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Self-Help Nation: The Long Overdue, Entirely Justified, Delightfully Hostile Guide to the Snake-Oil Peddlers Who Are Sapping Our Nation's Soul
An entertaining, acerbic look at the self-help industry in America and the culture that supports it describes Americans' fascination with and addiction to self-help books; examines the self-absorption, media irresponsibility, celebrity fascination, and other cultural afflictions that cause it; and calls for a return to the American value of self-reliance.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 23, 2024
A "RANT" AGAINST SELF-HELP BOOKS FROM PEALE TO TODAY
Author Tom Tiede is also the author of such diverse books as 'Your men at war: Tom Tiede in Viet Nam,' 'The Fading Old Farts' Home,' 'American Tapestry: Eyewitness Accounts of the Twentieth Century,' etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 2001 book, "Self-improvement books are narcotics in ink. They obtund with false promise. Someone has said that all of the wisdom in all of the self-help books can be reduced to the Sermon on the Mount, and even that assessment may be charitable. The jails, divorce courts, and bankrupt records are stuffed with misguided if not demented folks who squander time, money, and hope on the sidewalk psychology and desert wind contained in these depressing tomes." (Pg. 3)
He observes, "it is difficult to argue with [Norman Vincent Peale's] premise [in The Power of Positive Thinking]. Good thoughts ARE more healthy than bad. Peace IS easier than war. And it's better to be employed than it is to be out of work... realistically, there is only a wee little power in negative thinking." (Pg. 21) Later, he argues, "Certainly, it is easier to know that things aren't so bad when things aren't so bad, as when a girlfriend moves out... But what of the real problems of life:... What about losing both legs? Even with amputation, my argument is that most people can... muddle through their dilemmas if left to their own devices." (Pg. 105)
He asserts, "in so much of the self-help literature... the promise is usually broken...They insist there is a Mr. Right or Miss Right for everyone, if only everyone has the eyes to read the fix-everything manuals, which manuals, as best I can make out, conclude that there are something like eight right women and six right men in this latitude." (Pg. 39) He comments on Lynn Shahan's Living Alone and Liking It, "Shahan's best-selling book is a guide to advice that exists on every stoop in every community where familiarity breeds the commonplace." (Pg. 175)
He complains, "If you are simple enough to buy a self-help book, you may be congenitally programmed to fail. But what of it? Reason does not define our culture anymore." (Pg. 202) He concludes, "I have run out of space. I could continue down the list of how we are incited to be the way we are, the way the self-betterment industry wants us to be... But fuggeddabowdit. I've carried on for too long as it is, and it is time to end this composition (three cheers)." (Pg. 222-223)
If you dislike most self-help books, you will probably love Tiede's rant (an engagingly-written one, it should be noted).
Author Tom Tiede is also the author of such diverse books as 'Your men at war: Tom Tiede in Viet Nam,' 'The Fading Old Farts' Home,' 'American Tapestry: Eyewitness Accounts of the Twentieth Century,' etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 2001 book, "Self-improvement books are narcotics in ink. They obtund with false promise. Someone has said that all of the wisdom in all of the self-help books can be reduced to the Sermon on the Mount, and even that assessment may be charitable. The jails, divorce courts, and bankrupt records are stuffed with misguided if not demented folks who squander time, money, and hope on the sidewalk psychology and desert wind contained in these depressing tomes." (Pg. 3)
He observes, "it is difficult to argue with [Norman Vincent Peale's] premise [in The Power of Positive Thinking]. Good thoughts ARE more healthy than bad. Peace IS easier than war. And it's better to be employed than it is to be out of work... realistically, there is only a wee little power in negative thinking." (Pg. 21) Later, he argues, "Certainly, it is easier to know that things aren't so bad when things aren't so bad, as when a girlfriend moves out... But what of the real problems of life:... What about losing both legs? Even with amputation, my argument is that most people can... muddle through their dilemmas if left to their own devices." (Pg. 105)
He asserts, "in so much of the self-help literature... the promise is usually broken...They insist there is a Mr. Right or Miss Right for everyone, if only everyone has the eyes to read the fix-everything manuals, which manuals, as best I can make out, conclude that there are something like eight right women and six right men in this latitude." (Pg. 39) He comments on Lynn Shahan's Living Alone and Liking It, "Shahan's best-selling book is a guide to advice that exists on every stoop in every community where familiarity breeds the commonplace." (Pg. 175)
He complains, "If you are simple enough to buy a self-help book, you may be congenitally programmed to fail. But what of it? Reason does not define our culture anymore." (Pg. 202) He concludes, "I have run out of space. I could continue down the list of how we are incited to be the way we are, the way the self-betterment industry wants us to be... But fuggeddabowdit. I've carried on for too long as it is, and it is time to end this composition (three cheers)." (Pg. 222-223)
If you dislike most self-help books, you will probably love Tiede's rant (an engagingly-written one, it should be noted).
August 5, 2011
I thought this book was going to be funny, and certainly it had its moments, but the author seems to love the sound of his voice and used 10 words where 1 would suffice. I finally quit reading it because life is just too short. Skewering self-help books seems like an obvious book subject anyway but this isn't the one to read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews