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Promise Land : My Journey Through America's Self-Help Culture, Paperback by L...
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Located in: Jessup, Maryland, United States
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eBay item number:385878110164
Item specifics
- Condition
- ISBN
- 9781439100219
- Book Title
- Promise Land : My Journey Through America's Self-Help Culture
- Item Length
- 8.4in
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster
- Publication Year
- 2015
- Format
- Trade Paperback
- Language
- English
- Item Height
- 0.7in
- Genre
- Self-Help, Biography & Autobiography, Psychology, Health & Fitness, Social Science
- Topic
- Personal Memoirs, General, Popular Culture, Healthy Living, Social Psychology, Self-Management / General
- Item Width
- 5.5in
- Item Weight
- 9 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 240 Pages
About this product
Product Information
"A funny yet surprisingly nuanced look at the legends and ideas of the self-help industry" ( People , 3.5 stars), Promise Land explores the American devotion to self-improvement--even as the author attempts some deeply personal improvements of her own. Raised by a child psychologist who was himself the author of numerous self-help books, as an adult Jessica Lamb-Shapiro found herself both repelled and fascinated by the industry: did all of these books, tapes, weekend seminars, groups, posters, t-shirts, and trinkets really help anybody? Why do some people swear by the power of positive thinking, while others dismiss it as so many empty promises? Promise Land is an irreverent tour through the vast and strange reaches of the world of self-help. In the name of research, Jessica attempted to cure herself of phobias, followed The Rules to meet and date men, walked on hot coals, and even attended a self-help seminar for writers of self-help books. But the more she delved into the history and practice of self-help, the more she realized her interest was much more than academic. Forced into a confrontation with the silent grief that had haunted both her and her father since her mother's death when she was a baby, she realized that sometimes thinking you know everything about a subject is a way of hiding from yourself the fact that you know nothing at all. "A jaunty, cannily written memoir" ( Chicago Tribune ) , Promise Land is cultural history from "a witty and enjoyably self-aware writer...Jessica Lamb-Shapiro's talent as a storyteller is undeniable" ( The New York Times Book Review ).
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10
1439100217
ISBN-13
9781439100219
eBay Product ID (ePID)
201600639
Product Key Features
Book Title
Promise Land : My Journey Through America's Self-Help Culture
Format
Trade Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Personal Memoirs, General, Popular Culture, Healthy Living, Social Psychology, Self-Management / General
Publication Year
2015
Genre
Self-Help, Biography & Autobiography, Psychology, Health & Fitness, Social Science
Number of Pages
240 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
8.4in
Item Height
0.7in
Item Width
5.5in
Item Weight
9 Oz
Additional Product Features
Lc Classification Number
Ra776.95.L348 2014
Reviews
Jessica Lamb-Shapiro has an unusual relationship to the self-help industry: her father is a child psychologist who has authored numerous books on the subject. Lamb-Shapiro's inherent ambivalence is at the heart of Promise Land: My Journey through America's Self-Help Culture , in which the author immerses herself in the world of seminars, mantras, and self-improvement, all the while exploring the nation's enduring fascination with perfection. By turns funny and sad, the book is, ultimately, a deeply personal story--and a really good read., Jessica Lamb-Shapiro has an unusual relationship to the self-help industry: her father is a child psychologist who has authored numerous books on the subject. Lamb-Shapiro's inherent ambivalence is at the heart of Promise Land: My Journey through America's Self-Help Culture , in which the author immerses herself in the world of seminars, mantras, and self-improvement, all the while exploring the nation's enduring fascination with perfection. By turns funny and sad, the book is, ultimately, a deeply personal story-and a really good read., "There's no shortage of books featuring "cultural history" and other quasi-sociological surveys of this terrain, but Lamb-Shapiro's take is different. Part experiential journalism, part memoir, Promise Land is both funnier and more searching than detached forms of social commentary could ever hope to be.", A brave, personal book in which the author discovers the best of the self-help industry, despite its many flaws., I can't think of a nonfiction writer since David Foster Wallace as adept at pivoting from slapstick linguistic virtuosity to whip smart analysis to incomprehensible pathos-at times, all within the same paragraph! The druids of our contemporary self-help culture will need to write a new 'Chicken Soup' book to soothe their own souls if they accidentally read Jessica Lamb-Shapiro's epic, hilarious Promise Land . Everyone else will just be delighted., A sincere and hilarious picture of the personalities and ideas found in this field of self-promotion and discovery. . . . Lamb-Shapiro's journey through self-help culture fascinates and entertains, and as much as it also serves as a quasi-memoir, it excels., With mordant wit and spectacular bravado, Jessica Lamb-Shapiro deconstructs not only the ludicrous self-help industry, but also the infinite personal vulnerabilities that it exploits. This is a knowing, insightful, and delightful book., [Lamb-Shapiro] writes in a mordant, deadpan voice with impeccable economy and timing. She presents wry dispatches from the assorted subcultures she explores, and in her telling they range from the gauzily mystical to the shamelessly mercenary., Here are two important self-help rules. Buy this book. Read this book. You'll feel better about yourself and the world. Promise Land is funny but not sneering. It's poignant but not maudlin. It's smart but not pretentious. This is gazpacho for the soul, which I much prefer to chicken soup., Lamb-Shapiro, herself the loving daughter of an aspiring self-help guru, gives a funny yet surprisingly nuanced look at the legends and ideas of the self-help industry [ . . . ] she's deeply sympathetic to the impulse that fuels the industry: I can be happy if I just change . . . something., A Witty and Enjoyably Self-Aware Writer . . . Lamb-Shapiro's Talent As a Storyteller Is Undeniable., Promise Land is not only a raucous, engaging account of all the hope, despair, faith, fear, falsity, and truth that comprises America's centuries-old obsession with self-improvement. It is also a deeply felt personal story about family, secrecy, and grief. Read it and you might just find yourself improved., I can't think of a nonfiction writer since David Foster Wallace as adept at pivoting from slapstick linguistic virtuosity to whip smart analysis to incomprehensible pathos--at times, all within the same paragraph! The druids of our contemporary self-help culture will need to write a new 'Chicken Soup' book to soothe their own souls if they accidentally read Jessica Lamb-Shapiro's epic, hilarious Promise Land . Everyone else will just be delighted.
Copyright Date
2014
Lccn
2013-011014
Dewey Decimal
616.890092
Intended Audience
Trade
Dewey Edition
23
Illustrated
Yes
Item description from the seller
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eBay item number:385878110164
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