Amazon.com
Ever wonder why women can brush their teeth while walking and talking on various subjects while men generally find this very difficult to do? Why 99 percent of all patents are registered by men? Why stressed women talk? Why so many husbands hate shopping? According to Barbara and Allan Pease, science now confirms that "the way our brains are wired and the hormones pulsing through our bodies are the two factors that largely dictate, long before we are born, how we will think and behave. Our instincts are simply our genes determining how our bodies will behave in given sets of circumstances." That's right: socialization, politics, or upbringing aside, men and women have profound brain differences and are intrinsically inclined to act in distinct--and consequently frustrating--ways.
The premises behind Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps is that all too often, these differences get in the way of fulfilling relationships and that understanding our basic urges can lead to greater self-awareness and improved relations between the sexes. The Peases spent three years researching their book--traveling the globe, talking to experts, and studying the cutting-edge research of ethnologists, psychologists, biologists, and neuroscientists--yet their work does not read a bit like "hard science." In fact, the authors go to considerable lengths to point out that their book is intended to be funny, interesting, and easy to read; in short, this is a book whose primary purpose is to talk about "average men and women, that is, how most men and women behave most of the time, in most situations, and for most of the past."
Why Men Don't Listen, therefore, deals largely in generalizations, and this is bound to alienate some readers. "We don't beat around the bush with suppositions or politically correct clichés," the Peases claim. Those up for an irreverent and unapologetic take on why men and women just can't help themselves sometimes may just decide to read on. --Svenja Soldovieri
From Publishers Weekly
"To get a man to listen, give him advance notice and provide an agenda," write the husband and wife Peases in this pithy, attention-grabbing guidebook to the differences between men and women. Originally self-published in Australia to wide acclaim, the book weaves together facts from the latest brain research, theories from evolutionary biology and a treasure trove of anecdotal events and conversations collected by the authors during a three-year research trip around the world. Sociobiology has rarely been so entertaining. The Peases say that a woman's brain is wired to be able to speak and listen simultaneously, for example, and they are geared to talk through problems. Men, by contrast, need to clam up. "He uses his right brain to try to solve his problems or find solutions, and he stops using his left brain to listen or speak." These brain differences took shape in cave days, according to the authors. Men were hunters and defenders who evolved tunnel vision (as compared to women's vision), while, as nurturers, women not only had broad peripheral vision but sensitive relationship skills. Channel surfing and newspaper skimming are modern ways for a man to cut off from others to privately mull problems, advise the authors. "Remember, his forefathers spent more than a million years sitting expressionless on a rock surveying the horizon, so this comes naturally to him.... " Feisty and crystal clear, this controversial work will appeal to readers of both sexes. (May) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Someday, there may be a book based on evolutionary psychology that lightheartedly attempts to explain the differences between men and women; this isn't it. Barbara, CEO of Pease Training International, which produces videos and seminars for businesses and governments, and Allan, a professional speaker, assert that the "politically correct" will lambaste their work, which is based on interviews with experts and seminars. Quite rightly so. While there is a need to publicize research on the evolutionary differences between men and women, there is absolutely no need to couch the research in offensive stereotypes while trying to be funny. For example, the authors use the tired clich? of a woman with PMS hurling cookware at her spouse to illustrate that testosterone equals spatial ability. They also allege that a "woman with a moustache is...much more likely to make a better engineer than one who looks like a Barbie doll." In addition, quite a few of the statistics are suspectAe.g., the authors allege that 110 percent of engineers are men. Public libraries should stick with Deborah Tannen's work and John Gray's Mars/Venus series.APam Matthews, Gettysburg Coll. Lib., PA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"This is a must- read for men and women who love each other, hate each other, or simply coexist. You will learn as much about yourself and how to improve your relationships as you will about the opposite sex."
--Dennis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning
"The Peases have the knack of making the profound seem obvious. Brings Mars and Venus down to Earth!"
--Dr. John Tickel, bestselling author of A Passion for Living
Review
"This is a must- read for men and women who love each other, hate each other, or simply coexist. You will learn as much about yourself and how to improve your relationships as you will about the opposite sex."
--Dennis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning
"The Peases have the knack of making the profound seem obvious. Brings Mars and Venus down to Earth!"
--Dr. John Tickel, bestselling author of A Passion for Living
Book Description
Have you ever wished your partner came with an instruction booklet? This international bestseller is the answer to all the things you've ever wondered about the opposite sex.
For their controversial new book on the differences between the way men and women think and communicate, Barbara and Allan Pease spent three years traveling around the world, collecting the dramatic findings of new research on the brain, investigating evolutionary biology, analyzing psychologists, studying social changes, and annoying the locals.
The result is a sometimes shocking, always illuminating, and frequently hilarious look at where the battle line is drawn between the sexes, why it was drawn, and how to cross it. Read this book and understand--at last!--why men never listen, why women can't read maps, and why learning each other's secrets means you'll never have to say sorry again.
From the Inside Flap
Have you ever wished your partner came with an instruction booklet? This international bestseller is the answer to all the things you've ever wondered about the opposite sex.
For their controversial new book on the differences between the way men and women think and communicate, Barbara and Allan Pease spent three years traveling around the world, collecting the dramatic findings of new research on the brain, investigating evolutionary biology, analyzing psychologists, studying social changes, and annoying the locals.
The result is a sometimes shocking, always illuminating, and frequently hilarious look at where the battle line is drawn between the sexes, why it was drawn, and how to cross it. Read this book and understand--at last!--why men never listen, why women can't read maps, and why learning each other's secrets means you'll never have to say sorry again.
From the Back Cover
"This is a must- read for men and women who love each other, hate each other, or simply coexist. You will learn as much about yourself and how to improve your relationships as you will about the opposite sex."
--Dennis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning
"The Peases have the knack of making the profound seem obvious. Brings Mars and Venus down to Earth!"
--Dr. John Tickel, bestselling author of A Passion for Living
About the Author
Barbara Pease is CEO of Pease Training International and the author of the international bestseller Memory Language. She divides her time between England and Australia, trying to find her way home from the airport. Alan Pease is a full-time speaker, conducting seminars in thirty countries with a client list that includes IBM, McDonald's, and the BBC. He is also the author of five #1 bestsellers, and spends most of his free time practicing listening when he's being spoken to.
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