The Self-Help Compulsion
The Self-Help Compulsion

Author: Beth Blum

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2020-01-28

Total Pages: 507

ISBN-13: 0231551088

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Samuel Beckett as a guru for business executives? James Joyce as a guide to living a good life? The notion of notoriously experimental authors sharing a shelf with self-help books might seem far-fetched, yet a hidden history of rivalry, influence, and imitation links these two worlds. In The Self-Help Compulsion, Beth Blum reveals the profound entanglement of modern literature and commercial advice from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Blum explores popular reading practices in which people turn to literature in search of practical advice alongside modern writers’ rebukes of such instrumental purposes. As literary authors positioned themselves in opposition to people like Samuel Smiles and Dale Carnegie, readers turned to self-help for the promises of mobility, agency, and practical use that serious literature was reluctant to supply. Blum unearths a series of unlikely cases of the love-hate relationship between serious fiction and commercial advice, from Gustave Flaubert’s mockery of early DIY culture to Dear Abby’s cutting diagnoses of Nathanael West and from Virginia Woolf’s ambivalent polemics against self-improvement to the ways that contemporary global authors such as Mohsin Hamid and Tash Aw explicitly draw on the self-help genre. She also traces the self-help industry’s tendency to popularize, quote, and adapt literary wisdom and considers what it might have to teach today’s university. Offering a new history of self-help’s origins, appeal, and cultural and literary import around the world, this book reveals that self-help’s most valuable secrets are not about getting rich or winning friends but about how and why people read.

Shelf Life
Shelf Life

Author: Nadia Wassef

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2021-10-05

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 0374600198

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“As a bookseller, I loved Shelf Life for the chance to peer behind the curtain of Diwan, Nadia Wassef’s Egyptian bookstore—the way that the personal is inextricable from the professional, the way that failure and success are often lovers, the relationship between neighborhoods and books and life. Nadia’s story is for every business owner who has ever jumped without a net, and for every reader who has found solace in the aisles of a bookstore.” —Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here “Shelf Life is such a unique memoir about career, life, love, friendship, motherhood, and the impossibility of succeeding at all of them at the same time. It is the story of Diwan, the first modern bookstore in Cairo, which was opened by three women, one of whom penned this book. As a bookstore owner I found this fascinating. As a reader I found it fascinating. Blunt, honest, funny.” —Jenny Lawson, author of Broken (in the best possible way) The warm and winning story of opening a modern bookstore where there were none, Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller recounts Nadia Wassef’s troubles and triumphs as a founder and manager of Cairo-based Diwan The streets of Cairo make strange music. The echoing calls to prayer; the raging insults hurled between drivers; the steady crescendo of horns honking; the shouts of street vendors; the television sets and radios blaring from every sidewalk. Nadia Wassef knows this song by heart. In 2002, with her sister, Hind, and their friend, Nihal, she founded Diwan, a fiercely independent bookstore. They were three young women with no business degrees, no formal training, and nothing to lose. At the time, nothing like Diwan existed in Egypt. Culture was languishing under government mismanagement, and books were considered a luxury, not a necessity. Ten years later, Diwan had become a rousing success, with ten locations, 150 employees, and a fervent fan base. Frank, fresh, and very funny, Nadia Wassef’s memoir tells the story of this journey. Its eclectic cast of characters features Diwan’s impassioned regulars, like the demanding Dr. Medhat; Samir, the driver with CEO aspirations; meditative and mythical Nihal; silent but deadly Hind; dictatorial and exacting Nadia, a self-proclaimed bitch to work with—and the many people, mostly men, who said Diwan would never work. Shelf Life is a portrait of a country hurtling toward revolution, a feminist rallying cry, and an unapologetic crash course in running a business under the law of entropy. Above all, it is a celebration of the power of words to bring us home.

Shelf Aware
Shelf Aware

Author: V.R. Ferose

Publisher: Hachette India

Published: 2023-11-10

Total Pages: 677

ISBN-13: 9357312544

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BIBLIOPHILIA: A perfectly acceptable addiction marked by obsessive reading, aggressive book-sniffing and strategic hoarding. For as long as Ferose, a San Francisco-based techie and 'gently mad' bibliophile, has understood books, he has devoured them with the unmitigated enthusiasm of a toddler on a sugar rush. For him, reading has been more than a weekend pursuit or a hobby on steroids. It has been a lifestyle - generously peppered with serendipitous first edition finds and deliberate in-store title hunting - of which he kept meticulous notes. In this intimate and refreshingly honest essay collection - illustrated by artists on the autism spectrum - Ferose professes his undying love for books and elaborates on his relationship with the life-affirming act of reading. Enthusiastically noting titles that carry scribbles in the neglected margins to gushing over one-of-a-kind collectibles, he delves into his varied picks, bringing his most formative bookish adventures to readers. Part memoir and part fascinating study of the quiet, fulfilling act of reading and collecting books, this joyous meld of anecdotes and recollections explores the sweeping genius of books and storytelling, and how they continually refine our collective conscience.

Transnational Popular Psychology and the Global Self-Help Industry
Transnational Popular Psychology and the Global Self-Help Industry

Author: Daniel Nehring

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-04-08

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0230370861

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Self-help books aim to empower their readers and deliver happiness and personal fulfilment but do they really live up to this? This book offers a fresh perspective on self-help culture and popular psychology. Research on this subject matter has generally focused on the USA and the Global Northwest. In contrast, this book explores the production, circulation and consumption of self-help books from an innovative transnational perspective. Case studies on Trinidad, Mexico, the People's Republic of China, the UK and the USA explore the roles which self-help's therapeutic narratives of self and social relationships play in the contemporary world. In this context, the book questions the extent to which self-help fulfils its promise of individual autonomy and contentment. At the same time, it addresses debates about contemporary political change under transnational processes of cultural standardization.

Women, Let’s Get Woo!
Women, Let’s Get Woo!

Author: Marina Schroeder

Publisher: MC Solaris LLC

Published: 2022-03-11

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13:

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BOOK 1 IN THE IGNITE YOUR INNER GODDESS SERIES A guide to ignite your intuition with meditation, awareness, and ancient techniques. *** “What is an Inner Goddess?” “What if I’m not sure how my intuition and Inner Goddess is guiding me?” “Wait, did she just say ‘energy vampire’? What the hell is an energy vampire?” Excellent questions! :) In Women, Let’s Get Woo!, I share what I refer to as your Inner Goddess and—spoiler alert—we all have this powerfully innate and feminine essence within us. Yes, ALL of us! I also share all the tools and techniques that have helped me tap into my intuition and Inner Goddess and trust her guidance—from the science-based to the woo-woo. Oh, and yes, we’ll talk about “energy vampires” too. PS: They’re people and they’re all around us. *wiggles fingers mysteriously* PPS: Unfortunately, they aren’t sexy and sparkly vampires that are rich beyond all measure and waiting to whisk us away into an immortal happily ever after. I know, I’m super disappointed in this too! And if the title isn’t clear enough, we totally get woo. Like, super woo. Like, we’re taking a trip to Woo-Woo-Land and going on all the rides and eating all the yummy foods to our heart’s content. So, allow this to be your official invitation to join me on the Ignite Your Inner Goddess journey, sista! Let’s get woo-woo, ignite your intuition, and liberate your Inner Goddess in a fun and easy-to-digest way! ***ENTIRE SERIES NOW AVAILABLE*** Women, Let’s Get Woo! (Ignite Your Inner Goddess Book 1) A guide to ignite your intuition with meditation, awareness, and ancient techniques. Women, Let’s Talk Periods! (Ignite Your Inner Goddess Book 2) A guide all about menstrual cycles—from color and clots to charting like a pro. Women, Let’s Break Up With Birth Control! (Ignite Your Inner Goddess Book 3) A guide to breaking up with your hormonal birth control from mindset to nutrition. Women, Let’s Steam Our V! (Ignite Your Inner Goddess Book 4) A guide to the basics of vaginal (yoni) steaming, how to do it, and some tips and tricks. ***PRAISE FOR IYIG*** “Marina Schroeder is part of a new generation of healers who are at the forefront of helping empower women to tune into the wisdom of their bodies, and access a level of healing that they never thought was possible. This is a must-read book for women everywhere!” “The book you hold in your hands is the result of these years of intense training, study, and personal experience. You’ll find in these pages profound wisdom to enrich your appreciation of being a woman, exercises that allow you to deepen the experience of yourself as the goddess that you are, and straightforward and direct information to enhance and accept your innate beauty and sexuality.” “This offering stands out from the crowd in that it is written in a light tone, easy to understand, and brings the topics of periods, and the amazing things that they unlock to a level that someone not versed in anatomy and physiology can understand.” “Marina brings a nurturing, patient, and authentic energy to everything she creates. There is nobody I know who is more passionate about helping heal the divine feminine and guiding others who feel empowered to heal it within themselves.”

Euphoric Living
Euphoric Living

Author: Shyla Melwani

Publisher: Notion Press

Published: 2022-01-31

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13:

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Euphoric Living is the greatest guide to self-empowerment. For those ready and searching for it, this ride is just for you. Based on compelling modern science, this eye-opening, action workbook utilises the Power of Positive Affirmations - a brilliant self-help practice that clears the mind and opens a whole new world of opportunities. This practice is a great revelation and may stun you with remarkable wisdom that you never contemplated before. I hope this book doesn’t bring about change but profound transformation and inspires you to take care of your well-being, the well-being of the people around you, and the well-being of our extraordinary planet. I am confident that you will find clarity in your mind, a better understanding of humanity, and a new love to save the Earth. This decade is a time for new beginnings and new victories. So, dear friends, welcome to Euphoric Living—a new realm of appreciating yourself. Let’s embark together—on a complete soul upgrade! Get ready. You are in for a treat.

Shopper Marketing
Shopper Marketing

Author: Markus Ståhlberg

Publisher: Kogan Page Publishers

Published: 2012-02-03

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 0749464720

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Shopper Marketing details how marketers can influence the buying decision in-store. The 35 contributors from top companies around the world have packed the book with practical advice on shopper needs and trends, retail environments, effective packaging and much more to equip product and brand managers, packaging experts, merchandising specialists and more with the tools they need to be successful in this field of sales promotion. The second edition of Shopper Marketing has been fully updated to include a new forward by marketing guru Philip Kotler and 12 new articles that reflect the current changes in the fast growing area, focusing specifically on the international scope, the online presence and the future of shopper marketing. New case studies from India, China, Brazil and Japan also add to the depth and breadth of the first edition.

Goals Gone Wild!
Goals Gone Wild!

Author: Matt A. Poepsel

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2012-04

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1475902530

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Can a book that helps us find lasting success and happiness actually be fun to read? It can if it's Goals Gone Wild! Visionary coach and humorist, Dr. Matt Poepsel, knows better than anyone what it's like to seek personal improvement, set goals, and then watch your dreams come to fruition. In his collection of inspiring and entertaining stories, he shares candid and often witty anecdotes that identify personal improvement lessons that can help you get more out of life. With the goal of helping others tap into their potential, develop deeper self-awareness, and identify strengths, Dr. Poepsel creatively draws meaningful lessons from a variety of experiences including an aggressive Volvo driver, a razor-toothed puppy, and a broken CD player while exploring a wide range of personal development themes that lead others how to: - Find great role models - Form a unique brand of successful living - Develop a renewed emphasis on focus - Make changes for the better - Shun negative self-talk Goals Gone Wild! is a thought-provoking, entertaining collection of stories, fun exercises, and practical tools designed to encourage others to clarify life goals, live in the moment, and discover true happiness.