The Alchemy of Love and Lust (Hardcover)

~ Theresa L. Crenshaw (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Crenshaw has her own clinic concerned primarily with sexual diseases and conditions. She has experienced some of these problems personally, for she has had a bilateral mastectomy. Experience with her large clientele further enables her to speak authoritatively. Hormones and related substances, she maintains, should be recognized, respected, and understood by all patients and physicians, so she introduces each of these vital elements, shows how they work or go off track, and urges anyone who has a sexual problem to seek professional help rather than suffer or cause a partner's suffering. She fully explores possible psychological hang-ups and the advantages and disadvantages of aging relative to sexual health. She cleverly combines patient vignettes with up-to-date scientific information and avoids no methods for improving sex and life. "It's not the ratio of our hormones," she asserts, "as much as how we treat each other" that counts. William Beatty

From Kirkus Reviews

A spirited account of how hormones influence gender differences and sexual behaviors, along with advice on how to take control of these potent biochemical forces. A physician and sex therapist trained at the Masters and Johnson Institute, Crenshaw (Bedside Manners, 1983, etc.) is one teacher who knows how to make her chemistry lessons painless. She introduces the major players in colorful language: Estrogen is Marilyn Monroe, testosterone is the young Marlon Brando, serotonin is the resident schizophrenic. After a brief look at the sexual stages in the lives of men and women, she examines the role of hormones and other chemicals in shaping romantic feelings and actions. Many chapters open with an attention-grabbing sexual scenario, and numerous other explicit passages are interspersed throughout the text. A dozen or so sex-shaping substances are profiled, with charts providing a summary of each one's characteristics, functions, therapeutic uses, and the factors that raise or lower its level in the body. One of Crenshaw's key messages is that, thanks to the variations in the mix of this chemical brew coursing through their bloodstreams, men and women are different--biologically, sexually, and emotionally. Her other message is that, as human beings, we need not be the slaves of our chemistry. A sizable portion of the book is devoted to menopause and its male version, viropause, which she views as endocrine disorders to be treated by hormone replacement therapy whenever possible. Ever optimistic, Crenshaw concludes with some speculations based on current hormone research with animals. If she's right, there's a brave new world ahead, of longevity and sexual fitness for those who mind their chemistry lessons. Uninhibited, upbeat, and opinionated. (First serial to Cosmopolitan and Fitness; Book-of-the-Month Club alternate selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; FIRST EDITIION FIRST PRINTING edition (March 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399140417
• ISBN-13: 978-0399140419
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #669,022 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's not me, it's my HORMONES!!!, July 1, 2006

By	E. E. Suranie "outgirlLA" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found this book to be a HUGE eye opener to the amazing way our bodies function in a primal order for a purpose which we have little control over. To actually learn about the chemical responses that make women want to nest after sex and men want to flee was fasinating. IT'S NOT PERSONAL, IT'S PRIMAL! It was humorus to discover that all the pyschology in the world isn't going to change basic biology. THIS is what sex education classes should be about.