DSI--Date Scene Investigation: The Diagnostic Manual of Dating Disorders [Hardcover]

Ian Kerner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2006

Ian Kerner, the author of the much acclaimed "She Comes First" and the "New York Times" extended list bestseller "Be Honest-You're Not That Into Him Either", and his team of experts investigate dating dilemmas to equip you with the skills you need so you're never again a dating victim. Are your friends tired of hearing about your constant dating dramas? Do you no longer trust your own judgment? Have you been asking the delivery guy for relationship tips? It's time to turn to Dr. Ian Kerner and his valiant team of experts for advice. Kerner, a sex therapist and relationship expert, analyzes dating DNA to solve the biggest relationship mysteries. To get the job done, Kerner consults with a network of professionals, from body-language experts who can read an entire relationship in a single gesture to private investigators who have caught cheaters red-handed. While every relationship is unique, the dating dilemmas Kerner describes are universal. If you've ever felt like a dating victim, this book is for you. From the first date to the first kiss to first sex to (hopefully) a marriage proposal, Kerner and his team will help you diagnose every step of the dating process. In this collection of Team DSI's greatest hits, you'll learn the skills you need for navigating dating, mating, relating, and everything in between. In each dating investigation, you'll get the real stories of dating victims and meet the people who broke their hearts. Team DSI also pulls celebrity relationship issues straight from the headlines and dissects them. Next, the field of experts conduct some good old-fashioned fieldwork to show you the evidence and use it to give you a conclusive analysis. Finally, they'll provide you with a comprehensive diagnostic quiz so you know just where you stand in your relationship.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ian Kerner, Ph.D., is quickly becoming the hottest, hippest sex expert of our time, appearing frequently on Today, on the radio with Howard Stern, on the pages of Cosmo, Maxim, and Men's Health, and dispensing dating advice for Lifetime TV.com. He is the co-host of the series Love on the Rocks on the Discovery Health Channel. Also the author of She Comes First, Be Honest-You're Not That Into Him Either, and the forthcoming He Comes Next, his weekly sex advice column appears on eDiets.com

From AudioFile

Helping women recognize men who are not relationship material is Kerner's focus, and the subject matter is narrated with mind-numbing gravitas by the sex-expert author. However, what's useful is that hearing the men described one after the other allows the listener to see the entire male landscape more objectively. But, entertaining as it is, the material is almost entirely anecdotal and falls short of providing any organizing insights women can use when dealing with men's personality and emotional issues. The second complaint is the cutesy framing of this lesson as an investigative crime show with its overly serious narration and silly terms like "dating diagnostic" and "missing boyfriend unit." The artifice makes the program sound dumbed-down. T.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1St Edition edition (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060881119
• ISBN-13: 978-0060881115
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dating book is extreme pro-women/anti-men., January 31, 2008

By 

R. M. Ruppert (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: DSI--Date Scene Investigation: The Diagnostic Manual of Dating Disorders (Hardcover)

Ian Kerner's book DSI is so anti-men that I thought the author MUST be a woman using a male pseudonym. I had to check Wikipedia to make sure "he" was really a guy. Far from being funny and insightful, the book paints ONLY men as the bad guys in failed or struggling relationships. Women who knowingly date and screw married guys so they can have the husband to themselves (ruining the marriage) are portrayed as victims when the husband fails to abandon his family. Women who use sex as a weapon to punish boyfriends or advance their careers with bosses (married or single) are modern, progressive women. Guys who fail to committ to marriage are snakes. At the end of a few chapters are good, solid comments about dating life in the modern era. But these are few and far between. Men "types" who lie about their dating motives with women are high lighted as Dating Fugitives. Not one single lying, two timing woman is accused of bad behaviour. The book is eye opening, if the case histories are true, into just how many modern women are interested in making money first and foremost. They have no intention of working 1/10 as hard to make a relationship work. And Dr. Kerner seems to have no problem with that. Pass on this book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better books on dating are out there, October 4, 2006

By 

Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: DSI--Date Scene Investigation: The Diagnostic Manual of Dating Disorders (Hardcover)

Kerner does a good job of giving a light hearted book of common dating problms. He discusses many different topics: bad timing, being stuck in the past, people who do not commit, getting comfortable too early in a relationship, dating metrosexual, and other topics. The book is styled as if each topic was a criminal investigation. Synopsis are given for each topic, both sides of the relationship are discussed, and a final summary/diagnosis is given at the close of the chapter.

I found that this light hearted treatment of each topic to be distracting. If you are looking for a book that is serious about the problems dating so often brings, you may be disappointed. Much of the space in the book is really given to humor, and I personally found this style to be distracting. If you are looking for a book that may give you some serious insight to dating, I would suggest looking a little longer. If you are looking for a book that offers a light hearted look at dating, this book is just what you are seeking.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where's the Beef?, November 19, 2006

By 

Jack (Texas Gulf Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: DSI--Date Scene Investigation: The Diagnostic Manual of Dating Disorders (Hardcover)

This book's concept and title are a cute play on the popular CSI TV show, as is obvious. And the author is pinning hopes for the book's success on that gimmick, because once you get beyond that, there's not much to see here.

First of all, the very title of the book is deceptive. It should be called Relationship Scene Investigation and not Date Scene Investigation. The DSI title implies that the book is giving advice on how to behave on a first date and making a good impression and what activities to choose for dates, etc. There is none of that here. It's all discussion about the mistakes that people who are in serious relationships make.

As relationship books go, this one is pretty run-of-the-mill. You can get the same or better quality advice from hundreds of others, without the distraction of the gimmick concept. The people who serve as subjects of scrutiny in this book are not a cross-section of society. Most of them are the kind of people who might be characters on Friends or Ugly Betty: working in high-powered and/or glamorous careers, living in hip urban areas, and of course endlessly complaining about the minutiae of their relationships that they find dissatisfying, etc.

The book also seems to subscribe to the "Women Good, Men Bad" philosophy. The men are often portrayed as philandering, selfish, lazy pigs. There is an attempt to allocate an equal amount of criticism to women, but read it carefully. This criticism usually take the form of scolding the woman for having "unrealistic expectations". In other words, the problem with women is that they are so naive as to actually believe that a man might NOT be a philandering, selfish, lazy pig.

If you are an urban woman who is enamored with pop culture and male-bashing, you might enjoy this book enough to get your money's worth out of it. For others, follow the links and find something better.