Recommended Reading List on Love, Intimacy and Relationships

Explore love, intimacy and relationships through a Jungian lens:
Another Piece of my Heart : with Badger McGee, Sett in His Eros Ways by Daryl SharpAnother Piece of My Heart is playful and thought-provoking, as befits the author’s style in integrating Logos and Eros while differentiating between the two. Sometimes bawdy and whimsical, often laugh-out-loud absurd, and always mercurial—it is deceptively easy reading, a page-turner bound to keep one up into the wee hours. All in all, it will stir the heart and mind of cognoscenti and new readers alike. Sharp’s prose is wry, sardonic, candid and resonates on many levels. With Badger McGee and Bo Peep in his basement and El Jay in his bed, this book by Daryl Sharp—still the Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett of the Jungian literary community—will amuse and edify those who thought Jungian psychology was only for intellectuals and the elite. 


Eros : Melodies of Love by Daryl SharpIn this final volume of his Badger Trilogy, Sharp pushes the boundaries of “subjective non-fiction” about as far as they can go. Still, true to his other books in the “Jungian romance” genre (which he created), he continues to explore the psychological aspects of relationship. Eros: Melodies of Love is informative, often playful or romantic, and always fun to read. Through his alter-egos Daemon or Badger McGee, Sharp deftly interweaves a colorful quilt of Logos and Eros, full of compassion, good humor and Jungian wisdom. Not for nothing has he been called the Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett of the Jungian literary community, and this latest volume underlines it. Open it anywhere and be engrossed. This is a warm and thoughtful book with big ideas. Readers familiar with Sharp’s other writings will be delighted anew. Those who chance on this book will be moved to read his other works, which all highlight the task of living intentionally, psychologically conscious. 


Eros Naturally by Daryl SharpEros, Naturally is a romp with gravitas. It is another “Jungian romance” by the author who created the genre, starting with Chicken Little: The Inside Story (1993) and continuing through over a dozen more tomes. No other writer has so adroitly interwoven Logos and Eros, thinking and feeling. In this new book, Sharp’s approach to psychic well-being, his “Jungian romances,” will interest more people in self-discovery than any of the many academic tomes on the subject. 

Eros and Pathos by Aldo Carotenuto – Why do we fear love? How do we invite betrayal? What can we learn about ourselves from eroticism, abandonment, solitude? What unconscious drives are at work in seduction and jealousy? Are love, suffering and creativity connected?

Getting to know you : The Inside Out of Relationships by Daryl Sharp – A lively discussion about relationships based on the ideas in Jung’s essay, “Marriage As a Psychological Relationship.”  This book presents complex material illustrated with everyday examples and some inescapable truths emerge, such as that successful relationships depend on becoming conscious of one’s personal psychology.

The Eden Project : In Search of the Magical Other by James HollisA timely and thought-provoking corrective to the generalized fantasies about relationships that permeate Western culture. Here is a challenge to greater personal responsibility, a call for individual growth as opposed to the search for rescue by others.

The Living Room Mysteries : Patterns of Male Intimacy, Book 2 by Graham JacksonA companion volume to The Secret Lore of Gardening, this book explores gay typology, with emphasis on the complex psychological dynamics underlying relationships between “blue” men and “red” men.

The Love Drama of C.G. Jung : As Revealed in His Life and In His Red Book by Maria Helena Mandacuru Guerra – The Red Book was always a true legend in the Jungian movement. It was thought to reveal the great secrets of the master’s life. Few people had seen it, but their description of it and the Jung family’s resistance to publishing it, turned it into a true mystery. Indeed, Jung’s amours have been almost as much of a mystery as the Red Book. I hope the reader has the same pleasure that I had in following the Eros-thread from his wife Emma through his patient Sabina Spielrein to his muse Tony Wolff, and so to the creation of the Red Book as uncovered by Maria Helena in this exciting and unique account of how Jung came to develop the concepts of anima, shadow, Self and individuation.

The Talking Cure : Psychotherapy, Past, Present and Future by Anthony Stevens – The Taking Cure is an immensely readable and entertaining overview that describes how the major schools of psychodynamic theory grew out of the psychology of their charismatic founders and have subsequently turned into exclusive and mutually hostile rival “sects.” The author argues that the best hope for the future lies in research to determine the positive therapeutic ingredients that all methods have in common. This combined, with the kind of undogmatic, open-minded humanity advocated by C.G. Jung could lead to the adoption of a new paradigm capable of transcending the differences between them – a paradigm adopted by a new breed of “evolutionary psychotherapists.”

The Secret Lore of Gardening : Patterns of Male Intimacy by Graham JacksonAn archetypal perspective on the psychological bond between “green” and “yellow” men, with affinities to earth and sky, matter and spirit, respectively, showing how the fruits of their symbolic gardening can be a deeply rooted affirmation of life. Literature, film and case material.

The Sacred Prostitute : Eternal Aspects of the Feminine by Nancy Qualls-Corbett – The disconnection between spirituality and passionate love leaves a broad sense of dissatisfaction and boredom in relationships. The author illustrates how our vitality and capacity for joy depend on restoring the soul of the sacred prostitute to its rightful place in consciousness.

The Use of Dreams in Coupling Counselling: A Jungian Perspective by Rene Nell Psychotherapists of many different schools use dreams in individual therapy, but very few use them in counseling couples. Indeed, marriage and family therapists often have no experience in this area because dream interpretation is seldom included in their training. In this book, with the help of numerous examples, Dr. Nell explains the efficacy of dream interpretation when working with couples, individually and in groups, in the diagnosis and treatment of emotional disturbances.

Inner City Books