Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy (Paperback)

~ (Author) "As an adult human being, you can communicate with me in a variety of ways..." (more)
Key Phrases: professional touchers, full frontal embrace, patting action, Miss World (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Morris helps us to take a new look at ourselves." -- Chicago Tribune

"[An] excellent accounts." -- Alex Comfort, author of THE JOY OF SEX

Review

"Morris helps us to take a new look at ourselves." -Chicago Tribune
"[An] excellent accounts." -Alex Comfort, author of The Joy of Sex

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha Globe (August 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568361637
• ISBN-13: 978-1568361635
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #334,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Science, September 15, 2000

By	Leonardo Alves (Houghton, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If science is regarded as a dry and boring matter Dr. Morris' Intimate Behavior comes to prove it wrong. In this delightful book the scientist states that "man is a social animal and the ordinary healthy human being finds prolonged isolation a severe punishment.

According to Dr. Morris the very beginning of our lives is replete with intimacy in our contact with our mother. After a brief while our quest for independence launches us toward the unknown world. If this urge for independence and exploration is the base for the development of human society it also weights heavily on the individual that loses the so needed intimacy. During puberty when the young couples start to form the intimacy returns and with it there's usually a certain return to infancy. That's when young adults cuddle each other and call each other babies usually using high pitch voices.

Dr. Morris warns us about the crescent overcrowding found on the "Human Zoo", the modern megalopolis. The overcrowding creates a high level of stress that helps to separate people. This creates a positive feedback link: elevated stress level reduces intimate contact that in turn increases the stress.

This 19971 book although covering fast changing subjects like human behavior and human evolution is still surprisingly up to date. As in his other books Dr. Morris presents the topics based in precise scientific propositions backed by his observations, historical analysis and by the painstaking study of over 10,000 magazine and newspaper pictures.

This book is a must read for everyone interested in human behavior. You will be surprised to learn why do we do the things we do. Other fantastic books by Dr. Morris include the revolutionary "The naked Ape", the "Human Zoo" and the recent "The Human Animal" that accompanies the TV series and summarizes his work.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read but where did Sigmund Freud come from?, July 14, 2001

By	"ztoth" (Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

Although the book dates back several decades, with only a short updated prologue, the subject ,human intimacy, does not lend itself to change as quickly as technology or medicine therefore the information and opinions are still valid today. Desmond Morris captivated me with his zoological perspective on human behavior, viewing us as we are, animals; but with social restrictions and norms that artificially restrain our natural urge for intimacy.

I found it a fascinating read but found the last few sections not in line with his zoology background but rather from a ridiculous psychoanalytic perspective. This perspective is not based on scientific fact or reason but formulated by Freud from unrecorded observations that he recounted by memory of case studies he had saw. Having Desmond Morris try and convince me that I indulge in the occassional cigar, which represents a "super nipple", as a substitute for intimacy that I recieved as a child made me crack up rather than stop and reflect on his brilliance. This type of opinion seems to me out of Zoology's domain.

I rather enjoyed the sections concerning parental, sexual, and social behaviour as they were told from a zoological perspective, while the later sections had the sour flavour of Sigmond Freud. I do recommend this book to anyone interested in the behavioural sciences particularly in the ways we touch and do not touch each other. So dont be scared to 'touch' this book and become 'intimate' with its pages as you will learn much from it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understand The Human Animal Intimately..Read This Book., December 11, 1997

By A Customer

Dr. Morris has written his most important document inside the pages of this book. It seems as if he matured after writing "The Naked Ape" and decided to condense all of the important points in his masterpiece and make it quick informative reading as "intimate Behaviour". When it was written, Morris was the head Zoologist at the London Zoo. His understanding of the human animal will answer all of the "why?" questions that your parents couldn't answer. This book should be mandatory high school reading and if it were so, speaking would be at a minimum and body language and gesturing would reign supreme.