The Secret is the biggest book since The Purpose Driven Life. Based on a best-selling documentary film of the same name, it presents the “Law of Attraction,” which, according to the tagline, “has traveled through centuries to reach you.” By synthesizing “how to get rich” ideas from classic self-help books by Wallace D. Wattles (The Science of Getting Rich), Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich!), and Charles Haanel (The Master Key System) with twenty-five modern-day self-improvement gurus like Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Michael Bernard Beckwith, James Ray, Lisa Nichols, and Joe Vitale, author Rhonda Byrne and her team have created an almost alchemically rich and compelling promise.
They claim that “The Secret” was discovered by such historical luminaries as Plato, da Vinci, Galileo, Napoleon, Hugo, Beethoven, Newton, Edison, and Einstein; that “The Secret” has existed in fragments in religions, philosophies, and oral traditions for centuries . . . but only now has it all been put together. “The Secret is everything you have dreamed of . . . and is beyond your wildest dreams,” trumpet the marketing materials. Could it really be true, or is it just a new spin on the very old (and decidedly not secret) “the power of positive thinking” wedded to “ask and you shall receive”?
Alexandra Bruce goes behind the scenes to investigate the phenomenon, from its roots in Australia to the sales bonanza that has seen creator Rhonda Byrne become the most successful debut author in memory. Bruce takes a hard but fair look at the “teachers” featured in The Secret and the “Law of Attraction” that is the central theme. To truly understand the significance of The Secret, perspective is needed. Beyond The Secret delivers that and much more.
