Natural History of Love
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The bestselling author of A Natural History of the Senses now explores the allure of adultery, the appeal of aphrodisiacs, and the cult of the kiss. Enchantingly written and stunningly informed, this "audaciously brilliant romp through the world of romantic love" (Washington Post Book World) is the next best thing to love itself. Library Journal In her long-anticipated companion volume to A Natural History of the Senses, Ackerman mines deep within the caves of human emotion for artifacts of 'the great intangible': love. Proceeding with the disdainful understanding that sociologists prefer to study negative behaviors and emotions, Ackerman sets out on her exploration by reviewing the lessons provided across time by such lovers as Antony and Cleopatra, Orpheus and Eurydice, Dido and Aeneas, Abelard and Eloise, and Romeo and Juliet. During this journey, she explores the neurophysiology of love and exposes the components of modern-day relationships, from the 'New Age Sensitive Guy'' to sexual chic. With dazzling poetic charm and insight, she uses history, literature, science, psychology, and personal experience as tools to illuminate the vigor and vehemence of the thrilling, devastating, and comforting phenomenon of love. -- David R. Johnson, Louisiana State University Library
Introduction: Love's VocabularyA Long Desire: The History of LoveEgypt3History's Paramour, the Serpent Queen3Art in Ancient Egypt7The Hieroglyphic Love Poems10My Sister, My Bride14A Long Desire16Greece17The World of the Citizen King17The Woman's World19Men Loving Men21The Family23Orpheus and Eurydice25Rome29The Nightmare of Girls29Dido and Aeneas32The Family35Oh, Victoria!38Ovid and the Art of Love39Decorating Leisure Time42The Middle Ages43The Birth of Chivalry43Books of Love47Troubadours49The Heart's Rebellion51The Origins of Courtly Love56Abelard and Heloise60Modern Days66The Angel and the Witch66Romeo and Juliet70Bridled Hearts75A Waking Swoon82A Return to Courtly Love85Domestic Paradise88Modern Love90The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: Ideas About LovePlato: The Perfect Union95Stendhal Meets the Deep South99Denis de Rougemont: Love and Magic105Marcel Proust and the Erotics of Waiting112Freud: The Origins of Desire123Attachment Theory131All Fires the Fire: The Nature of LoveThe Loving Impaired139Disabling Love139The Horror of the Ik141Brain-Stem Sonata: The Neurophysiology of Love146The Evolution of Love150The Plastic Brain152New-Age Sensitive Guys154Adultery156The Battle of the Sexes157The Chemistry of Love159Mother Love, Father Love159The Cuddle Chemical162The Infatuation Chemical164The Attachment Chemical166The Chemistry of Divorce167Aphrodisiacs169A Necessary Passion: The Erotics of LoveFire from the Flesh: Why Sex Evolved177The Spice of Life180The Face181The Evolution of the Face184Survival of the Cutest186Facing Our Biases188The Hair190Women and Horses196Men and Cars217The Indy 500218The Lightest Longing: Sex and Flying227Wings over Africa230Men and Mermaids236Sexual Chic: Perversion as Fashion241Kissing249On the Sensuality of Looking255Passing Strange and Wonderful: Love's CustomsPatterns in Nature259The Courtship261Flesh of My Flesh: The Marriage267Of Cocks and Cunts277Love on the Edge: Adultery, Extravagant Gestures, and Crimes of Passion279Points for a Compass Rose: Varieties of LoveAltruism289For the Love of Children: Interplast292For the Love of Strangers: Life and Death in the South Seas308On Religious Love314On Transference Love322On the Love of Pets326Postscript: The Museum332Selected Bibliography338Index345
