The Three Marriages

Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship

By: David Whyte

Narrated by: David Whyte

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Three Marriages, David Whyte, the best-selling author, poet, and speaker, asks you to think about your significant relationship to your partner, your work and your inner self in a radically different way by drawing them into a mutually supportive conversation.

According to Whyte, we humans are involved not just with one marriage with a significant other. We also have made secret vows to our work and unspoken vows to an inner, constantly developing self. These Three Marriages constantly surprise us, and they demand larger and renewed dedication as the years go by. Whyte's thesis is that to separate these marriages in order to balance them is to destroy the fabric of happiness itself; that in each of these marriages, will, effort, and hard work are overused, overrated, and in many ways self-defeating. Happiness, Whyte says, is possible, but only if we re-imagine how we inhabit the worlds of love, work, and self-understanding.

Whyte argues that it is not possible to sacrifice one marriage for any of the others without causing deep psychological damage. He looks to a different way of seeing and bringing these relationships together and invites us to examine each marriage with a fierce but affectionate eye as he shows the nonnegotiable nature at the core of each commitment.

Only by understanding the journey involved in each of the Three Marriages and the stages of their maturation, he says, can we understand how to bring them together in one fulfilled life.

©2009 David Whyte (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

The voice you want in your head

Whyte's sonorous voice is a welcome companion as he takes you through this compelling narrative

Excellent - wish I would have found this years ago

I found this to be one of those books that impacts your life. After listening, I bought a hard copy too.

Phenomenal... The greater conversation with life.

Would you listen to The Three Marriages again? Why?

Yes. It is David Whyte. I had to buy the book after I listened to it, just to highlight all the beautifully articulated ways to embrace the deeper con versatile in life as only David Whyte can explain it

What other book might you compare The Three Marriages to and why?

It can't be fairly compared as his poetic soul has a way of taking us through this journey like no other.

Which character – as performed by David Whyte – was your favorite?

Jane Austen. I want to read Pride and Prejudice now.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

All of it. The way the poet found poetry when he wrote The Panther.

Any additional comments?

Recommend, recommend, highly recommend.

A chance to connect the dots

This book should allow you a rare look at how to integrate important aspects of your life and to really get on the path to understanding yourself and your relationship to loved ones, yourself and your work. I am very grateful for your words, David.

Like a warm bathrobe...

A wonderful book full of comforting wisdom whose reading is like the audio version of wearing a warm bathrobe while drinking a cup of hot coco on a cold day.

soul nutrition

the three marriages touches all those pieces that otherwise don’t get nearly enough direct sunlight.

Great book

I always appreciated ideas more than prose. An author would write about something novel to me, and I’d chew on the new concept after reading. Whyte uses his prose to submerge you into undiscovered wisdom. His writing is highly impactful.

Beautiful message wrapped in performance poetry

I wasn’t looking for a self-help book, but I got this one because it was based in literature. I’m glad I did. The reading in the author’s modulated, musical accents was wonderful to listen to, and I learned more than I’d bargained for about literary figures Robert Louis Stevenson, Jane Austen, and others. And, I found the message thought-provoking and not at all trite.

I just couldn't follow the story

I wanted to love this book really I did. I listen to several hours of it and with 5 hours left I just had to give up.

Very difficult to listen to

For the non-poetry reader that I am, I found the book too dense, too wordy. I bought it coming from the self-help side and don't particularly read/enjoy poetry. Perhaps my mistake buying this in the first place. I could only listen to the first few hours and then deleted it from my ipod.