Self-help that's actually kind of helpful
I'm really really behind in my reviews, so you're getting a three-fer today. I was away at my fiance's family reunion over the weekend and got a bunch of reading done in the car on the way. Thankfully we didn't get grilled with a ton of questions about why our wedding is so small, when are we having kids, why are you having the wedding in Chicago, etc. But in the spirit of familial improvement we gave my future brother-in-law a Queer Eye-style makeover that he desperately needed. He's looking so much better it's sick. He still needs to fix that unibrow though - I'm afraid that the only one who can get away with that is Bert from Sesame Street.
Anyway, it leads me to a nice segue for my first review today - Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, which is the selection for my alumni book club this month. It's one of the first self-help books ever published, with the first edition appearing in the late 1930s. As an elder statesman in the genre, it's become something of a classic and is often imitated.
I'm not the type of person who reads self-help/advice books, generally speaking. The only book on my shelves at the moment that would even remotely qualify for the category is Jeanne Martinet's Artful Dodging (which happens to be a personal favorite of mine). Books in this genre strike me as so fuzzy and nebulous that trying to live your life in line with these books is a lot like letting your life be dictated by your horoscope.
This book, however, really does have some genuinely useful tips for making a success of your life. It comes at an opportune time for me, considering that I'm job-hunting and I've gotten the big goose-egg in results so far. The core of the book is centered around the idea that if you don't believe you can succeed, you probably won't. Being a person who discourages easily, the constant admonitions of confidence, persistance, and faith are the type of thing I need to hear these days.
Some of Hill's theories are a little loopy (the most sucessful people have strong sublimated sex drives?), but overall his arguments are solid. I don't think it's the type of book that would change your life overnight, but it would definitely serve as a good swift kick in the ass as needed.
Anyway, it leads me to a nice segue for my first review today - Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, which is the selection for my alumni book club this month. It's one of the first self-help books ever published, with the first edition appearing in the late 1930s. As an elder statesman in the genre, it's become something of a classic and is often imitated.
I'm not the type of person who reads self-help/advice books, generally speaking. The only book on my shelves at the moment that would even remotely qualify for the category is Jeanne Martinet's Artful Dodging (which happens to be a personal favorite of mine). Books in this genre strike me as so fuzzy and nebulous that trying to live your life in line with these books is a lot like letting your life be dictated by your horoscope.
This book, however, really does have some genuinely useful tips for making a success of your life. It comes at an opportune time for me, considering that I'm job-hunting and I've gotten the big goose-egg in results so far. The core of the book is centered around the idea that if you don't believe you can succeed, you probably won't. Being a person who discourages easily, the constant admonitions of confidence, persistance, and faith are the type of thing I need to hear these days.
Some of Hill's theories are a little loopy (the most sucessful people have strong sublimated sex drives?), but overall his arguments are solid. I don't think it's the type of book that would change your life overnight, but it would definitely serve as a good swift kick in the ass as needed.
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