Why Men Don't Listen & Women Can't Read Maps--How We're Different and What to do about It

(A) pithy, attention-grabbing guidebook to the difference between men and women...--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.

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.