Asking for a Friend
Three Centuries of Advice on Life, Love, Money, and Other Burning Questions from a Nation Obsessed
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A delightful history of Americans' obsession with advice -- from Poor Richard to Dr. Spock to Miss Manners
Americans, for all our talk of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, obsessively seek advice on matters large and small. Perhaps precisely because we believe in bettering ourselves and our circumstances in life, we ask for guidance constantly. And this has been true since our nation's earliest days: from the colonial era on, there have always been people eager to step up and offer advice, some of it lousy, some of it thoughtful, but all of it read and debated by generations of Americans.
Jessica Weisberg takes readers on a tour of the advice-givers who have made their names, and sometimes their fortunes, by telling Americans what to do. You probably don't want to follow all the advice they proffered. Eating graham crackers will not make you a better person, and wearing blue to work won't guarantee a promotion. But for all that has changed in American life, it's a comfort to know that our hang-ups, fears, and hopes have not. We've always loved seeking advice -- so long as it's anonymous, and as long as it's clear that we're not asking for ourselves; we're just asking for a friend.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Self-help books may seem especially ubiquitous today, but as journalist Weisberg writes in her winning debut, the "American self-help empire has been sprawling aggressively for decades." She recounts the evolution of professional advice giving via 16 different practitioners spanning over three centuries, from late-17th-century London publisher John Dunton through 21st-century "life coach" Martha Beck. While cautioning that some of the advice discussed is "extreme, outdated, or downright insane" (such as 19th-century diet guru William Alcott's strict no-tomatoes rule), Weisberg stresses that her subjects were essentially well-intentioned, and not charlatans or hypocrites. Intriguingly, the book highlights trends over time, including the emergence of secular advice givers from the late 17th to mid-19th century, the domination of the 20th by either self-styled "confidants" or credentialed experts, and the current trend of striking a balance between approachability and professionalism. Weisberg describes the distinctive traits of her book's subjects, such as Ben Franklin's use of pseudonyms, columnist Dorothy Dix's combination of sympathy with tough love, and astrologer Joan Quigley's direct line to the Reagan White House. Both those devoted to and bemused by self-help literature will profit from this insightful look into an ever-relevant and changing facet of American society.
