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181   $ctxt
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200 10$aSelf-help books $ewhy Americans keep reading them /$fSandra K. Dolby
205   $a1st ed.
210   $aUrbana $cUniversity of Illinois Press$dc2005
215   $a1 online resource (209 p.)
300   $aDescription based upon print version of record.
311 08$a9780252075186 
311 08$a0252075188 
311 08$a9780252029745 
311 08$a0252029747 
320   $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [163]-181) and index.
327   $aAmerican popular self-education -- The books, the writers, and metacommentary -- The critics, the simple self, and America's cultural cringe -- Giving advice and getting wisdom -- Memes, themes, and worldview -- Stories -- Proverbs, quotes, and insights -- Finding a use for self-help testimonies.
330 8 $aUnderstanding instead of lamenting the popularity of self-help books   Based on a reading of more than three hundred self-help books, Sandra K. Dolby examines this remarkably popular genre to define "self-help" in a way that's compelling to academics and lay readers alike. Self-Help Books also offers an interpretation of why these books are so popular, arguing that they continue the well-established American penchant for self-education, they articulate problems of daily life and their supposed solutions, and that they present their content in a form and style that is accessible rather than arcane.   Using tools associated with folklore studies, Dolby then examines how the genre makes use of stories, aphorisms, and a worldview that is at once traditional and contemporary. The overarching premise of the study is that self-help books, much like fairy tales, take traditional materials, especially stories and ideas, and recast them into extended essays that people happily read, think about, try to apply, and then set aside when a new embodiment of the genre comes along. 
606   $aSelf-help techniques$zUnited States
606   $aPsychological literature$zUnited States
615  0$aSelf-help techniques
615  0$aPsychological literature
676   $a646.7/00973
700   $aDolby$b Sandra K.$f1946-$01808127
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996   $aSelf-help books$94358217
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