It was French historian Andre Maurois who once observed: "A marriage without conflicts is almost as inconceivable as a nation without crisis."
Those of who have been in divorice court can attest to the veracity of this quote.
This tome -- all 650+ pages of it -- sheds light on some of the dynamics that spawn these conflicts. Drawing from about 12,000 questionnaires and in-depth interviews with 300 couples, the authors cast a revealing spotlight on three specific arenas: work, sex and money. They arrive at some conclusions that are hardly surprising. Example: the more a person earns, the greater power that individual has in a relationship. Another example: working wives continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of the responsibility for housework.
Sadly, this bulky book gets bogged down in far too many trivialities. Nonetheless, it has enough revealing case studies and even user-friendly graphs to make it a worthy read. ( )