Two in a Bed [Paperback]

Paul C. Rosenblatt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2006

A fascinating look at the social experience of sharing a bed with another person.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As anyone who has ever spent the night next to another person knows, one can learn a great deal about someone over the course of a night. Rosenblatt's book is a sociological study of this overlooked phenomenon, and he reveals all the factors involved in bed sharing, "couple interaction," and the effects of a shared sleeping environment. Based on interviews with 42 heterosexual and homosexual couples, and four single individuals, Rosenblatt explores the entire nighttime procedure, pleasant and not; reading and watching television in bed, tossing, turning, cuddling and sleeping. He also spends a chapter discussing the morning routine, taking into account the differences between couples with children and without. While the study lacks any groundbreaking revelations, it highlights smaller details that may be overlooked when considering the impact of bed sharing. In one particularly revealing example, a woman explains how she and her husband divorced, in part because he refused to break his habit of leaving the television on in the bedroom when the couple went to sleep. While one does not emerge from Rosenblatt's study with an entirely new perspective on the nighttime habits of couples, the book reassuringly asserts the age-old maxims it never hurts to hear: the keys to a good relationship are intimacy, communication and plenty of compromise.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Back Cover

Millions of adults sleep with another adult, but what does it mean to share a bed with someone else, and how does it affect a couple’s relationship? What happens when one partner snores? Steals the sheets? Prefers to sleep in the nude? To address these and other questions, Paul C. Rosenblatt asked couples to describe the struggles, challenges, and achievements of their bed-sharing experiences. Two in a Bed includes interviews with more than forty bed-sharing couples as they candidly discuss winding down and waking up, cold feet and tucked sheets, who sleeps near the door and who gets pushed to the edge, snoring, spooning, sleep talking, sleep walking, and the myriad other behaviors we negotiate in falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up each morning beside a partner. In addition to exploring the routines and realities of sharing a bed with another person, these interviews reveal important information about sleep, relationships, and American society. Stressing the intricacy and importance of a previously unremarked activity, Rosenblatt’s Two in a Bed shows that sleep should no longer be viewed solely as an individual phenomenon.

"This is the most fascinating and engaging book in the family arena that I have read in many years. It fills a significant and important gap in the social science literature. Every interview is informative and some are even hilarious." — David M. Klein, coeditor of Sourcebook of Family Theory and Research --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (July 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791468305
• ISBN-13: 978-0791468302
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs suggestions, January 4, 2007

By 

AmyJ "Amy" (IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Two in a Bed (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading this book as I could take comfort in knowing that I was not the only one out there having trouble sharing a bed with someone. And I was able to show my spouse that I wasn't just complaining needlessly. Unfortunately, the book was not as helpful as I had hoped because it didn't offer many suggestions on how to actually get some sleep.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mostly obvious and twice as long as it should be., April 3, 2007

By 

Bradley G. Jellerichs - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Two in a Bed (Paperback)

While sleep is usually thought of in terms of the individual, for millions of us it is a two-person activity. The author is one of the first to examine sleep in this way, and I soon realized why...the conclusions are obvious. Yes, the temperature of the bedroom matters. Yes, a TV in the bedroom can interfere with sleep. None of what is discussed is at all surprising. Further maddening is the style in which the author presents his data. Instead of presenting anecdotes or case studies in prose form like most nonfiction authors, we get unedited dialogue between the author and the interviewees. This alone would be hard to read, but Rosenblatt complicates it further by inserting parenthetical comments made by the primary speaker's partner. Example:

Kristen: ...'cause I can always put on more clothes and still be (laughing) (Dan: warm) warm.

An old axion states that an invention always seems obvious once it is in front of you. I acknowledge that the premise behind the book is novel. For me, however, it wasn't worth the read.

4.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, March 22, 2009

By 

Elizabeth Schroeter (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Two in a Bed (Paperback)

I was feeling frustrated with my own couple bed sharing challenges, and reading this book gave me hope that we will adapt (we have) and comfort that pretty much every couple deals with all kinds of conflict, challenges, rules, joys and idiosyncrasies in bed.