general

The title is clever, but Dr. Laura's main point is that men are essentially simple creatures who want to be admired and loved by their wives and will treat them like queens in return. As such, she says, it's necessary for women to respect the differences between the sexes rather than insist that men act like women. Schlesinger cites the need for a religious foundation for strong marriages, but she lays much of the blame for the attitudes of today's women squarely at the feet of the feminist movement, which she says is largely responsible for the self-centered, me-first, I-don't-need-a-man approach found in today's society.

I read this book cover to cover in several hours and found the recommendations very reasonable--her goal, after all, is to make good marriages stronger and provide good homes for the kids who come from these marriages. Recommended especially for young married couples, but anyone can learn something from this book and will find it helpful seeing the basic tenents of marriage laid out on printed pages as a reminder.

This is an easy to read, easy to implement guide for women who want a great relationship. Dr. Laura draws from the letters and call-ins she receives on her radio show and the book is full of quotes of these letters and dialogues she had with listeners. And it is easy to recognize yourself in those people?

Dr. Laura's advice is really simple: Take responsibility for your relationship, realize the power you have and use it wisely. Make your husband your number one priority and the rewards will be manifold. It almost sounds too simple, but the many examples in the book provide clear support that this works and why.

The book illustrates how many women have fallen into the feminist trap of demanding "to have it all" without realizing the price they pay for pursuing too many things, for ignoring their husbands for the sake of their career, or for reducing their husband to a tool to support their dreams, rather than creating and maintaining a true partnership that feeds both of them.

One warning: Dr. Laura is a strong advocate of the traditional marriage with a stay-at-home wife and children. So it is easy for any woman who does not fall into that pattern to ignore what she says. That would be a shame. The essence of her book remains true, no matter what your personal circumstances are: Focus on your husband's needs rather than have all attention on yourself, give instead of demanding to receive, and your partnership will fly.

Another book that I have found extremely insprirational and insightful is "Working on your Relationship Doesn't Work" by Ariel and Shya Kane. They have a refreshing new perspective on how heretofore unidentified influences in our environment, if they go unrecognized, can destroy our relationships and how you can nurture and grow your relationships ? with your partner, yourself, co-workers, friends, family ? in a way that doesn?t take time or effort and allows magic to unfold. They suggest that the mere seeing of things allow them to transform, without working on them. What a relief? and worth trying!

Having been through two divorces I have a bit of experience in the failed marriage business and I read this book with interest to see if I spotted any similarities between the authors advice to married women and the behaviors I experienced in my bad marriages. Spot on. Bingo. It's here. I give the book a strong recommendation to any looking to strengthen their marriage or to any planning on getting married.

It's easy for some to vilify Dr. Laura but if you (as a woman) have ever been successfully married you've either followed her advice or you weren't all that happily married (or at least your husband was miserable). She makes it very clear that the book isn't written for relationships that are abusive and that in normal non-abusive relationships men are actually very similar and pretty much want the same things in their marriages: the respect of their wives, lots of physical intimacy and a good home from their children.

As for the overall quality of the book and the writing, I'd say it's about average. It is a short book and a lot of it is filler, quotes, examples and stories. I read it in a few hours and did find it entertaining as well as informative. In defense of the authors style and the length of the book, I'd like to point out that to help the average person, a book can't be to long and complicated, it simply won't get read, so overall, I'd not say the length and style are a detriment. My biggest complaint was that it simply ended, there wasn't a conclusion or final chapter, the last chapter was just the last chapter.

As for those people, women or men, that can't stand the idea of a wife respecting and honoring her husband, loving him and caring for him, it's fine if you feel that way as a single person but you're setting yourself up for a failed marriage if you think somehow you're so special that the laws of human nature and the spirit of man are somehow unique in your situation. They aren't. I highly highly recommend this book to anyone that's engaged or thinking about it. If you think the book is bunk, don't get marriage yet, at least not to a man...