Odyssey of the Heart: Close Relationships in the 21st Century [Paperback]

John H. Harvey (Author), Ann L. Weber (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805838988 | ISBN-13: 978-0805838985 | Publication Date: November 1, 2001 | Edition: 2

Written in a personal, story-telling style, Odyssey weaves excerpts of actual relationships with current and classic research to provide a better perspective on our own experiences in light of the principles of relationships. Highlights of its comprehensive coverage include the classic research on personal attraction, dating and meeting others for closeness, and the maintenance and dissolution of relationships. "Recommendations for Growth" provides an opportunity for readers to directly apply current research and theory to their own relationships.

Features new to this edition include the latest research and therapeutic techniques on maintaining and enhancing relationships; a new chapter on the family with recent demographic changes and a look at the ongoing debates about the impact of cohabitation, divorce, and blended families; and new chapters on same sex relationships and the dark side of relationships, including why women stay in abusive relationships.
Odyssey of the Heart serves as a text for courses on close and/or interpersonal relationships. Its accessibility and inclusion of many actual experiences will engage the general reader.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...a thorough, well-documented, provocative review of major research topics, written in an accessible manner, and demonstrating linkages between theory, research, and practical application.
—Valerian Derlega
Old Dominion University

This book...integrates, in clever and insightful ways, storytelling and current events with actual research findings on close relationships...the book forces the reader to think about significant aspects of life and relationships, with the likely benefit of greater insight.
—Susan Sprecher
Illinois State University

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Psychology Press; 2 edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805838988
• ISBN-13: 978-0805838985
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,964,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too biased toward heterosexual relationships to be useful, August 13, 2009

By 

J. Pruitt "FTW" (DJ booth) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Odyssey of the Heart: Close Relationships in the 21st Century (Paperback)

This book has the same problem that many books on close relationships have: Part of its title is missing.

The subtitle "close Relationships in the 21st Century" implies a progressive study of close relationships, however it would be more aptly subtitled "close relationships BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN in the 21st Century," because like most books of its nature it implies without directly stating it that the only important close relationships worth studying are fine, traditional Christian relationships between MEN and WOMEN.

Every point, every example, every quotation from every author pertains to the study of close relationships as institutionalized by the warped looking glass of monotheistic America.

Homosexuality and relationships between men are touched on only briefly and in a hypothetical sense.

While many of the points presented and examined can pertain to both homosexual and heterosexual relationships, the effort of sorting out which parts can be applied to non-traditional relationships is too much effort to justify using this book as a frame of reference on the topic of close relationships. The bias impedes learning on the subject matter so much that one would be better off with one's own observations on close relationships than by having their judgment clouded by reading this title.

The authors go on for chapters about interpersonal relationships between married men and women and make such bold statements as a man can only be truly happy and productive when he is married to a woman: "...marriage is, indeed, the best state for a man in general, and every man is a worse man in proportion as he is unfit for the married state."

As an unmarried, bisexual male in committed relationship with another male, who has a successful career and is generally happy in life, I find this assessment to be offensive and the general viewpoints of the authors to be unacceptably derisive toward alternative relationships to the point of being bunk.

Pages and pages discuss the problems that exist in households where children of divorced parents live with a single mother. I don't understand what this has to do with close relationships in general at all.

This book is more of a discussion of the interpersonal relations of married men and women than a discussion of close relationships.

If you want to learn all about traditional heterosexual marriages this book is a good starting point. However there are some functional problems with the material as well.

For one, rather than discussing source material as most authors would do, the authors merely dump long tables of data out for the reader to assemble and consume themselves.

Another problem is that the authors frequently criticize and even insult other professionals in the field outright in a childish and unproductive manner.

After reading the first two chapters and the introduction it was clear the direction the book was taking was entirely biased and so as learning material for the study of close relationships I highly recommend looking elsewhere.