Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy | Desmond Morris

Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy | Desmond Morris | Anthrology view of Us

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Intimate Behavior:...

	Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy Desmond Morris Kodansha Globe, 1997 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Twenty-five years after it first caused a splash in the scientific and literary worlds, Intimate Behavior is still one of the best chronicles of human intimacy. With a masterful and entertaining eye, Desmond Morris, bestselling author of The Naked Ape and The Human Zoo, analyzes the roots of human intimacy, from the handshake through the twelve stages that people pass through on their way to the total sexual embrace. Morris contends that the months just before and after birth are when the seeds of intimacy are planted and are critical to development. From the loving attention of the mother, the child learns and responds with intimate gestures of his or her own. He argues that human adults follow certain patterns of intimate behaviour that are based on these infant experiences for their entire lives. In addition to sexual intimacy, Morris discussed social intimacy, intimacy substitutes, object intimacy, and self-intimacy. Complete with a new preface by the author, Intimate Behavior is a provocative view of humans need to touch and to be touched, to love and to be loved. At a crucial moment, a gentle embrace can still do more good than a thousand earnest discussions. Despite all our social and technological advances, the primeval body language of love still remains the most potent force we have for the expression of feelings of comfort and caring. Desmond Morris, from his new Preface

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Another universal classic by Desmond Morris !

Dr. Morris has written another marvelous book that clearly elucidates the intimate behavior of the human animal. It is delightful, interesting and informative.
It is definitely a book worth reading.......

Anthrology view of Us

I like the writings of Desmond Morris because he takes the discipline of a scientist and applies it to looking at us. He is as objective with this lens as he would be looking at other mammals. This approach cuts through some of a subjective opinions and cherished ideas about who we are and how we function. Yet at the same time, he is honoring of what we are and points to things that can help us relate to each other more healthily and more naturally. This book is no exception. My favorite of his is PEOPLE WATCHING which seems to summarize much of what he says in other books and also shows a lot with pictures.

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Extraordinary

I am new to Morris' general work but I am thourougly impressed. So far I have read this book and The Naked Ape.

This book lags in certain parts, but he consistently gives detailed attention to all aspects of human intimacy - the sections Sexual Intimacy, alone (at least) are worth reading as he couragously attends to a very difficult subject of love and sex in very practical ways. His thinking on this front is well stated and offers doorways for the thinking man to manifest new ways forward for the sepcies.

Great Read but where did Sigmund Freud come from?

Although the book dates back several decades, with only a short updated prologue, the subject ,human intimacy, does not lend itself to change as quickly as technology or medicine therefore the information and opinions are still valid today. Desmond Morris captivated me with his zoological perspective on human behavior, viewing us as we are, animals; but with social restrictions and norms that artificially restrain our natural urge for intimacy.

I found it a fascinating read but found the last few sections not in line with his zoology background but rather from a ridiculous psychoanalytic perspective. This perspective is not based on scientific fact or reason but formulated by Freud from unrecorded observations that he recounted by memory of case studies he had saw. Having Desmond Morris try and convince me that I indulge in the occassional cigar, which represents a "super nipple", as a substitute for intimacy that I recieved as a child made me crack up rather than stop and reflect on his brilliance. This type of opinion seems to me out of Zoology's domain.

I rather enjoyed the sections concerning parental, sexual, and social behaviour as they were told from a zoological perspective, while the later sections had the sour flavour of Sigmond Freud. I do recommend this book to anyone interested in the behavioural sciences particularly in the ways we touch and do not touch each other. So dont be scared to 'touch' this book and become 'intimate' with its pages as you will learn much from it.

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Intimate Behavior

I also enjoy reading books by Desmond Morris. This book was very interesting and provided several unexpected insights into animal testing and into child rearing. It is easy to read but a little dry at times. I recommend it.

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