Decoding Love: Why It Takes Twelve Frogs to Find a Prince, and Other Revelations fromthe Science of Attraction (Hardcover)

~ Andrew Trees (Author)
Key Phrases: romantic story line, dating market, dating pool, Decoding Love, The Dating Animal, The Dating Dance (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A smart, entertaining, and eye-opening look at the science of love.

Relationships should be so simple. You meet someone. You fall in love. If all goes well, that person falls in love with you. You live happily every after.

As Andrew Trees reveals in Decoding Love, this “romantic storyline” has shaped our thinking about relationships for centuries. But the fairy tale is deeply flawed. Researchers today are making shocking discoveries about how and why we choose the people we love.

Drawing from the latest studies in economics, brain science, game theory, evolutionary psychology, and other fields, Decoding Love takes on a topic we all think we understand—how we fall in love—and illustrates that most of our assumptions are wrong. Along the way, Andrew Trees offers surprising new insights into the nature of attraction and desire as well as an intimate look at the strange intersection of romance and the modern world of dating. Throughout, Decoding Love reveals the frequently bizarre scientific findings about human attraction from the powerful influence of smell to a mathematical theory that one must date twelve people before happening upon Mr. or Ms. Right. Everything from a genetic marker for infidelity to the way the pill can sway a woman’s choice of her partner is explored in this astonishing and thoroughly amusing account of what goes into determining why one person falls in love with another.

Page-turning, thought-provoking, and sparkling with wit, Decoding Love is an uncommon look at that most common of human pursuits: falling in love.

About the Author

Andrew Trees is the author of the novel Academy X, as well as several works on American history. He has taught at a number of colleges and universities.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Avery (January 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583333312
• ISBN-13: 978-1583333310
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #253,190 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly fascinating., June 2, 2009

By	C. Lopez - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book really hit home for me. It is simply an extraordinary book. It's sort of like Desmond Morris meets Freakonomics meets a dating book. Anyone who likes reading about dating and relationships will find this book fascinating. Another great book I read is Sexy and Confident: How To Be The Dreamgirl Men Want, Have a Better Life and Improve Your Self-Esteem. It's more of a dating book, but also addresses some of the same subjects.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ for my clients!!, June 9, 2009

By	Margaret A. Johansen "Veggie Lover" (Las Vegas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a Marriage and Family Therapist, and not only do I think this is the best book on dating/attraction I have ever personally read, I am enthusiastically recommending it to several of my clients. Unbelievable.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When you're done crying, get intellectual..., October 4, 2009

By	Julie Zamora - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Decoding Love: Why It Takes Twelve Frogs to Find a Prince, and Other Revelations fromthe Science of Attraction (Hardcover)

I bought this book another written along the same vein (Why He's Dating Her (Instead of You) - Why He Didn't Commit, Why He Left, and Why You're Still Hooked - 10 Ways to Be...) after my boyfriend ended our relationship to be with another woman. After I got over the initial sadness, I wanted to better understand why we make the relationship choices we do and what part of the "dance" I was getting wrong.

I LOVED this book! Talk about approaching the act of dating and getting to know each other from a perspective never explored before! As a left-brain, I appreciated the science behind the theories and I appreciated how the author posed explanations of female/male reactions to each other I hadn't even considered.

This book allowed me to take a whole new look at the choices and reactions I was putting out there and gave me hope there are better ways to attract a life-long partner.