The Self-Help Cascade

The persistence of self-help books over many decades, particularly from the 1970s onwards, suggests that no single title ever quite achieves its aim -- otherwise, why would the escalating demand for new titles give rise to such a remarkable phenomenon. Indeed, is society still awaiting the definitive self-help book or are there other motives and currents swirling around the continuing proliferation of new titles and repetitive ideas? Is the reader often the last one to be helped by the seemingly endless process of regurgitation and repackaging?The Self-Help Cascade critically examines this tradition of pseudo self-help and addresses the question of why so many readers feel the need to turn to such titles in their search for personal fulfilment or happiness. The book offers its own alternatives to such titles and its own solutions to the societal malaise to which they claim to respond.