For many of us, "madly in love" has a positive connotation, but here clinical psychologist Frank Tallis probes its dark side through the riveting stories of the patients he has treated. Here are accounts of a woman who is convinced that her dentist is secretly infatuated with her, and drives him to leave the country, and a man destroys his massive fortune through trysts with over 3,000 prostitutes—because his ego requires that they fall in love with him. Along the way, Tallis delves into the history of psychiatry and the role of neuroscience in addressing disordered love.

"Tallis is a gifted storyteller.... [His] characters remain sharply, painfully real, their stories as inconclusive, messy and fascinating as life."—Economist (London)