From the Bookshelf of Oly Reads…

Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus, and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort ...

Beth Lisick

Why we're reading this: Recommended by Meghan
[close] Recommended by Meghan

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Aug 05, 2008 jess rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2008

here are some of the reasons why i liked this book, presented to you as a numbered list:
1. i like series. i appreciate the gesture towards applying the same technique or material in a multiplicity of ways. beth lisick tries on various self-help programs, each for one month, for the duration of one year.
2. this book is about setting aside irony & apathy. this is a matter of great interest to me.
3. beth lisick is actually an entertaining writer.
4. there is a real effort to not be judgmental abou here are some of the reasons why i liked this book, presented to you as a numbered list:
1. i like series. i appreciate the gesture towards applying the same technique or material in a multiplicity of ways. beth lisick tries on various self-help programs, each for one month, for the duration of one year.
2. this book is about setting aside irony & apathy. this is a matter of great interest to me.
3. beth lisick is actually an entertaining writer.
4. there is a real effort to not be judgmental about the things that work for other people.
5. beth lisick describes sylvia browne as a seventy-year old courtney love.

it was fascinating for me to watch beth lisick descend into the language and practice of the self-helpers. within a few chapters, she was "visualizing" and "affirming" like she had been doing it for years. i loved her wry sincerity and the efforts to actually be a better artist, more financially sound, life-affirming and successful. i loved loved loved the richard simmons stories, and the worshipful audiences of the gurus. there are constant reminders that these gurus are filthy rich, but there is examination of some of their human sides - canfield as a step-dad, simmons exhausted at the end of the week, sylvia browne's blond frizz. the tension between the two kept me engaged. lisick is pretty broke for much of the book, and spends time resenting these gurus & their millions. me too! framing chuck palahniuk as a self-help guru for the new generation -- a brilliant moment in journalism. if i could change anything, i would have made her write the self-help chapter on her sex life instead of copping out! that chapter needed to be written, dammit.

beth lisick has history with sister spit, and i feel like this cultural anchor provided a specific viewpoint, which was apparent at every turn. i cannot imagine what it would have been to read this book if i didnt recognize her traveling-queer-spoken-word roots. aka you can tell she has hung out with michelle tea & company.

all in all, a charming and quick read with a little tiny bit of insight into our own desire to be, or not to be, a better person. often clever, occasionally "laugh out loud" (LOL) quality humor. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls