Perhaps under the influence of Mars, Venus, or Uranus, I bought a copy. I really tried to have an open mind, but the salesman's tone quickly told me that Gray has succeeded primarily because of his skill as a huckster. Throughout the book, he parades testimonials of successful relationships, that sound like the ravings of so many lame extraterrestrials healed by his touch. Gray encourages men to look further into their real selves, past the female characteristics that they might have developed in their movement toward sensitivity. Conversely, women are encouraged to get over the masculine traits they might have taken on in their struggle to get ahead.
Purity of essence is evidently high on the list of necessities for galactic happiness.
Stripped of the mega-sales machine, there's not much that is so wrong with the book's rather commonsense observations, but there's not much that's so right, either. Around my house, Men are from Texas and Women are from Thailand - there is no getting around our cultural and linguistic obstacles. But I don't need tricks to pull on my partner to convince her that I care. I can remember to put the toilet seat down without picturing myself as the Little Prince servicing the needs of an alien, and I don't need John Gray urging my partner to give me the admiration I've been missing for doing so. By John Alderman Illustrations by Marcus Sorenson Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus 286 pp.