Last year a 20th-anniversary edition of Men Are From Mars was published, but today, Gray has shifted much of his work online (), where he answers questions from men and women still baffled by the opposite sex. He and his wife bought a "beautiful home" in Mill Valley, Calif., and houses nearby for their children and grandchildren. "When people feel their survival needs are being met, suddenly they begin to feel their romantic needs, and here was the book that helped couples who wanted to find love in their lives." The '90s, says Gray, a relationship counselor, were a time of prosperity and optimism. Self-help sales soared during the '90s, and Gray's book sat on shelves alongside USA TODAY best sellers like Chicken Soup for the Soul and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It became a phenomenon, selling 9.5 million copies and spinning off a string of sequels.Īs USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list celebrates its 20th anniversary, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus is the No.
Gray's book, a guide to "understanding the opposite sex," was published in 1992. The idea of women being from Venus – the planet associated with love – came next.
"I had goosebumps, the hair rose on my arms," he recalls. The women laughed, and one called out, "Where's my husband from?" One night, Gray told women in the audience their husbands were like E.T., from a different planet, with different needs, speaking a different language.
"When I first started talking about gender differences in the early '80s, it was very challenging because at that time it was very politically incorrect," recalls author John Gray, who was looking for a way to "lighten up" the subject at his relationship workshops. It became one of the biggest catchphrases of the 1990s, and even today, seems to pretty much describe that familiar alien across the room: Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.Īnd all because of E.T., the beloved movie extraterrestrial with the big eyes.
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