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Self-help books : why Americans keep reading them / Sandra K. Dolby.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Dolby, Sandra K., 1946-
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Self-help techniques--United States.
- Self-help techniques.
- Psychological literature--United States.
- Psychological literature.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (209 p.)
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2005.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- Understanding instead of lamenting the popularity of self-help books Based on a reading of more than three hundred self-help books, Sandra K. Dolby examines this remarkably popular genre to define "self-help" in a way that's compelling to academics and lay readers alike. Self-Help Books also offers an interpretation of why these books are so popular, arguing that they continue the well-established American penchant for self-education, they articulate problems of daily life and their supposed solutions, and that they present their content in a form and style that is accessible rather than arcane. Using tools associated with folklore studies, Dolby then examines how the genre makes use of stories, aphorisms, and a worldview that is at once traditional and contemporary. The overarching premise of the study is that self-help books, much like fairy tales, take traditional materials, especially stories and ideas, and recast them into extended essays that people happily read, think about, try to apply, and then set aside when a new embodiment of the genre comes along.
- Contents:
- American popular self-education
- The books, the writers, and metacommentary
- The critics, the simple self, and America's cultural cringe
- Giving advice and getting wisdom
- Memes, themes, and worldview
- Stories
- Proverbs, quotes, and insights
- Finding a use for self-help testimonies.
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Description based on print version record.
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [163]-181) and index.
- ISBN:
- 9786613223869
- 9781283223867
- 1283223864
- 9780252090998
- 0252090993
- OCLC:
- 844939595
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