Married and Alone: The Way Back

This lucid, intelligent and empathetic account of how relationships break down and get fixed gains special flavor from the author's references to pertinent rabbinic teachings. A clinical psychologist at Northwestern University, Rosenzweig draws from his practice examples of real-life problems and solutions that snap, crackle and pop with authenticity. Noting that men often hide feelings of shame and hurt in displays of false pride, sulking, withdrawal and intimidation, he observes that marriages also founder on the shoals of competition, shame, blame and crisis. He prescribes remedies for these and other problems--like decision-making, crisis-handling and workaholic partnering, and suggests that the aloneness of the book's title is less a signal of romantic decay than a first step toward growth. Rosenzwieg here is the next best thing to a marriage counselor. (Apr.)