Customer Reviews

Love at First Sight: The Stories and Science Behind Instant Attraction

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Earl Naumann's LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT grabbed my attention immediately at a local bookstore in Savannah, Georgia. Dr. Naumann's premise--and eyecatching title!--is a major conclusion of my research about Sociobiology that a huge percentage of relationships are based on physical appearance, and in particular the phenomenon known as love at first sight. But except for Leil Lowndes in a chapter of HOW TO MAKE ANYONE FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU, no author has ever tackled the subject of love at first sight seriously--UNTIL NOW!!!

Dr. Naumann is a bold scientist; he asked a lot of questions before he wrote this book and he asked men, women, whites, blacks, Asians, Latins, and others. He gives statistics to support love at first sight and even produces statistics to go one step further:Dr. Naumann says couples who fall in love at first sight stay married more than couples who don't! WOW!

But then comes the biggest flaw in this book:Dr. Naumann stumbles when he tries to explain why people fall in love at first sight! He concludes that the 3 main causes of love at first sight are: 1) Physical Appearance; 2) Personality traits; and 3) Career Achievement/Potential.

And then LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT loses most of its credibility! HEY, WAIT A MINUTE DOC!!! Are you trying to tell me people fall in love at first sight because of personality or careers as much as for looks???

THAT DOES NOT COMPUTE!!! Sure, women see men and say, "Oh, boy, he's looks like he'll be a doctor one day! I'm in love!" And personality as the reason for love at first sight doesn't seem much more likely, either. "Oh, boy, she looks like he has a great personality, I want to marry her!" Yes, personality and career acheivement or potential may be important in some forms of gradual love, but that's not what this book is supposed to be about! So that leaves us with category #1, physical appearance. Dr. Naumann produces statistics to show women consider athletic ability in men to be important, but he also shows that men don't care about athletic ability in women, but are instead more interested in youth and beauty. My research supports him on both counts. But since this book is supposed to be about love at first sight it should have focused more on what specific physical characteristics are involved in love at first sight, or, "What was it you saw when you first saw that person that made you fall in love?" But instead Dr. Naumann spends a lot of time beating around the bush with TRUE ROMANCE stories from various people who claimed to have experienced love at first sight, and so LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT is like a scientific study of UFOs that turns into into an alien abduction story.

So how does LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT comare with other books about Sociobiology? Well, Leil Lowndes' HOW TO MAKE ANYONE FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU is more useful, but I didn't buy it till a month after I first saw it; Nancy Etcoff's SURVIVAL OF THE PRETTIEST has more interesting research, but it was a year after I heard about that book that I finally mail ordered it; but what happened when I first saw Earl Naumann's LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT? Well, Dr. Naumann's title, his eyecatching cover, and my insatiable curiosity made me buy this book the minute I saw it, so you might say that when I saw this book I fell in LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!!!

Chari Krishnan ...

Love at first sight is a great book that has literally helped me out with how I act in certain situations when it comes to love. There is a lot of information in this book that helps the reader understand how love effects us and how our brain works with our emotions. I've told people I care about that the reason I don't know how to deal with certain situations is a lot of it comes from my past for how I do deal with them. The book states it that emotions are identified by comparing memories with the situation at hand. If you are having any troubles in your life in the areas of understanding why you love people that you love, this will truly help you out.

I knew it existed! Everyone told me I was crazy, but when you've experienced it- you know. People used to tease me for my romantic beliefs, but this book proves that I am as logical as they come- and perhaps more aware to my surroundings. I feel sorry for all those who may have missed it- but by reading this book you may actually be prepared for when it happens to you. If you don't believe in it- it won't happen to you!