Herman Melville classic Moby Dick tells the story of Ahab, a whaling captain who is fixated on hunting down a single animal. Murnighan and Kelly say that in today's world, Ahab would be called a workaholic – and that makes him a poor romantic prospect. If someone literally has no time for you, the authors point out, even if other things about the relationship work, that may be a bad sign. Workaholics very rarely change and are unlikely to permanently alter their behavior simply because they're in a relationship.
