Rating: 
Summary: Amazing Book
Review: Great for the student psychologist, the practicing psychologist, retired psychologist and the lay reader!*****5 Star Book. I used this book in undergrad, grad school and now it lies on my desk at my private practice. Wonderful companion book. Also, read more of Fromm's books...they are all very insightful! Corrie, Gainesville, Florida
Rating: 
Summary: a book for a whole life
Review: Here is a book about various kinds of love (between persons only) taking the old, but to me still valid stance of the world as the union of opposites (contemporary homosexual culture, for example, challenges it to some extent, as Fromm points out). I read it after having come separately to very similar conclusions, so for me it mainly systematized clearly a series of ideas. But given its convincing insightfulness and its accessible, although by no means simple, and highly theoretical, approach to the topic, I can imagine its impact on people who have not come close to its ideas by themselves but are in fact searching for them. It is an utterly heuristic book. Fromm has the rare faculty of going straight and quickly to the core of the problems, without many words. I found however a few oversimplifications in some details. For example, by far not all Western philosophy is based on Aristotelian logic or is Western religion just a "thought" (i.e. logical thinking) experience. I am not convinced by his survey of the religion evolution of man. Fromm dismisses the techniques of good marriage preached by modern therapists, but isn't it them we see at work in truly loving couples? He means not to use them without feelings, but I think the form (the technique) may create the content (the feelings), and not only the other way around -- or, better to say, the form and the content continuously interact. Finally, I am not sure, but I think he implies true erotic love should last forever, and I am not sure this is the case. Fromm does not discuss the both conditional and unconditional character of erotic love, which includes aspects of all other types of love, without being their sum. These are however details and do not diminish the powerful discourse of the book. A more serious shortcoming is, I think, the fact the Fromm does not discuss the very important relation between thought and action in the learning and practice of love. Isn't thought a form of action as well? He stresses the insufficiency of the "right thought" (logical conclusion), but then he speaks of the necessity of "reason" (the faculty of thinking objectively) and of theoretical knowledge (of which the book itself is a proof). How are thinking (objectively, but not simply logically) and action related to each other? I would have liked to read more about this, especially because thinking tends to be poorly appreciated when we come to the discussion of emotions or feelings. In any case, a book to love.
Rating: 
Summary: Fluffly vaugeries about nothing.
Review: Here is a book that talks about thoery, dinsintergration, and practice of love, but really says nothing. He uses vauge phrases like "the union of conformity...is insufficient to pacify the anxiety of seperateness" Does't help a person have a better relationship. Only creates mythical boxes for love such as "God Love, Brotherly Love, Self Love, and Motherly Love" which he describes in equally abstract language. Would recommend this book only for college students who need to write a report on love, but not for anyone with an interest in enriching their life.
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Summary: Uninstructive book not based on concepts, and even off-topic
Review: I am not able to say that Erich Fromm's book The Art of Loving really is about the art of loving. The only important message I was able to digest is that loving is something you do, not something which happens to you. I do not follow how this book could be labeled as practical when it does not really contain any program at all, rather, it contains a lot of unwarranted criticism of modern society. The book seems to contain many statements, which are very easy to disprove. Also, Fromm does not bother to explain how he came to his conclusions - it's like a mathematical textbook, which contains many theorems and claims and no proofs. In other words, there are not many lines of reasoning to be found. All in all, I am disappointed with the quality of Fromm's thinking.
Rating:
Summary: The "human condition" explained in an understandable way
Review: I first read this book in the late 60's or early 70's having no idea how much it would influence me over the years. I recommend it highly to those who wish to understand themselves and those with whom they love and live. This book has the power to truly change your life!
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Summary: What is love?
Review: I have a better understanding of what love is after reading this book. In the modern society, people in general seem to know the meaning of love very well. Most think that love is simply a male and a female getting together happily, just as what they can usually see in the films. But I can tell you it is not so simple. Love is more than that! In the beginning of the book "The Art of Loving", Fromm first carries out several premises behind the attitude of people treating love. These are about the problem of how to be loved, the object to love as well as the confusion between the initial experience of falling in love and the permanent state of being in love, which has a great impact on me to think about what love is. Fromm then talks about the theory of love. It is really true that love is an activity. It is primarily giving, not receiving. Moreover, love is not just to a specific person, the "object" of love, but to the world as a whole. There are different kinds of love toward different objects: brotherly love, motherly love, erotic love, self-love and the love of god. All these will be covered in the book. And at last, Forrum puts these theories into practice. With the capacity to love our neighbor as well as true humility, courage, faith and discipline, the satisfaction in individual love can surely be attained. In the "polluted" world, love is indispensable. We should try most actively to develop our total personality, in order to achieve a productive orientation. "Love thy neighbor as thyself". It is appreciated that Forumm tries to use non-technical language to avoid unnecessary complications. Still, there are some areas that are difficult for me to understand. Besides, it focuses much on the theory, making it a little bit boring. Overall, the book is worth reading. How can I know if the theory works? Put it into practice!
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Summary: A very profound literature on LOVE
Review: I have finished reading "Art of Loving" by Eric Fromm just yesterday. It is a good book but more based on psychoanalytical studies. It does gives a very good information on the art of loving but less life based examples and more researched material. The description of the kind of love father, mother, son, daughter, and others have is amazing Or rather I would say much well researched. The book does not at any word inspires you to love but just tells you what love is. It does not ask you to start loving but rather gives you the meaning of what love stands for. It is a very good and well written book. In fact to be more precise a well researched book. It is definitely not meant for any of those people who think that reading it will be fun, because it has such profound studies incorporated in it that the book requires definitely a very high sense of understanding and concentration. It is one of those kinds of books which have only hundred pages, but each page is so strong that sometimes it takes two days to understand what the author wants to tell through that page's writting. I would definitely recommend you to read this book as it not only gives the view points of the author but also of the others whome the author has met and read. It is a researched material where the author not only discusses his view points but also every now and then tell and discusses each topic with others opinions and then later comes to the cumulative conclusion. Most of the teachings and the thoughts are though very personal but then that applies to most of the authors writtings and thats okay. I hope you all will enjoy reading this book as I did. Happy reading!
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Summary: This is NOT the Kama Sutra!
Review: I have read and re-read this book several times over the years since it was first published. In reading the reviews posted here and in consideration of the recent popularity of books such as "The Complete Kama Sutra", I felt it important to make obvious the difference between the two lines of thought. While both have valuable places in our society, "The Art Of Loving" is a book of our emotional and intellectual needs for and abilities to Love, rather than physical techniques. At this point in human evolution, "The Art of Loving" could easily be considered a basic text book for 'humanities 101'! I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in better understanding themselves or those around them!!
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Summary: Read it, then give a copy to the people you care about
Review: I have reread this book more than any other that I own, partly because it's short, but mostly because Fromm is such a lucid and perceptive writer. I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough. I don't agree with all of it -- his take on homosexuality, for instance, which may or may not be attributable to the day in which it was written -- and many readers may not care for the way he frames behavioral patterns in psychoanalytic terms. That said, you can read right past those stylistic elements, because his prose is positively oozing with compassion. I don't think it's overly dramatic to say that it would take me longer to convey how excellent this little book is than it would take you to read it.
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Summary: A FRENCH TRANSLATION
Review: I only would like to purchase a french translation of this book
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