...and yes I have read "The Ethical Slut" book... now I want something uniased like "The Dummies Guide to Open Relationships" I looked on Amazon already hah;-)

there are two books that we enjoyed, the one, By Ronald Mazur is called The New Intimacy, open ended marriage and alternative lifestyles.

though it reads a bit like a thesis,

the other book and the one we enjoyed most is "Redefining Our Relationships: Guidelines for Responsible Open Relationships, by Wendy O Matik

from time to time she does public speaking on this subject, though it has been awhile since I have heard anything, most usually she has spoken at Berkeley..

we have a "presentation" we use when we speak to the college Human Sexuality classes, I'd behappy to send a copy to you if you'd like...

it is my personal opinion that you and your partners make a list of your own questions, what do YOU want to know.... everyone has a differnt idea about how to have an "alternative relationship" and what works for one may not in fact work for another...

so, it's very important to be able to ask the question you have and communicate in a way that gets your questions answered, if you do this with your partner(s) then ya know you're all on the same page as to your desires, expectations, boundries, etc...

the basics in this kind of relationship is to "Know Thyself" what do YOU want and what are your boundries.

and, there are as many descriptions of relationships as there are people living their relationships.

and, the realization that as we grow and change as individuals sometimes we outgrow the relationship. hopefully we can grow together in the relationship but that doesnt always happen.. so sometimes we do need to redefine our relationships as we are redefining ourselves....

it's all about what works.... and how ya put it into practice. along with the sometimes uncomfortable realities that we have to communicate as openly and honestly as we can....

Regards
Bare

maybe as you are going about your due diligence on the different relationship types with their pros and cons, figure of merits..personalitiesamicable to such relationships etc.. you can tabulate your research and publish it as a cheat-sheet...

You might get some economic profit on the side for it. It would be nice to one day see such sheet at the bookstore next to those algebra, chemistry, biology, history cheat-sheets.