Book Review

Do you have a stack of books you've eaten up this summer?

Or perhaps, an untouched stack of well-intentioned summer reading?

Or maybe you had just one book you got through, but it was your defining book of the summer.

As summer is waning, I have a few books left in my summer reading pile that will have to carry over to fall coffee shop dates.

Isn't it exciting that fall is around the corner? Fall is my fave season.

But as for summer reading, I have a fave to share with you. Not favorite like my first Russian novel, or my first Emily Bronte (both defining books of my summer), but favorite as in best book I've read in awhile.

The book is called, "Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain," by Dr. William Struthers.


Not exactly what you expected, right? I realize that only a clinical psychology major would likely choose this book as her favorite summer read, but this book really is that good, and I recommend it to anyone.

"Wired for Intimacy" is recently out by a professor of psychology at Wheaton College. He teaches courses on behavioral neuroscience, men and addictions, and the biological bases of behavior. I know from my time at Wheaton that his classes are always full, and time with him is extremely coveted.

So, I read the book and got 189 pages with him. It was worth every page.

As a neuroscientist and researcher, Struthers explains how pornography effects the brain in a chapter he calls, "Your Brain on Porn." His explanations are scientific, but concise and reader-friendly, and the material is ground-breaking.

He shows how pornography disrupts and alters the brain's normal capacities and functions for intimacy, but he also spends much of the book making practical talk out of what it means to be made male in God's image, what it means to be masculine, and the male need for intimacy in relationships. It is so refreshing, insightful, and practical.

Why read this book? For me those reasons involved my connection to Wheaton and my interest in Dr. Struthers' work, my interest in psychology and counseling, and my and Neal's work with college students, for whom pornography is so often an issue.

You may read this book for any number of reasons, but regardless, you'll walk away with

1) a renewed passion for God's intent for, and gift of, intimacy
2) an increased respect for God's creation of both the human brain and the creation of His laws
3) a vision for achievable, healthy and holy male sexuality
4) and a confidence in understanding the modern, current issue of pornography.

There are also resources listed in the back of the book to help men out of the snare of pornography and sexual addictions.

I hope to circulate this helpful book in whatever ways I can, and I hope you'll do the same.

To learn more, visit www.wiredforintimacy.blogspot.com