There you are, spending another one of your exciting, rock-star evenings wandering between bookcases at Borders. You had planned to browse the tattoo mags for your next piece of art, but you unwittingly find yourself in that self-help section – only because you’re kinda curious.
Not that you need help. You just wonder what all these other losers are reading about. You peruse book after not-so-original book, and see they all say something about increasing your potential, or decreasing your weight, or capitalizing on your gifts, or increasing your capital to buy more gifts… hmmm.
The Last Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need
The irony is not lost on me… I chose to write my first Issuesgirl book review about the book that may finally put an end to my compulsive self-help book purchasing. Seems like a dead-end choice, I know. But while this is a thought-provoking, important perspective on the elusive path to happiness, I doubt it’s going to stop me from devouring some other self-proclaimed “expert’s” blabber. So fear not, IG Reader, there are more book reviews coming your way.
But I digress.
Is this book worth reading? Absolutely. The message of this book is, essentially, “think for yourself.” I like that message. Dr. Pearsall asks you to develop a “contrarian consciousness” as you read or hear new ideas, even his own. Even if ideas feel right, he says we should think about them, even argue against them, before we accept them. He also reminds us that the book business is just that - a business - and any given book’s contents and format might have more to do with sales than with psychology. Read More....
How does one pick a self-help book?
If one were picking.
Which you are not…
Where’s that magazine section again?
I don’t claim to be a literary expert. I do claim to know a little bit about relationships and psychology. So, I thought I would do you a favor and sift through all that self-help “wisdom” and thus save you some time. And you can go back to searching for that Chinese character to ink on the back of your neck.
