num_pages: 352
description: From the millions-strong audiences of Oprah and The Secret to the mass-media ministries of evangelical figures like Joel Osteen and T. D. Jakes to the motivational bestsellers and New Age seminars to the twelve-step programs and support groups of the recovery movement and to the rise of positive psychology and stress-reduction therapies this idea--to think positively--is metaphysics morphed into mass belief. This is the biography of that belief. No one has yet written a serious and broad-ranging treatment and history of the positive-thinking movement. Until now. For all its influence across popular culture religion politics and medicine this psycho-spiritual movement remains a maligned and misunderstood force in modern life. Its roots are unseen and its long-range impact is unacknowledged. It is often considered a cotton-candy theology for New Agers and self-help junkies. In response One Simple Idea corrects several historical misconceptions about the positive-thinking movement and introduces us to a number of colorful and dramatic personalities including Napoleon Hill and Norman Vincent Peale whose books and influence have touched the lives of tens of millions across the world.
language: English
title: One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life
publisher: Crown