Open Marriage: A New Life Style for Couples

This book is very realistic and even compares open and closed marriages. It gives suggestions for things that I never even thought about. It was just what I was looking for. I highly recommend this book if you are considering starting an open marriage or even if you are already in one.

Give yourself the opportunity to read the whole book before you decide what "it" is saying about Open Marriage. We found the book to be more about the importance of trust in relationships and open communication and agreement between each individual and/or couple.

This book is still a classic. But, better today are the books on Polyamorous relationships.

A good idea for some, I suppose.

I read this book because my dad said that my mom had him read it during the last year of their marriage. It feels very dated. I don't get the impression that my dad was telling me about (it's about selfishness and doing whatever you want) but I do understand why my mother might have been pushing for this book.

This not a "how to" guide to "swinging" (or whatever people call it) but in fact much more a book that addresses the question of being together and growing with a partner while retaining individuality and seperatedness within a relationship of honesty, trust and openess. I felt a lot less cynical and much more positive about the institution of marriage as a result of reading this book.I thought it was excellent and I feel it's a book that would probably appeal to many more people if the title was different. But then again it was because of the title that I found it. Highly recommended for any relationship whether or not marriage is a part of it.

The criticisms of this book are mostly about its non-monogamous aspect: the O'Neills (allegedly) broke up, therefore their relationship style is null and void. By this logic, is monogamy null and void, because monogamous people divorce? No type of relationship--straight, gay, monogamous, polyamorous, etc--is guaranteed against breakup. There are also horrendous relationships that are together forever because of desperation or beliefs. Even if there is a higher percentage of breakup in a certain relationship style, is "together until death" the only measure of a valid relationship?As many people pointed out, "open marriage" back then didn't mean specifically what it does now. In this book it means communicating openly, treating each other as equals, and allowing each other personal freedom. Most of this book is about how to get along better in a relationship by remembering that you both are individuals. You don't have to do everything together or have everything in common. You don't have to give up separate interests that your partner doesn't share. You don't have to give up friends when you get married. Giving up things like that don't make couples closer; they make couples resent each other and also take away their outside support systems.They mention non-monogamy as a possibility if both partners agree to it. They mention that depending on the context, sex with another person may not be the most horrible betrayal in a marriage (I said, depending on context. There are plenty of times it is a major betrayal.) Specifically I remember the passage about "the grass is always greener", and how with no fence, there is less of that feeling.My criticism of the "love and sex without jealousy" chapter is they talk about not having jealousy, but aren't very specific about how to deal with it and how to overcome it. (There are other books on open relationships that go into more detail about that.)Another criticism is that at times it relies on a premise of both people having careers that allow for economic independence. A career like that is not available to all people; there is no reason that only people with good careers should be able to have good relationships.There are lots of self-help books that promise a "one and only way" to have a satisfying relationship if you follow some off-the-wall advice, including the "emotional infidelity" variety that do advise couples to avoid friends and spend all of their time together. This book, in comparison, is common sense. Whether you want to be monogamous or non-monogamous, I think this book provides practical advice that should be elementary, but often isn't.

The title of this book has become misleading only because the meaning of the words "Open Marriage" has changed over the decades.This book is an excellent guide for people interested in all the aspects of attaining and living in an open marriage, which is an overall way of life, not just sexual freedom. Everything from sex to doing the dishes is covered in this book. Some of the language may sound dated since it's original printing, but then again, so does Shakespeare.This the best book I have ever found to learn about ALL aspects of your marital relationships (not just the sexual ones) and discover the ways in which people try to control and eventually destroy each other as individuals within a marriage.If you want a book on "swinging" (a/k/a recreational, non-monogomous sex) then this is NOT the book you are looking for. But then again, Open Marriage is leaps and bounds beyond just swinging. This book guides you through making this a way of life in a wonderful way, changing the traditional marriage views in ALL aspects, including non-monogomous sex, but not JUST sex.How do I know this? I've been living this way for 15 years and still going happy and strong. My first "traditional" marriage lasted 3 years.

This is an excellent book and everyone who is married or is getting married needs to read it. Unfortunately the concept of "Open Marriage" to some people meant having open affairs, which is really unfortunate because Open marriage doesn't mean that at all. I wish I had read this book years ago it would have saved me many years of grief and frusteration.