Why Men Don't Listen & Women Can't Read Maps

Written for a lay readership with humor and references to more than 100 studies/publications the authors explore physiological sources for gender behaviors and differences. The book includes cartoons and illustrations of sections activated by specific categories in male and female brains. They emphasize that our brains are hardwired after eons of gender-specific behavior and physiological differences. Their references stretch back so far that few anatomical changes in the 20+ years since the book was printed would be likely. Still, some of the conclusions seem outdated and I would like to read and compare the results of more recent sociological studies to see what changes—if any—have taken place in the interim.

Eureka I cried as I read the section of this worthy tome that deals with the different number of speech centers that mane and women have. You see I have always wondered why women will come up and interrupt me while I am typing without any apparent display of contrition only to display dismay at my reaction. Alan and Barbara explain it so well and once I understood this I was empowered to talk to the women in my life and explain that when I am writing something all my brains speech centers are engaged and if they interrupt me in mid flow the thing I am composing in my mind goes "POOF" and disappears forever. Indeed I found so much useful insight in to the impact that the differences between the male and female brains phisiology make that I referenced the work in my own book Stone Soup: The Secret Recipe for Making Something from Nothing as I feel that this book is not merely applicable in personal relationships on the home front I have seen its application in business and frankly the younger the business the more important it is for people to get along really well. I recommend Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps to everyone if you are a man know for his listening as I am or a woman who has a passion for orienteering this book is hugely valuable.

This book is a fantastic read. If you want answers to some familiar and all too commonly asked questions like, "Why does he or she do that?" then feel free to dive in! There were situations in the book I thought I was the only one who experienced. It was so neat to find out that many other women and men have the "windshield wiper disagreement." I thought I was the only one in the world that reached over to turn on the wipers as soon as it started to rain (to my husbands joking roll of the eyes and large sigh)because he would wait until it really poured. Come to find out after reading this passage, every coworker in my office (male and femal) particiapted in this same scenario in their own vehicles! I wasn't alone. What a surprise! If you dont take it too seriously and use it as a surface understanding then you can as a woman smile when that man you love does something you previously found annoying or didnt understand or as a man you can avoid the doing a roll of the eyes or blank stare of lack of comprehension. I used to ask my husband to show me more affection. So he would carry the groceries in or open my car door or make me decide where to go eat (to please me). Now I understand these to be signs of his love and desire to show affection. Now I understand it is in my best interest to SPECIFY the way I want affection shown and also to appreciate him for who he is. So, dDo what you will with it. Dont take it seriously; more as a guide book on a tour of men and women. Tour books arent there to make you only see those places in that exact order, they show you what is possible and what is available and its up to you to plan the trip.

Of all of the books in this "genre" which have been published in the last decade beginning with "Brain Sex: The Real Differences Between Men and Women" (also very good), this is the one that I consider best and most comprehensive. Funny thing about it is that it tells nothing that we don't already innately "know", but simply that most of us have become confused about (Well, my now long deceased grandparents weren't confused about any of this). If you are really interested in knowing what makes men and women 'tick'.... differently... and what YOU can do about that which can make life between the sexes more harmonious instead of just the proverbial 'battle of the sexes", then you won't go wrong on getting this book. Not only that, but you'll get some great laughs as well as insights out of it along the way, especially if you share it as a heterosexual couple, and often find you are laughing at yourselves from time-to-time. :-)

If you've ever been puzzled by why a partner, friend or relation of the opposite sex just doesn't seem to "get it", this is the book for you.The authors, themselves a husband and wife team, explain how most behavioral differences between the sexes can be explained by biological differences between men and women's brains. In turn, these derive directly from millions of years of evolution to best fit traditional roles: "lunch chaser" and "nest defender". Political correctness is powerless to overturn things which are wired into our brains.However, this is not a reactionary book seeking some scientific justification for an old-fashioned, discriminatory, political or religious agenda. Instead, the authors look at the reality of life since the late 20th century. They establish an explanation of problems in male-female interaction which we can all relate to. Then, where it's possible, they identify strategies which each sex can adopt to better communicate and interact with the other. Not only does the book explain the difference between male and female sex drives, but it suggests strategies for getting more!It's a very well-written book, laced throughout with humour, including some very funny cartoons and quotations. Assertions about the differences between male and female brains are backed up by clear, modern scientific evidence, and several tests for the reader to try themselves. Once or twice I found the book a bit repetitive, especially in the section explaining gay behaviour, but I still read it from cover to cover in a few hours.Everyone should read this book, but especially those who think that political correctness can wipe out the reality of who we are and how we think...

So nice to know, at last, that we are not just trying to annoy one another. There is a REASON why we do the dumb things that we do to one another. In all my voracious and omnivorous reading, this is the first thing I have read that makes any sense out of the subject. Should be a required class for every school student over the age of 12 or so - and take the book home to keep! Gives an UNDERSTANDING of WHY there are the DEEP differences. Cannot recommend it highly enough!