Self-Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life

by Micki McGee

Why doesn't self-help help ? Millions of people turn to self-improvement when they find that their lives aren't working out quite as they had imagined. The market for self-improvement products--books, audiotapes, life-makeover seminars and regimens of all kinds--is exploding, and there seems to be no end in sight for this trend. In Self-Help, Inc. , cultural critic Micki McGee asks what our seemingly insatiable demand for self-help can tell us about ourselves at the outset of this new century. This lucid and fascinating book reveals how makeover culture traps Americans in endless cycles of self-invention and overwork, and offers suggestions for how we can address the alienating conditions of modern work and family life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Psychology, Self Help, Womens

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Steven Petarra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interesting critique of self-help literature from an economic perspective with broadly Marxist and Feminist overtones. It successfully manages to avoid the conspiracy-mongering that some Marxist critiques can fall into (where Capitalism is very broadly defined and serves the same function as the Bilderbergs or the Illuminati) while also managing to get in some very interesting analysis.

It's also clear of any academic jargon, making it very accessible reading to anyone with a decent reading comprehension. Despite the books being aimed at a more niche audience I found it very understandable even with a personal lack of formal education in social critique.

I did have to take away one star because the author spends the last chapter making vague calls for a politicization of self-help groups such as AA in order to achieve social-justice. This seems arbitrary, but I despise books with an explicit "what to do after reading this" conclusion.

[BM · Rating 2 out of 5]

The interesting parts of this book has to do with how the make-over culture applies to work life and occupations. As part of the fall-out of deindustrialization workers constantly must learn new skills or figure out ways to stay "employable" even when certain types of work are being off-shored and labor itself is devalued. So instead the focus is on soft skills like customer service or on self-presentation. The onus is on the employee to find ways to improve themselves for the job market and be entrepreneurial in the workplace. The constant process of self-improvement removes the fact that in uncertain economic times there are larger structural and social forces at play in terms of how labor and capital relate to each other that no amount of finding the right color parachute will fix. With the emphasis on the role of the individual we no longer collectivize to deal with issues such as what is a livable wage or the alienation that many workers feel toward their jobs.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting take on the growing genre of self-help books as a phenomenon that promotes a "belabored" self, and how this makes us (especially women) turn away from paying attention to social and economic forces that shape the self.

[Melusine Parry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. And I'm not just saying this because it was written by my second cousin...

[Rory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think my boss and I have discussed the need for more books about self-help books. But we wanted there to be books published to help you to CHOSE which self-help book to surrender yourself to next, not a book ABOUT the industry and societal place of self-help. Hee. Anyway, this book needed a much more involved edit. It was obviously someone's PhD thesis without any added slickening-up or hooks. That alone wouldn't have been enough to turn me off--I'm down with semicolons and hegemonic shifts--but there were also no pictures! I need me some pictures in my fluffy nonfiction.

[Valerie F · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK I already know that the self-help market has escalated and has put more pressure on society to be better individuals. And???

[Brittany Berger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the information completely fascinating, but the writing incredibly difficult to read.