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Mitchell, Stephen A. ListingsIf you cannot find what you want on this page, then please use our search feature to search all our listings. Click on Title to view full description
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CAN LOVE LAST?: THE FATE OF ROMANCE OVER TIME
Mitchell, Stephen A.
2002 500012 To delve into the subject of love with relational psychologist Stephen A. Mitchell is to race headfirst into an enormous haystack with a kid who's intent on finding not one, but probably a dozen, needles. In Can Love Last? Mitchell's boyish curiosity and profound intelligence virtually set fire to the subject, both enlightening and challenging his readers. Mitchell's premise is that romance, in its many forms, is key to a life worth living. Why, then, does the sizzle so often fizzle, especially in committed relationships? More importantly, what forces compel humans to actively douse romantic flames in favor of more "stable" love? Mitchell's probings of these and other questions take him on a fascinating journey through times and topics historical as well as contemporary. From Plato to Freud, Homer to Kris Kristofferson, Mitchell weaves history, philosophy, literature, and (of course) psychology into a surprisingly sensible pattern. Yes, a few loud threads stand out, including his well-supported theory that "stable" love is actually much riskier than romance. But over all, differing theories on love and desire, stability and adventure, or surrender and control find more parallels than crossroads under Mitchell's tender care, making this book an intellectual gift to the masses. --Liane Thomas Product Description: Not since Thomas Moore's Soul Mates has a major thinker redefined our most basic human emotion. What can we expect from romantic love? Stephen A. Mitchell revitalizes our dreams, while recognizing the pitfalls we face, in this groundbreaking examination of the major components of romantic love-sex, idealization, aggression, self-pity, guilt, and commitment. Common wisdom has it that love is fragile and unreliable, but Mitchell argues that romance doesn't actually diminish in long-term relationships-it becomes increasingly dangerous. What we regard as the transience of love is really risk management: segregating love and desire, keeping mundane reality in the foreground, and limiting expectations to curtail dependency. Bringing to bear thirty years of clinical practice, Mitchell offers fresh and practical advice that runs the gamut of romantic experiences, from avoiding a humdrum relationship to idealizing a future soul mate to feeling nostalgic over lost loves. He shows that love can endure, if only we become aware of our self-destructive efforts to protect ourselves from its risks. Published at twenty five dollars. W.W. Norton & Company 0-393-04184-0 / 9780393041842
Hardcover As New New York
Price:
15.93 USD
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CAN LOVE LAST?: THE FATE OF ROMANCE OVER TIME
Mitchell, Stephen A.
2002 42658 To delve into the subject of love with relational psychologist Stephen A. Mitchell is to race headfirst into an enormous haystack with a kid who's intent on finding not one, but probably a dozen, needles. In Can Love Last? Mitchell's boyish curiosity and profound intelligence virtually set fire to the subject, both enlightening and challenging his readers. Mitchell's premise is that romance, in its many forms, is key to a life worth living. Why, then, does the sizzle so often fizzle, especially in committed relationships? More importantly, what forces compel humans to actively douse romantic flames in favor of more "stable" love? Mitchell's probings of these and other questions take him on a fascinating journey through times and topics historical as well as contemporary. From Plato to Freud, Homer to Kris Kristofferson, Mitchell weaves history, philosophy, literature, and (of course) psychology into a surprisingly sensible pattern. Yes, a few loud threads stand out, including his well-supported theory that "stable" love is actually much riskier than romance. But over all, differing theories on love and desire, stability and adventure, or surrender and control find more parallels than crossroads under Mitchell's tender care, making this book an intellectual gift to the masses. --Liane Thomas From Publishers Weekly When New York University professor and popular psychoanalysis theorist Mitchell died in December 2000, he left behind a robust body of work that made Freudian theories accessible to all. It's not surprising, then, that this postmortem work should have broad appeal. A combination of clinical case studies, psychoanalytical thought and practical advice, Mitchell's riff on the fragility and necessity of romantic love is written with warmth and intelligence. He manages to simplify some of Freud's most complex theories and give them new significance for those who wonder why love is often a battlefield. Real-life examples, taken from his practice, are an invaluable addition. In a section on guilt, for example, he briefly describes how Freud considered the emotion to be "the linchpin of our ascent from the bestial to the civilized," then brings in the work of Viennese-born analyst Melanie Klein and concludes with the story of "Will," whose tendency toward feeling guilty created havoc with his romantic relationships. By mixing the case study method, so common in self-help books, with scholarly insight, Mitchell creates a work on romance that is rich and multilayered, giving the individual stories more weight and the intellectual commentary more humanity. In his conclusion, Mitchell writes like a loving father penning a wedding day message to his child, gently advising that romance isn't about "a labored struggle to contrive novelty," but instead about tolerance and understanding. It's common advice, but given the rest of the work's depth, humor and rigor, these familiar words take on new, and much welcomed, meaning. February 14. Forecast: Mitchell was always adept at user-friendly writing, and this work follows in that tradition. Can Love Last? would do well on its own merit, W. W. Norton & Company 0393041840 / 9780393041842
Hardcover As New Condition New York
Price:
17.23 USD
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