I picked up this book for the history-of-marriage value instead of the same-sex-marriage-propaganda value, and found the history and debated "reasons why people have historically married" to be rather uninformative. A lot of what was said seemed common knowledge about basic history of society. Marriage concepts are talked about generally more often than not. I would have liked to see more hard core facts rather than musings and contemplations. I was hoping for statistics to be sprinkled liberally, and perhaps many tales of certain marriages in the past that stood out either as especially abnormal for a time period, or exceedingly typical.

I was never that interested in the same-sex marriage debate until I learned of the legal protections that are automatically granted straight people when they marry. Graff's history of marriage is very illuminating and her argument for same-sex marriage is persuasive, but she does tend to beat the reader over the head with it at times. Similarly, I enjoyed Graff's biting witticisms but also found it was overdone at times.

I picked up this book when I was having doubts about my friends' upcoming nuptials - I had hoped it would give them something to think about before they made that major step. I examined it more closely and realized it was a much more interesting book than that! The author has throroughly researched the various reasons marriage has existed as an institution (in Western civilization) and presents a compelling case in favor of same sex marriage as well. I was already in favor of same sex marriage, but now I have ammunition! It's lively, amazingly researched, and also full of facts you just don't get in history class. A must-read for social history buffs, gay-rights advocates, or anyone who wonders about relationships today.