WRESTLING WITH LOVE:
How men struggle with intimacy
In Wrestling With Love, psychologist Sam Osherson reveals how men in our culture struggle to achieve intimacy in their relationships, even as strong messages about masculinity demand that they hide their desire for attachments. Osherson begins by offering a startling observation, based on his extensive experience with men: the desire to connect and the impulse to shun intimacy often arise at the same time. Osherson looks at how this ambivalence undercuts men at every stage of their lives, from boyhood through grandfatherhood, and offers concrete, workable advice for how men can free themselves from these conflicts.
Wrestling With Love is written with both men and women in mind. It focuses on:
- The hidden role of shame in men's lives, and how to deal with it.
- Key relationship pressure points in men's lives
- How a man's life is shaped by the relationship with his father
- Men's loyalties to their mothers, and the role of the mother-son bond.
- How men can build sturdy connections to their wives and children
- Healing the difficulties in the relationships with their fathers
- The important role of friendships in men's lives
--Eye- opening...A significant popular guide to male psychologyh-- Publisher's Weekly.
--Powerful . . . Men will recognize themselves and their struggles on many pages, and both men and women will gain a better understanding of why men are as they are." -- San Francisco Chronicle
--A wise, wonderful, and provocative book that should be required reading for every man who is or hopes to be a lover, a husband, or a father. If more men's literature dealt as honestly or persuasively with men's difficulties in intimate relationships, more women would have cause to celebrateh-- Lillian Rubin, author of Intimate Strangers and Erotic Wars.
--A rare combination of compassion, insight and wisdom... The author's depth of experience shines through, offering men a powerful sense of being understood. This book touched me, and helped me feel better about myself.h -- Augustus Y. Napier, PhD. Author of The Family Crucible and The Fragile Bond
--Enormously helpful...Insightful...This is a brave look into the complexity of the male heart.h-- Arlie Hochschild, author of The Second Shift: Working Couples and the Revolution at Home
--This delightful book offers wise and sensitive guidance for men who want to explore the inner terrain of their own feelings about themselves and their families. Sam Osherson has listened carefully to hundreds of men and to his own heart, and generously shares his own experiences of shame and self- doubt as well as joys and triumphs. The book's warmth and clarity, surprising humor and inclusive spirit make it appealing and accessible to men. I recognized myself on nearly every page. A marvelous achievement.h-- Robert Raines, Director of Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center