The Essential Rules of Love: A Practical Guide to Creating a Harmonious, Healthy, and Happy Relationship

I’m deeply lucky to know Phil and have been mentored by him for the past ten years. Reading this beautiful book, his Taj Mahal to Susan, gives hope and advice to anyone looking for it. And we should all be looking for it.

This is, as it must be, primarily a love story. One told with striking depth of feeling. As a world class litigator, Russotti is a world class story teller. But he has done more than just tell a story. He's used his skill at marshaling evidence to sift through the philosophical and scientific literature on love and made his story into a vehicle for interpreting those texts by telling us what worked for him (and what didn't) with wistfulness, humor and an abundance of human compassion. The insights he shares are easy to relate to and connect with. Although this is essentially a story of loss, it is also a message of hope. Where philosophy and science communicate the do's and don'ts as prescriptive admonitions, he passes them on as observations sharpened through the lens of his considerable experience. You feel his love for you as reader...and that is what ultimately validates his advice. I ran through it in a few hours and got a good return on my investment.

The book was purchased as a gift for Valentine's Day, but instead of giving it away, I gave it to myself. And what a great read! The insights are plentiful and the anecdotes on point. Love has to be worked on. Sparks don't keep a fire burning; tending to the fire does. Anyone interested in maintaining a great relationship based on love and respect should read this book!

Mr. Russotti examines love with empathy, courage, honesty, and humor. He deals with love and loss. We start with a definition of what it is and then discuss love and sex. The author suggests some rules to govern love, then shifts to cooking and savoring. Finally, Mr. Russotti deals with the death of a loved one.This book is both personal and scholarly. Mr. Russotti draws upon his remarkable love affair with his third wife and sources cited in over one hundred endnotes. A highly commendable work.

I expected the memoir and self-help aspects of The Essential Rules of Love, but I did not know it would be such an interesting and intelligent academic treatise. Russotti tackles the subject from every angle, and every reader I’m sure gains a deeper understanding of what an important asset love is. I particularly liked the emotion versus feeling arguments. This book is a valuable resource in itself.