Whilst often very funny, this is not as good as Burkeman's other book [b:The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking|17125974|The Antidote Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking|Oliver Burkeman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1356478887s/17125974.jpg|19354514] due to its format - it reproduces his brief Guardian columns, meaning that each section is brief and tends to finish just as it gets interesting. Also, whilst he points out why positive thinking or self-help can actually make things worse using evidenced-based research, he doesn't always suggest evidence-based alternatives that *do* work and this too is better addressed by The Antidote. ( )

Interesting and covers a lot of basic psychology. Sometimes feels a bit disjointed. ( )

Realistic review of some of the self -help industry products. ( )

Burkeman provides an excellent sceptical guide to self help literature. The books parses through morass in order to deliver a few nuggets of wisdom. ( )

A sort of meta-self-help book, taken from Burkeman's Guardian columns where he summarises all manner of gurus, gadgets, and techniques looking for the good stuff. Worth getting for the references (never normally a strong point of self-help) and links. ( )