Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Jun 2005, 288 pages
Paperback:
Sep 2006, 288 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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From the book jacket:
Self-help: To millions of Americans it seems
like a godsend. To many others it seems like
a joke. But as investigative reporter Steve
Salerno reveals in this groundbreaking book,
it's neither—in fact it's much worse than a
joke. Going deep inside the Self-Help and
Actualization Movement (fittingly, the words
form the acronym SHAM), Salerno offers the
first serious exposé of this
multibillion-dollar industry and the real
damage it is doing—not just to its paying
customers, but to all of American society.
Comment: SHAM has been rustling a
lot of feathers, as you'd expect of a book
that attacks the self-help industry!
Salerno's stance is unequivocal, and at
times vitriolic. Personally, I'm all for
balanced debate and looking at different
viewpoints, because there are very few black
and white issues in this world - everything
comes down to shades of grey - and that
includes the self-help industry. So, I did
think twice before recommending a book that
effectively writes off the entire self-help
arena as a SHAM. Having said that, the
belief that all our problems can be solved
if we just find the right 12-step program,
or the right diet, or the right
self-actualization image isn't healthy
either, and if Salerno is to have any hope
of being heard above the din of advice he
needs to be a little obstreperous -
especially when one takes into account that
many of the publicity avenues available to
the self-help 'gurus' (such as magazines and
talk-shows) are unlikely to want to give
space to his views!
Whatever you think of self-help products, I
encourage you to take a few minutes
out of your day to read an excerpt from this
controversial book!
This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in July 2005, and has been updated for the
October 2006 edition.
Click here to go to this issue.
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