Passage V

The Roots of Self-Help Culture

An appetite of practical guides to handling lifes challenges has long been a part of American culture. Having been an early guide, the New England Primer, debuted around 1690 and sold more than five million copies over three centuries. Through its various editions, the primer blended lessons in reading with lessons in Christian morality.

[1] Writing under the pen name Richard Saunders and in a less religious vein, Benjamin Franklin became the most popular author in the American colonies. [2] Poor Richard's Almanac, which Franklin published annually from 1732 to 1757, offered tips on everything from courtship to cooking, including shrewd comments on how to succeed in business. [3] Franklin enlivened his hardheaded advice with wit and charm, as evidence in such proverbs as "A penny saved is a penny earned" and "Little strokes fell great oaks." [4] To better appeal to his audience, Franklin humanized his narrator. [5] He gave Richard enough quirks and problems, such as his constant need of money to buy presents for his wife—that readers could accept Franklin's advice without feeling lectured. (70)

Letter-writing guides were popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Typically, these guides gave different advice to men than to women. J. L. Nichols's The Business Guide, however, stressed that men should write forthright, logical letters to succeed in commerce, while women should write "from the heart" to help maintain friendships and family relations.

[1] More recent authors have presented new formulas for professional success and personal fulfillment. [2] Some advice manuals are dealt with general topics, such as Dale Carnegie's classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People. [3] At least one author, Jean Marie Stine, has even wroted a book on the very narrow subject of how to write self-help and how-to books. [4] Others are more specialized, such as Suze Orman's 9 Steps to Financial Freedom. [5] It seems clear that the centuries-old self-improvement quest is alive and well. (75)