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Book Cover for: A Natural History of Love: Author of the National Bestseller a Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman

A Natural History of Love: Author of the National Bestseller a Natural History of the Senses

Diane Ackerman

Following the triumphant success of her book "A Natural History of the Senses," Diane Ackerman has turned her formidable gifts to that greatest gift of all -- the elusive, eternal, and endlessly interesting matter of love. The result is pure Ackerman: a splendid, serious, scientific, poetic, playful, and lyrical 'tour d'horizon' of love's many forms and faces. Ackerman draws on a variety of sources, both classical and from her immediate experience. She gives a fresh new reading to Freud ('mapping the war zones of the heart'), Stendhal (love as fantasy), and Proust ('the erotics of waiting'), and draws lessons from lovers across time.

Her attention then moves to the physical -- the chemistry, biology, and neurophysiology associated with love in the brain, mind, and body. She discusses the 'evolution of the face, ' the cuddle, both as caress and as chemical, and the customs of marriage. There are astonishments everywhere. Her distinctive touch, aided by her personal adventures and explorations, enriches our understanding of women and horses, men and mermaids, sex and flying, and other equally enticing subjects.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Vintage
  • Publish Date: Feb 21st, 1995
  • Pages: 384
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.10in - 5.49in - 0.94in - 0.73lb
  • EAN: 9780679761839
  • Categories: Love & RomanceHuman Sexuality (see also Social Science - Human Sexuality)Sexuality

About the Author

Diane Ackerman has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in addition to garnering many other awards and recognitions for her work, which include the bestselling The Zookeeper's Wife and A Natural History of the Senses. She lives in Ithaca, New York.