''More Than Two'' is a

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

about

consensual Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual consent. Consent as understood in ...

non-monogamous relationships. The first edition, ''More Than Two: A Practical Guide to Ethical Polyamory,'' written by Franklin Veaux and Eve Rickert, was published in 2014 by Thorntree Press, a publishing company founded by the authors. It included a foreword by

Janet Hardy Janet W. Hardy is an American writer and sex educator, and founder of Greenery Press. She has also been published as ''Catherine A. Liszt'' and ''Lady Green''. She is the author or co-author of eleven books, and frequently collaborates with Dossi ...

, co-author of ''

The Ethical Slut ''The Ethical Slut'' is a self-help book about non-monogamy written by Dossie Easton and Janet Hardy. In the book, Easton and Hardy discuss non-monogamy as a concept and a practice, and explore sexual practices and common challenges in non-monog ...

''. A new foreword by Jessica Fern, author of ''Polysecure'', was added to the eighth printing in 2022. In February 2024, Rickert announced that she had acquired the rights to the book and that a new edition, ''More Than Two, Second Edition: Cultivating Nonmonogamous Relationships with Kindness and Integrity,'' written with co-author Andrea Zanin, would be published September of that year by her publishing company, Thornapple Press. The book shares the same name as, but no content with, Veaux's website MoreThanTwo.com, which he launched in 1997 under the name Xeromag as a resource about

polyamory Polyamory () is the practice of, or the desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. Some people who identify as polyamorous believe in consensual non-mon ...

, and with Rickert's website MoreThanTwo.ca. "More Than Two" is also the name of a series of books on consensual nonmonogamy curated by Rickert and published by Thornapple Press. Thornapple Press holds trademarks in the name. In January 2023, the Relationship Bill of Rights from ''More Than Two'' was released into the public domain.

Reception

The first edition of ''More Than Two'' received positive reviews within polyamorous communities upon publication. The book was a finalist in the Family & Relationships category for the 2014 Indiefab Awards (later rebranded as the Foreword INDIES). The second edition received a positive review from ''Kirkus Reviews'', along with numerous endorsements from authors and others working in fields that intersect with nonmonogamous issues.

Criticism of First Edition

In 2019, a group of people including seven of Veaux's former partners, including ''More Than Two'' co-author Rickert and three of the women whom Veaux had told personal stories about in the first edition of ''More Than Two'' and in Veaux's memoir, ''The Game Changer'', went public describing abusive and harmful behaviors from Veaux over the course of their relationships with him. The accusations led to a critical analysis of both books by author Kali Tal, who has published extensively regarding

psychological trauma Psychological trauma (also known as mental trauma, psychiatric trauma, emotional damage, or psychotrauma) is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events, such as Major trauma, bodily injury, Sexual assault, sexual violence, or ot ...

. Rickert published a re-analysis of parts of ''More Than Two'' on her own blog, explaining how she had come to understand how some ideas within the book had developed from dysfunctional aspects of her relationship with Veaux. In the second of these analyses, she referenced another essay about an abusive polyamorous relationship that described how some unspecified, popular polyamory guides had been used to support abuse.

References

2014 non-fiction books Sexual ethics books Polyamory-related works Sex positivism Sexual fidelity Collaborative non-fiction books {{sex-book-stub