Can Love Last?: The Fate of Romance over Time

by Stephen A. Mitchell

Overview

"A beautiful and brilliant reexamination of love and its perils."—Barbara Fisher, Boston Globe

Common wisdom has it that love is fragile, but leading psychoanalyst Stephen A. Mitchell argues that romance doesn't actually diminish in long-term relationships—it becomes increasingly dangerous. What we regard as the transience of love is really risk management. Mitchell shows that love can endure, if only we become aware of our self-destructive efforts to protect ourselves from its risks. "Those who read this book will love more wisely because of it."—Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon "[A] work on romance that is rich and multi-layered."—Publishers Weekly "Cheerful, open, and humane—you'd definitely have wanted him as your analyst."—Judith Shulevitz, The New York Times Book Review "[T]houghtful, compassionate, and profoundly optimistic."—JoAnn Gutin, Salon.com

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393323733
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	02/17/2003
Series:	Norton Professional Books (Paperback)
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Stephen A. Mitchell died in 2000 at the pinnacle of his career as a theorist and clinician. He is the author of Freud and Beyond.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	11
	Introduction	21
1.	Safety and Adventure	31
2.	The Strange Loops of Sexuality	58
3.	Idealization, Fantasy, and Illusions	93
4.	Aggression and the Danger of Desire	119
5.	Guilt and Self-Pity	145
6.	Control and Commitment in Romantic Love	172
	Notes	202
	Index	217

Editorial Reviews

It will hold you, as it held me, in its thrall.

Mark Epstein

Those who read this book will love more wisely because of it.

Andrew Solomon

A beautiful and brilliant reexamination of love and its perils.
—Boston Globe

Barbara Fisher

[T]houghtful,compassionate,and profoundly optimistic.
—Salon.com

JoAnn Gutin

Cheerful,open,and humane—you'd definitely have wanted him as your analyst.
—New York Times Book Review

Judith Shulevitz