Self-help Books: Why Americans Keep Reading Them - Rilegato

Dolby, Sandra K.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0252029747 ISBN 13: 9780252029745

Casa editrice: Univ of Illinois Pr, 2005

Riassunto

Based on a reading of more than three hundred self-help books, Sandra K. Dolby examines this remarkably popular genre to define \u0022self-help\u0022 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, articulate problems of daily life and supposed solutions for them, and present their content in an accessible rather than arcane form and style. Using methods 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.

Su questo libro

Product Description:

Book by Dolby Sandra K

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Univ of Illinois Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0252029747
• ISBN 13: 9780252029745
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 192