Sham

May 30, 2005
You! Yes, you! Are you addicted to self-help books? Do you require "empowerment" to reverse your "victimhood"? If so, relax—you're far from alone. The Self-Help and Actualization Movement (the titular SHAM) is, according to Salerno, an $8-billion-a-year industry that depends on legions of repeat customers. Salerno presents a carefully researched—and devastating—exposé on SHAM's predatory and fraudulent practices and its corrosive effects on society. As former editor of Men's Health
magazine's books program, Salerno knows the terrain from the inside. With judicious delight, he exposes the grandiloquent bluster and blithe hypocrisy of Dr. Phil (who, psychologists say, shames rather than helps his guests) and Dr. Laura (the preacher of family values who didn't know when her own mother was murdered), among many others. He cites examples of junk science, such as Tony Robbins's talk of "the energy frequency of foods," and charges that untested alternative medicine draws people away from proven medical treatments. In addition to detailing the raw facts, Salerno excels at pinpointing the self-abnegating strategy the self-help industry employs: namely, tearing you down in the name of building you up. And the positivity yields questionable results in any case. The self-help industry should not be dismissed as "silly but benign," says Salerno, and he documents how it has undermined psychology, education and health care in this blistering critique.

June 1, 2005
Salerno, a freelance feature writer, essayist, and investigative reporter whose work has been featured in "Harper's", the "New York Times Magazine", and the "Washington Post", minces no words in this evisceration of the self-help and actualization movement (SHAM). He takes on contemporary gurus like Dr. Phil McGraw, Tony Robbins, John Gray, and Dr. Laura Schlessinger -anyone, in fact, who dispenses popular advice or advocates psychological or alternative medical self-help (even 12-step programs take a hit). Ultimately, Salerno argues that SHAM, a multibillion-dollar industry, has fostered a culture of victimization that discourages people from taking responsibility for their lives, thereby undermining the character of our nation. This conclusion would have been much more persuasive if he had dispensed with the vitriol. Wendy Kaminer's "I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other Self-Help Fashions" is a more effective critique; Salerno's book is recommended only for large public libraries. -Lynne F. Maxwell, Villanova Univ. Sch. of Law Lib., PA

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2005
The all-caps title is an acronym that expresses Salerno's assessment of what it signifies, the Self-Help and Actualization Movement, which he subdivides into the camp of victimization and the camp of empowerment, both of which excuse inaction. The movement fosters victimization by telling adherents they can't escape their pasts, and empowerment by exalting attitude (e.g., self-esteem) over achievement. Salerno keeps both camps in mind as he dissects the checkered--especially in terms of qualifications--careers of SHAM stars John Gray, Dr. Laura, Marianne Williamson, Suze Orman, and in their own chapters, Dr. Phil McGraw and Tony Robbins, both creators of lucrative SHAM empires by copycatting lesser entrepreneurs' wares. Salerno asks why, if SHAM programs and treatments supposedly solve their purchasers' problems, SHAM enterprises thrive on repeat customers, and why the proposed next step, should program or treatment fail, is always more of same. In the book's sobering second part, Salerno powerfully argues that SHAM does real harm through its influence on love relationships, schooling, and health care. A wonderfully lucid, angeringly cogent polemic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)