{"product_id":"2940014728881","title":"You Don't Need a Self-Help Book: Replacing the Shelf with Yourself","description":"\"You Don’t Need a Self-Help Book: Replacing the Shelf with Yourself\" is a unique, wickedly candid, and thought-provoking work from humorist and bestselling author Michael Essany.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith enormous contemporary appeal to the millions who occasionally indulge in vapid feel-good rags, Essany asserts how and why most self-help titles ultimately fail to help readers as much as they can actually help themselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStemming from the philosophy that the self is more powerful than the shelf, \"You Don’t Need a Self-Help Book: Replacing the Shelf with Yourself\" is anchored in irreverent common sense, punctuated with humor, and designed to unleash the self-sufficiency in us all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTABLE OF CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1: Self-Help Detox\u003cbr\u003eChapter 2: The Law of Distraction\u003cbr\u003eChapter 3: The Problem is in Your Pants\u003cbr\u003eChapter 4: Actions Speak Louder Than Turds\u003cbr\u003eChapter 5: Clinical, My Ass!\u003cbr\u003eChapter 6: The Positives of Thinking Negatively\u003cbr\u003eChapter 7: If You Must\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eExcerpt From Chapter 1: Self Help Detox\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA guy walks into a bookstore and asks a salesperson where the self-help section is.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe salesperson says, \"If I told you, that would defeat the purpose.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn reality, if any bookstore attendant actually spoke to you in such a discourteous manner, you would certainly be justified in calling him a smart ass.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen again, if you’re looking for the self-help section, he is equally justified in calling you a dumb ass.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMuch like that wisecrack, the multi-billion dollar self-help industry is an elaborate joke. Of course, you have to be careful when making that observation in public. A lot of folks take the self-help genre seriously - very seriously. Rather than viewing the self-help banner as a category that has deteriorated into a repository of self-promoting charlatans who saturate and soak consumers with their deceptively packaged snake oil, many still see this assemblage of silliness as a haven of hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd since you're reading this, it's probably a safe bet that you're among those unwittingly fleeced consumers. If so, you have a real problem - and its likely worse than whatever problem you were trying to fix by reading all those self-help titles in the first place.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs it turns out, you have been seduced by self-help. But, thankfully, you're not alone. A gazillion other people are right there with you. You see, like never before witnessed in human history, ours is a generation of self-help obsessed drones who hastily and substantially invest treasure and faith in the latest self-help bestseller which promises to transform a downtrodden life into a fulfilling, exciting, and rewarding existence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTruth be told, there's nothing overtly sinister about this immensely popular genre. The trouble only begins when we actually buy these nitwitted works and - even worse - when we enthusiastically buy into their lofty promises.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSelf-Helpless\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome will recall a recent sketch on \"The Late Show\" in which David Letterman unveiled a soon-to-be released self-help book from Dr. Phil. The title? \"More Advice I Pulled Out of My Ass.\" Sure, it's funny. But here's the sad part. If Dr. Phil actually released that book, it would still shoot straight to number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Why? Because our collective appetite for feel-good nonsense is insatiable. But, incredibly, the real nonsense of it all - and perhaps the root cause of our modern obsession with self-help - is the paradoxical fashion in which we lead our lives and where we choose to concentrate our confidence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRead More in This eBook","brand":"New Beginnings","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070744019184,"sku":"2940014728881","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014728881_p0.jpg?v=1763622838","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014728881","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}