A Natural History Of Love [Paperback]

Diane Ackerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 21, 1995

The bestselling author of A Natural History of the Senses now explores the allure of adultery, the appeal of aphrodisiacs, and the cult of the kiss. Enchantingly written and stunningly informed, this "audaciously brilliant romp through the world of romantic love" (Washington Post Book World) is the next best thing to love itself.

Editorial Reviews

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 358 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (February 21, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679761837
• ISBN-13: 978-0679761839
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diane Ackerman is the acclaimed author of "A Natural History of the Senses," the bestselling "The Zookeeper's Wife," "Dawn Light," and many other books. She lives in Ithaca, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "LOVE IS THE GREAT INTANGIBLE.......", May 10, 2005

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Natural History Of Love (Paperback)

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

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Counting the ways of the heart., November 7, 2003

By 

G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Natural History of Love (Hardcover)

"We have the great fortune to live on a planet abounding with humans, plants, and animals," poet Diane Ackerman (A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES, 1990), writes in her Introduction to this book; "and I often marvel at the strange tasks evolution sets them. Of all the errands life seems to be running, of all the mysteries that enchant us, love is my favorite" (p. xxiii). Once again demonstrating her talent for blending the disciplines of history, anthropology, psychology, literature and natural science, Ackerman turns her attention here to the subject of love, "the great intangible" (p. xvii). In counting the ways of the heart, she reveals through a historical survey of Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, and Modern times that our attitudes about love are truly as old as the pyramids, and she also examines the evolution, psychology, and chemistry of love, the differences between men and women when it comes to love, monogamy and adultery, love-thwarted attachments, and aphrodisiacs and eroticism. While it may not live up to the standard Ackerman set in A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES, in addressing what it means to love from a variety of different perspectives, this book is nevertheless quite fascinating.

G. Merritt

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true treasure & a staple of your library, April 8, 2002

By 

JET (Parker, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Natural History Of Love (Paperback)

This book is amazing. If you haven't read Ackerman before, I suggest starting with _A Natural History of the Senses_. Then read this book. Ackerman is a very talented writer. Even if the subject isn't entirely interesting, her words and their rhythms are. This subject, however, is very interesting. Ackerman muses on myths (such as Dido) and history (such as Napoleon and Josephine), but also explores instincts and preferences (why women love horses and the influence of pheromones). This book is romantic, historical, sexual, poetic, challenging, and completely beautiful.