Title: Why Men Lie and Women Cry
Author: Allan and Barbara Pease
Reviewer: Michael Reckord
THIS BOOK'S fascination begins with its title. It probably grabbed your attention, as it did the first half-dozen persons to whom I showed the book. Who wouldn't want to know why men lie and if they do so more than the other half of the human race?
Those questions are only some of the hundreds addressed which men and women have been asking themselves, their pastors, their psychiatrists and each other for the past several thousands of years.
While, with the advance of the sciences the physical, social and the mental the answers have been coming in dribs and drabs and published here and there, this may well be the first book in which so many of the questions men ask about women and vice versa are answered.
The extensive reference section at the back of the book shows the amount of research the authors undertook as they write. Included in it are such diverse, well known names as Thomas Aquinas, F. Lee Bailey, Eric Berne, Erich Fromm, John Gray, Immanuel Kant, Konrad Lorenz, Desmond Morris and Naomi Wolf.
FACTS, FIGURES AND THEORIES
Names like those suggest the authors know what they're writing about when they positively inundate the reader with facts, figures and theories on human psychology and behaviour. Tens of thousands believe in the authors, which is why their many books, videos and audio tapes and motivational talks and seminars are so popular.
Jamaicans will have a chance to attend one of those seminars on February 17 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. Allan Pease will be conducting it, on Body Language, the title of his first multimillion seller.
At that seminar, the work under review will have a Jamaican launching. Buy a copy there; it's a storehouse of knowledge. Here are some of the things you'll learn.
"Science can now explain why women talk so much, often 'beat around the bush', want to know the fine details about everyone around them and seldom initiate sex."
"We now know there are evolutionary and biological reasons why men can only do one thing at a time, hate shopping, won't ask directions, want the toilet roll to face out from the wall rather than in, and know hardly anything about their friends' personal lives."
"A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife."
"Women evolved as child-bearers and nest-defenders and, as a result, female brains became hardwired to nurture, nourish, love and care for the people in their lives. Men evolved with a completely different job description they were hunters, chasers, protectors, providers and problem-solvers. It makes sense that male and female brains are hardwired for different functions and priorities... Scientific research, especially the new high-tech brain scans, confirms this."
"Men everywhere put nagging at the top of the list of their pet hates. In the USA alone, there are more than 2,000 cases a year of men murdering their wives and claiming that their nagging drove them to it."
Most women have the brain organisation to out-talk any man on the planet, the authors state, and they back up the claim with illustrations from London's Institute of Psychiatry showing how much larger a portion of the female brain than the male is associated with speech.
SEXUAL APPEAL
You also get, in a mixture of scientific facts and humour packaged in an attractive volume, material on emotional blackmail, men's dislike of commitment, mother-in-law issues, how the face attracts attention, sexual appeal, and how to retire happily.
For over three decades Allan Pease, an Australian with offices in Australia and the United Kingdom has taught others how to succeed; and he teaches skills and techniques with humour. A radio and television personality, he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Fellow of the Institute of Management and Fellow of the Lifewriters Association. His work has been published in 32 languages.
Publisher: Orion Books Ltd.
