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. Sandra K. Dolby, professor of folklore and American studies at Indiana University, is the author of "Literary Folkloristics and the Personal Narrative".

Self-Help Books: Why Americans Keep Reading Them

Self-Help

Dolby, Sandra K.

Personal Transformation

University of Illinois Press

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.

From the advance praise for Literary Folkloristics and the Personal Narrative: "In less than twenty years after its publication Sandra Dolby's seminal work on Literary Folkloristics and the Personal Narrative has become a classic in folklore and narrative studies. In fact, no scholar or student can be engaged in the study of personal narratives without this ground-breaking work. Dolby's pioneering work has won international acclaim with its theoretical discussion of literary folkloristics, its detailed definition and analysis of the personal narrative as an oral literary genre, its methodology of interpreting personal narrative texts, and its analysis of actual texts. As such, this book has guided the advancement in personal narrative studies over the past two decades in scholarship worldwide..." --Wolfgang Mieder, Professor of German and Folklore, University of Vermont

Literary Folkloristics And The Personal Narrative

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Trickster Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dolby, Sandra K.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Dolby, Sandra K.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dolby, Sandra K.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Self-Help Books: Why Americans Keep Reading Them

Self-Help Books: Why Americans Keep Reading Them

Literary Folkloristics And The Personal Narrative