara and Allan Pease spent three years traveling around the world, collating the dramatic findings of new research on the brain, investigating evolutionary biology, analyzing psychologists, studying social changes, and annoying the locals. The result is a sometimes shocking, always illuminating and frequently hilarious look at where the battle line is drawn between the sexes, why it was drawn and how to cross it. Read this book, and understand-at last!-why men never listen, why women can't read maps, and why learning each other's secrets means you may never have to say sorry again. Revealed in this book: •Why men really can't do more than one thing at a time •An amazing test to show the sex-wiring of the brain •Why women hate parallel parking and can't find North •Why men should never lie to women •Why women talk so much and men so little •How to convince and persuade the opposite sex •Why men love erotic images and women aren't impressed •Why women prefer to simply talk it through •Why men are deaf when reading newspapers •Stress-why women talk and men hide •Why men offer solutions, but hate advice •Why men want sex and women need love AND MUCH MORE! "This is a must-read for men and women who love each other, hate each other, or simply co-exist. You will learn as much about yourself and how to improve your relationships as you will about the opposite sex." Denis Waitley, bestselling author of The Psychology of Winning "The Peases have the knack of making the profound seem obvious. Brings Mars and Venus down to Earth!" Dr. John Tickel, bestselling author of A Passion for Living BARBARA PEASE is CEO of Pease Training International, which produces videos, training courses and seminars for businesses and governments worldwide. She is also the author of the international bestseller Memory Language and lectures in deportment and grooming. she divides her time between the company's head offices in England and Australia, and trying to find her way home from the airport. ALLAN PEASE began his sales career at the age of ten to earn pocket money, began writing and developing his own sales techniques at age 18. At 29 he was a senior executive and partner in Australia's largest life insurance brokerage and was responsible for $103 million in insurance sales in one year before becoming a full-time speaker. Today he conducts seminars in 30 countries, with a client list that includes IBM, Sheraton, McDonalds, the BBC, Mazda, New York Life, Barclay's Bank, British Telecom, and even the UK Tax Office! He is also the author of five #1 bestsellers to his credit, including Body Language (published in the US as Signals) which has been translated into 32 languages. He spends most of his free time practicing listening when he's spoken to. LOOK FOR AN EXCERPT OF THE BOOK IN THE JUNE ISSUE OF FAMILY CIRCLE MAGAZINE!
Rating: Summary: Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps : How We're D Review: This book hits the point right. We should see men and women as different and not the same. I also like the point where they describe that it is the norm to be normal, i.e., heterosexual and that being gay is an anomilty caused by a genetic defett. This makes sense since gay people usually have psychosis and neuorotic behavior. It also presents the ideal that women are meant to be mothers and have children which is what nature and God intended.
Rating: Summary: Not what I was looking for. Review: I bought this book with the intent of improvimg my relationship with my fiancee, only to be really disappointed. This book, although says its written for both men and women, is very clearly written to make women feel better about themselves. Some of the comments that I thought the other reviewers wrote are fairly accurate, such as the fact that women can indeed read maps, and the comment about reading this book and then justifying sleeping with other women was hilarious.
This book wouldn't be so bad if it weren't so repetitive and actually let the readers draw their own conclusions. For example, it says that in 1998, 99.1% of all secretaries were female. That's because women are better at communicating and doing many tasks simultaneously, they write. Is this really true, or is it maybe because secretaries generally get paid very little and men are expected to support a family and put women through college?
Another example that I really find unentertaining is how men are continuously referred to as "lunch-chasers". Is this really necessary? A joke is a joke, but this gets old really fast. It would be more entertaining if jokes were about both men and women, but they really are mostly about men. This book assumes that reader knows really nothing about men and women (which is a bit insulting premise). Additionally, the way men are portrayed is a bit harsh (not all of us yell and scream and "bark" at our girlfriends), and the advice is all what men should do to improve their relationship with women; almost nothing about what women can do to improve their relationship with men.
My recommendation? Read Stephen Pinker's "How The Mind Works". Its much more interesting, explains a lot more in finer detail and provides a more logical history about the differentces between men and women. His book doesn't claim anything the this book does and lets the reader think a bit more for themselves, and all of the studies are cited in the back.
Rating: Summary: Great Book Review: It answers the nagging question "Just why are there so few women in the hard sciences?"
Contrary to hyper-feminist hysteria and some of the negative reviews shown here, there are intrinsic differences!
A very interesting, readable, fact-filled book.
Rating: Summary: Amusing read, not science, but theory Review: I found this an amusing read, good for a rainy weekend.
What I found interesting is the part that woman NEED to talk to feel good, some things make more sense to me now. I think you will find some practical use to this book, it will probably make interaction with the opposite sex easier and more enjoyable to some extend.
But, a lot of these ideas are based on evolutionary biology and neo-darwinistic reductionism. Evolution is just a theory, no one deny's some kind of evolution, but it's not what darwin had in mind. So when this book talks about millions of years of evolution take it with a grain of salt, realise it's a THEORY, a theory of atheists who believe everything can be explained by laws of nature and material.
I find this view on the human race in general somewhat depressing nor do I believe it, at all. So when reading this book pick out the practial parts that you can use in your real life, and ignore the biochemical explanation of love. I mean, do you think they will ever find a short and to the point formula for love and happines? I find that a joke and shows something about the character of the people inventing these theory's. Humans are not biochemical enhanced super genes with huge sperm cannons that walk this earth and fight for domaniance and rights to mate, nor do I think that of any other animal.
Still if you skip the biochemical, reductionistic, atheistic and whatnot intellectual "nonsense" theory's you might find it insightfull and practical.
Rating: Summary: You Have Got to Be Kidding Me Review: This book wants to have credibility and claim that its generalizations are "normal," "usual," "typical" or cover "most" situations, but it also wants to disclaim any duty to be scientific or let pesky facts get in the way of their lazy, outdated stereotypes. Saying that there are exceptions to their rules of behavior is not enough when the exceptions swallow the rules, as is the case all over this very silly book. If you don't care about the facts, pick up a humor book instead (you'll be just as edified but have more fun), and if you care about really understanding sex and gender, find a book by actual scientists whose work can withstand the briefest whiff of scrutiny.
Reading this book to understand how men and women actually work is like reading astrology to discover your future -- sure, some folks might be able to tie a certain type of science to the results, and some things you read might actually have echoes in your personal experience, but you have to selectively read it for it to feel anything like useful, and all it really does is tell you stuff you probably already know. It makes no more sense to read this book and marvel at the assertion that some men don't like to be barked at to ask for directions (Gosh, really? Wow...) than it does to read how Scorpio's fortunes will change for the better on the 15th of the month, also known as...payday. Fine, probably no harm done, but for my money I'd rather read The Sweet Potato Queens -- at least with that I get a good recipe for margaritas...
Rating: Summary: Useful information for realtionships. Review: Reading the other reviews gives the impression that many people are judging it based upon the wrong grounds. I think that this book would be a great read for the average person. It explains in layman's terms the differences in men and women in the context of their relationships. Yes, the book is rather simplistic but then again it is much more grounded than the relationship advice in glossy magazines.
Many people seem to miss the point of this book entirely. It isn't a piece of academic literature and does not deserve denigration for this. Furthermore those people who complain that this book stereotypes and generalises have missed the admission of this at the start of the book. However, this book does do its job well. It should help people to understand how and why the other sex is different. This is pretty useful in relationships and I have certainly benefited from what I have learnt from this book.
I recommend this book to people who seek a better understanding of the relationships between men and women. Don't take this book too seriously, and it is a worthy read.
Rating: Summary: Not factual, but still reasonably interesting Review: This book may be fun to read, but don't take it too seriously. The book gains trust from the reader as a source of factual information by giving perfectly credible resources on how men and women today exhibit differences in skills and personality. Unfortunately, it then goes on to try and explain the reason for this with a very shoddy explanation based on evolution which it seems the authors just made up.
I major in biopsychology and I don't know of any credible scientists who believe what the author asserts about ancient environments molding male and female brains into distinct differences. The subject has been heavily studied, but no scientist has succeeded in finding any evidence to support it.
It also neglects to mention how these differences have disappeared over the years. Men and women taking intelligence skills tests in the 50's were shown to have dramatically different skills. Men and women who take them today are shown to have little to no difference.
On the other hand, I'm giving it two stars just because it gives some very amusing and insightful commentary regarding how men and women act in modern society. Just please ignore the reasoning for why this occurs and read up on your biology and sociology instead.
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