The Casanova Complex

by Peter Trachtenberg

Book Overview

Using fascinating case histories, Peter Trachtenberg explores the family and cultural dynamics that shape the sexaholic, revealing six distinct casanova types from The Hitter to The Tomcat. He also identifies the co-dependent women who make love addition possible, and recommends a twelve-point recovery program many will find helpful.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671620479
• ISBN13: 9780671620479
• Release Date: November 1989
• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Personality disorder explored

The Casanova complex is a type of personality disorder. This book gived detail explanation of this mental condition. Very informative.

Fun House Mirror

My therapist suggested I read The Casanova Complex, as I was symptomatic of being a stark-raving narcissist; she thought it would help. And much to my amazement, it has. The book is like a fun house mirror; the reflection of me is distorted, but there I am, looking back. I would have never thought that there were so many of us out there and I am glad to have found the book because now I can begin to heal. Self-discovery is not easy and one does better when utilizing a map. A map is useless unless you know where you are on it. The Casanova Complex helps pinpoint the "You Are Here" spot on the reader's map, allowing him to then take steps in the direction toward wellness.

Insightful and very well written book about compulsive sexual conquests and out-of-control flirtatio

Peter Trachtenberg's book is much more than a garden variety self-help book. Trachtenberg is a gifted writer (and recovering sex addict) who takes an honest and perceptive look at "sex addiction"--an addiction in which sex becomes compulsive and involves compulsive fantasy and behaviors such as repeated conquests and affairs or high risk sex. These behaviors tend to be emotionally destructive for both the addict and his/her partner. I bought the book because I knew something was wrong in my relationship. The man who said he wanted to marry me compusively flirted with women, cruised for women at parties, and was obsessed-- "over the top" in his overall focus on sexuality. He said he had been obsessed since he was quite young and that his relationships with women often involved betrayals. Initially, he saw himself as a red-blooded American male who liked women. But Trachtenberg's book revealed the psychological forces that drive a whole dimension of compulsive seductive behaviors involving numerous affairs and betrayals: sexual binges that lead to self-loathing which, in turn, leads to more binges to "medicate" the pain of self-hatred and shame. Trachtenberg has done his homework, and for those interested in the psychology of addiction, he includes a section on narcisism and the inner pain that fuels addiction. Trachtenberg also talks about the way out of sexual addiction and the healing path he has taken. An excellent book that should be reprinted. Thank you Peter Trachtenberg for writing this illuminating book!

Looking for love in all the wrong places

This is one of the most profound books I've ever read. For women who find themselves abruptly abandoned by a man and can't understand why, this book will certainly help them understand this sad sickness in men who as children were never loved by their parents in a healthy way and who compensate as adults by seducing, then dumping the women with whom they form relationships. This book is a classic and should be read by all women who find themselves attracted to bad boys, boy toys, pretty boys, womanizers and men who cannot express their true feelings ...or simply are too numb to feel anything at all except confusion and/or hatred for women. Thank you Peter Trachtenberg. Somebody please reprint this book!