Help! Debunking the Outrageous Claims of Self-Help Gurus by Paul Damien Search Amazon for other books by or about Paul Damien. Rating: Reviewed by: John L. Hoh, Jr.

American is awash in "self-help gurus." I understand they make up a vast segment of Oprah's guests. Often these gurus are from India and offer a higher spiritual plane to escape Western materialism. And while they seem formulaic, the books offered by these gurus and their publishers seem to be flying off the shelves.

Paul Damien takes a dagger to the very heart of the self-help movement. He distills all the gurus and their books down to their essentials: an Indian with credentials, repetitive use of words and phrases, lists of activities to obtain what you seek (and, because the reader will tend to blame him/herself for shortcomings, these activities can be unattainable), and the use of a vague malady debated in medical journals but trumpeted by the press. Put these together, create a compelling narrative, and you too can write a self-help book.

In fact, the author goes so far as to write a self-help book and encourages the reader to do so as well. What irony--a self-help book to write self-help books!

While the book speaks of self-help gurus in general, it focuses on two to make its points. Deepak Chopra's The Path of Love and Rhonda Byrne's The Secret are digested and dissected to show that the concepts are vague, the problems ill-defined, and the "solutions" formulaic. Buying this book is cheaper than buying a self-help book. And likely you will be able to write your own self-help for your own problem(s).

Bookstore Customer:Can you direct me to the self-help books?

Bookstore Owner: If I did, that would defeat the purpose!