awful title, good book

I am reading a book by psychoanalyst Eric Fromme called The Art of Loving.

God the book title makes me want to gag. I picture some dreamy, idealistic self help guru with a ponytail saying the title to me softly. But the content is great.

The book was written in the 50s but it talks a lot about things I think about. Basically Fromme says that man's struggle is his awareness that he neither chose to be born nor can he escape death. This causes anxiety, loneliness and suffering.

This awareness of our "separateness" from our fellow man creates a feeling of isolation and is the basis of all things... art, sex, power, conformism, philanthropy, everything is man's desire to overcome being alone and attempt to become one with something else. (and yes the word "man" to describe all people is no longer PC, but the book is far from sexist which I found refreshing being written in the 50s)

He covers different concepts of love. Brotherly, Motherly, Erotic, Love of Self etc. He talks about the polarity of male and females, mothers and fathers and how that affects love. He trashes Freud's patriarchal theories on sex and masculinity. Basically he sets out explore the concept of love and explain how the act of love in its true, mature and giving form (in its many varieties) is the only answer to a meaningless universe and a way to rise above our own separateness from everything else.

I am early in the book but its only 100 pages or so but I dig it and recommend it to anyone with a similar interest.