"Bader's theory of sexual arousal is revolutionary. It has the potential to change forever the way we understand everything about sex, from the most mundane preferences to the most theatrical expressions of bondage and discipline. He brilliantly analyzes why we get turned on and why men and women do so differently. I believe that he has no equal among psychoanalysts in his understanding and elucidation of sexual passion." - Kim Chernin, author of The Obsession: The Tyranny of Slenderness, in My Mother's House, and The Woman Who Gave Birth To Herself: Tales of Transformation in Women's Lives "In this brilliant new work, Dr. Michael Bader offers an original and provocative theory that is the most definitive explanation I have ever read of both the psychological and social dynamics of sexual arousal. His central argument - that sexual arousal depends on psychological safety - helps to explain a wide range of phenomena, form the kinkiest of perversions to the sexual positions that people prefer during sex. This highly readable and engaging book should be required reading not only for practicing psychotherapists, but for all those who are interested in the how and why of sexual arousal - their own, their partner's, or their culture's." - Lillian B. Rubin, Ph.D., author of Tangled Lives: Daughters, Mothers, and the Crucible of Aging, Intimate Strangers: Men and Women Together, and Women of a Certain Age: The Midlife Search for Self "Dr. Bader has long been a valuable consultant to me in exploring the erotic in film. Now he's written AROUSAL: The Secret Logic of Sexual Fantasies, and his unique and penetrating insights are at last available to the lay public. Everyone can now see that theory can be sexy. AROUSAL goes where Viagra fears to tread. Too bad, his waiting room is already too crowded." - Phillip Kaufman, director of Quills, Henry and June, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and The Right Stuff "In his ability to analyze the interaction of psychology and culture, Michael Bader is without peer in intellectual life today. In Arousal, he shows us that he is also a master clinician and gifted teacher, using vignettes fro his psychoanalytic practice to help translate the complicated dynamics of sexual arousal into terms that make intuitive sense. This is a book like Freud's Interpretation of Dreams: absorb the framework and you will understand human interactions in a whole new way." - Michael Lerner, Editor of TIKKUN Magazine and author, Spirit Matters: Global Healing and the Wisdom of the Soul, and The Politics of Meaning "Based on a thorough psychological understanding of human behavior and mental functioning, this book explores the bewildering diversity, and often bizarreness, of our sexual behaviors and fantasies, and the role they play in maintaining our psychic equilibrium and a sense of safety in our lives, especially in the vital sexual sphere. A very helpful guide to all of us concerned with these issues. And who isn't?" - Robert S. Wallerstein, M.D., former Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco and Past President, International Psychoanalytic Association "In my 30 years of clinical work as a psychiatrist, consultant and teacher, I have never read a book that so powerfully explains sexual dysfunction as does Michael Bader's brilliant new work, Arousal. This landmark book, refreshingly free of scientific jargon or affectation, is invaluable not only to sex therapists and other clinicians, but to all those interested in enhancing their view of how sexuality functions in their lives and intimate relationships." - Dennis Zeitlin, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at U.C.S.F. |
