Self-Esteem: A Novel

by Preston David Bailey

Successful self-help writer Dr. James Crawford is not happy. His professional success is greater than ever but his personal life is falling apart. He has endorsed a children’s TV show based on his writings, but the cartoon-like host could be up to no less than murder. During a nasty drinking binge, Crawford struggles with his wife and son and his son’s strange mentor, a popular talk show host, a business partner tired of Crawford's aspirations, a mistress who doesn’t understand him, an emotionally distant professor, a couple of college pranksters, a successful rap artist, and an ominous tormentor, all of whom seem to be pushing the famous guru toward destruction.

295 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 24, 2012

Reviews

[Afrika Holdo · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know that phrase "this meeting could've been an email"? That's how I felt during the first two parts of this book. The plot was slow, extremely slow, sometimes too specific to a point where you have 5 pages uselessly analysing the Bible. When I got to the end I realised the story had potential, the idea was there. It feels like the author had a whole bunch of ideas some of them good and decided to throw them all together without actually taking into account if it made any sense.

I did like, however, this idea of making a character that's a psychologist who at the same time has a mental disorder. I believe that many people who studyied psychology feel the need to fix something within themselves, and they usually fail.

[Katie Pico-Conner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had such potential. The plot was difficult to follow at first as it seemed to not know which way to go. Towards the end you're hooked but the author falls off track again delaying the actual story line. The ending felt rushed and was a tad confusing.

[Anastasiya · Rating 2 out of 5]

From beginning to end, Self-Esteem reminded me of Sellevision. Not that Sellevision is even a brilliant novel anyone would want to imitate - more along the lines of similar storyline, similar tone, and similar characters.

Honestly, I would have given three stars, but the last 20 pages tried so hard to be...poignant? Deep? Creative? But the ending fell flat. The main character who we followed around for 200-something pages was the exact same stereotype he was at the beginning of the book and I didn't care one bit what happened to him.