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Summary and Reviews of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray

Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray

Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships

by John Gray
  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (20):
  • First Published:
  • Jun 1, 1992, 256 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2004, 368 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

A unique, practical and proven way for men and women to communicate and relate better by acknowledging the differences between them. Available in paperback for the first time!

Popular marriage counselor and seminar leader John Gray provides a unique, practical and proven way for men and women to communicate and relate better by acknowledging the differences between them.

Once upon a time Martians and Venusians met, fell in love, and had happy relationships together because they respected and accepted their differences. Then they came to earth and amnesia set in: they forgot they were from different planets.

Using this metaphor to illustrate the commonly occurring conflicts between men and women, Gray explains how these differences can come between the sexes and prohibit mutually fulfilling loving relationships. Based on years of successful counseling of couples, he gives advice on how to counteract these differences in communication styles, emotional needs and modes of behavior to promote a greater understanding between individual partners. Gray shows how men and women react differently in conversation and how their relationships are affected by male intimacy cycles ("get close", "back off"), and female self-esteem fluctuations ("I'm okay", "I'm not okay"). He encourages readers to accept the other gender's particular way of expressing love, and helps men and women learn how to fulfill each other's emotional needs.

With practical suggestions on how to reduce conflict, crucial information on how to interpret a partner's behavior and methods for preventing emotional "trash from the past" from invading new relationships, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus is a valuable tool for couples who want to develop deeper and more satisfying relationships with their partners.

Imagine that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. One day long ago the Martians, looking through their telescopes, discovered the Venusians. Just glimpsing the Venusians awakened feelings they had never known. They fell in love and quickly invented space travel and flew to Venus.

The Venusians welcomed the Martians with open arms. They had intuitively known that this day would come. Their hearts opened wide to a love they had never felt before.
The love between the Venusians and Martians was magical. They delighted in being together, doing things together, and sharing together. Though from different worlds, they reveled in their differences. They spent months learning about each other, exploring and appreciating their different needs, preferences, and behavior patterns. For years they lived together in love and harmony.

Then they decided to fly to Earth. In the beginning everything was wonderful and beautiful. But the effects of Earth's atmosphere took hold, and one ...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Library Journal
Couples counselor Gray addresses the topic of male-female relationships with humor, insight, and understanding. ....His "Venusian/Martian" phrase dictionary lists statements made by men and women and the ways in which they are often misinterpreted. Written in a light tone that keeps the reader's interest, this is a very helpful source for couples trying to keep love alive. Recommended for self-help and therapy collections.

Publishers Weekly
Psychotherapist Gray ( What You Feel You Can Heal ) adds to the growing number of self-help books that assess marital and relationship problems in terms of distinct and pervasive gender differences. Unfortunately, his overuse of gimmicky, often silly analogies and metaphors makes his otherwise down-to-earth guide hard to take seriously.

Reader Reviews

Ratnali More

Interesting
Very frankly speaking I hardly get time to read books and all. But, MrfM,WrfV changed my attitude. I'm already an understanding person, and reading this book will help me to cope with relationship problems in future. All people have different ...   Read More
Ashley Skinner

Good Resource For Newlyweds
In Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray, he starts out with a metaphor. This metaphor describes how the inhabitants of Mars and the inhabitants of Venus didn’t know that each other existed. The Martians eventually discovered the ...   Read More
Understanding Momma

Reviewing reviews.
As I searched for book reviews on the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" to assist me while I explain in better words and ideas to my classmates, I noticed a few bitter people on here under the impression that the writer has ...   Read More
daer2vl

I was surprised
I only picked this up because it was at the thrift store and I'd heard so much about it. I expected it to be hokey, which it sometimes is, but I didn't expect it to tell me so much about myself and especially my husband that I had no idea about. When...   Read More

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Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

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    Having gone where no woman (who wasn't an aspiring or actual transsexual) has gone for any significant length of time, let alone eighteen months, Norah Vincent's surprising account is an enthralling reading experience and a revelatory piece of anecdotally based gender analysis that is sure to spark fierce and fascinating conversation.

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