A Natural History Of Love

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	A Natural History Of Love
	by Diane Ackerman Sales Rank: 63582	~~List Price: $14.95~~ $10.17 At Amazon on 6-20-2008.

*Features* Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages Published by: Vintage February 21, 1995 Written in: English ISBN 10 Number: 0679761837 ISBN 13 Number: 978-0679761839 Book Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches Weighs: 11.7 ounces *From Publishers Weekly* 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. First serial to Parade; BOMC featured selection. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. *From Library Journal* In her long-anticipated companion volume to A Natural History of the Senses (LJ 5/1/ 90), Ackerman mines deep within the caves of human emotion for artifacts of "the great intangible": love. Proceeding with the disdainful understanding that sociologists prefer to study negative behaviors and emotions, Ackerman sets out on her exploration by reviewing the lessons provided across time by such lovers as Antony and Cleopatra, Orpheus and Eurydice, Dido and Aeneas, Abelard and Eloise, and Romeo and Juliet. During this journey, she explores the neurophysiology of love and exposes the components of modern-day relationships, from the "New Age Sensitive Guy" to sexual chic. With dazzling poetic charm and insight, she uses history, literature, science, psychology, and personal experience as tools to illuminate the vigor and vehemence of the thrilling, devastating, and comforting phenomenon of love. Recommended for all libraries. David R. Johnson, Louisiana State Univ. Lib., Eunice Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. *Reader Reviews* Lorenz Hart wrote, "I wish I were in love again." "Let's do it, let's fall in love," advised Cole Porter. No other subject has inspired as many songs, poems, books or plays as ever appealing, sometimes elusive love. And here is Diane Ackerman to tell us all about it. "Love is the great intangible" is the way this volume begins, and it is equally unfathomable after we finish reading, but there's much information and great good fun in between. Beginning with the history of love in ancient Egypt through Rome, the Middle Ages and up to the present, the author explores the historical, cultural and biological roots of that which makes the world go round. Rich with insights into traditions and little known facts, "Love's Customs" may well be one of the most fascinating chapters. For instance, it was the medieval Italians who favored diamond rings because "of their superstition that diamonds were created from the flames of love." Soldiers of ancient Sparta hosted the first stag parties. The white wedding dress was first won by Anne of Brittany in 1499 when she married Louis XII of France. Both bride and groom wore a blue band around the bottom of their wedding garments in biblical times, which is where the idea of the bride's "something blue" originated. "A Natural History of Love" is a rare literary work in that it is both a well researched scholarly text, terrific reading, and offers an insight that probably applies to each one of us. - Gail Cooke Comment \| \| (Report this) Back To Top
A Natural History Of Love Available from Amazon Price: $10.17 Updated on 6-20-2008.

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