cover image What Your Mother Couldn't Tell You and Your Father Didn't Know: Advanced Relationship Skills for Better Communication and Lasting Intimacy

What Your Mother Couldn't Tell You and Your Father Didn't Know: Advanced Relationship Skills for Better Communication and Lasting Intimacy

John Gray. HarperCollins, $23 (448pp) ISBN 978-0-06-017162-9

The author of bestselling Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus proposes that ``New skills must be learned if a man is to feel needed and appreciated by his mate.... New skills are required [for a woman] to remain feminine and also be strong.'' In an easy combination of personal anecdotes from his own marriage and ideas culled from the professional seminars he conducts, Gray delineates the skills he considers necessary to make relationships thrive. According to him, no models exist for today's marriage partners, whose roles are often the reverse of the traditional or are altered by the wife's higher earning power. So Gray explores sexual differences and other potential points of conflict in an approach based on traditional values. To whit, ``Men must learn to use their ancient hunting skills of silently watching and waiting when listening to their mates.'' At 'em, boys. 500,000 first printing; $350,000 ad/promo; first serial to Cosmopolitan; Literary Guild split main selection; author tour. (Nov.)