Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence

By Esther Perel

With a New Introduction by the Author

"Mating in Captivity takes a hard line against one of the most time-honored institutions in human history: the sexless marriage. . . . It reads like a cross between the works of Jacques Lacan and French Women Don't Get Fat."--The New Yorker

A special twentieth-anniversary edition of the internationally bestselling and culturally groundbreaking book that cemented Esther Perel as the iconic relationship psychotherapist for today.

"Is it any wonder that so many relationships crumble under the weight of it all?"

In the twenty years since Mating in Captivity was published in 2006, it has become a global phenomenon, as has its author, Esther Perel. As a psychotherapist and thought leader, Perel is widely considered one of the world's most original and respected voices on erotic intelligence. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, Mating in Captivity illuminates the complexities of sustaining desire in long-term relationships and shows how more playful, adventurous, and even poetic sex is possible. Wise, witty, and as revelatory as it is practical, Perel's bold and provocative take on intimacy is ever more relevant today. In a new foreword, she reveals the personal origin story behind the book and reflects upon the many cultural shifts since its publication. This twentieth-anniversary edition invites us to reconsider the paradoxical union of domesticity and desire--and offers a guide to bringing lust home.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0063474166
• ISBN13: 9780063474161
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 288 Pages