Stop the Fight!: How to Break Free from the 12 Most Common Arguments and Build a Relationship That Lasts

Brody, a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating relational conflict, urges conflict-prone couples to look at the big picture, especially when fights occur where each partner feels like a victim. Her new book explains how to stop fights before they even begin. Brody combines prudent advice with simple, cartoon-like illustrations to help couples see the patterns in their disagreements. She further shows how often hurt feelings translate into aggressive and cruel statements (which she describes as a function of our instinctual fight-or-flight behavior), perpetuating and escalating disagreements. In response, she suggests getting to the individual core values%E2%80%94feeling appreciated, loved, and wanted. Spanning 12 common causes for fights, including nagging, house work, money, and sex, the book provides tools for opening lines of communication and establishing happy, healthy, and mutually supportive relationships. The result is a helpful and concise manual for anyone in a relationship, as the issues addressed are as common as they are destructive. Brody handles the subject well, and her skill and experience in her field shows outright. Agent: Jessica Papin, Dystel and Goderich. (Oct.)