Oracle at the Supermarket: The American Preoccupation with Self-Help Books
“Following a brief excursus into the economic, religious, and political background of the doctrine of self-help, Starker (Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Portland, Oregon) traces the emergence and burgeoning of self-help books on a variety of topics (e.g., mind-cure, marriage, diet, health, wealth, and self-realization). The author also surveys a range of studies designed to assess both the value of self-help books and the reading public's estimation of their value. Easy to read, Oracle at the Supermarket certainly deserves a place on the supermarket shelves with the dozens of books that take up space in the aisles… For general readers and lower-division undergraduates.” —B. Kaplan,Choice"Oracle carefully explores the dangers and benefits of diet and exercise books, sex manuals, and self-actualization schemes. It is a timely and fascinating work, and will be of great interest to health-care providers and thoughtful consumers."—Joseph D. Matarazzo,American Psychological Association