Customer Reviews

The Self-Destruction Handbook: 8 Simple Steps to an Unhealthier You

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3 star:		(4)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

A lot of people can achieve success on their own but many people just need that little bit of guidance. The Self-Destruction Handbook is definitely not that guidance. What it is a humorous parody of those millions of annoying self help books and an extremely entertaining read. This book will teach you the 12 steps to a drinking problem, and all the techniques to a successful smoking habit. You'll be convinced why you should do drugs as well as learn all the inside secrets on dating and obtaining or becoming a mistress. You'll get helpful bedroom advice, learn how to release your inner child body and you'll be convinced why you should go out and get that tattoo, body piercing or other self mutilating accessory. A great read that will have you laughing out loud, so read it in a public place!

I laughed, I cried, I laughed so hard that I cried . . .

We live in a Self-Help Age. In fact, I dare you to find someone who hasn't snuck a peek at one of these lifestyle-bibles, whether it's Dale Carnegie, Dr. Phil, 7 Habits, or another self-improvement book. The search is futile because we live in a culture which bombards us with a million different messages saying that we aren't good enough, productive enough, thin enough, having good enough (or enough good) sex . . . the list goes on and on, and there are hundreds of books out there which proclaim to have the answers. Who could resist?

The Self-Destruction Handbook is the first time that anyone has had the nerve to stop and challenge this phenomenon. Wasson and Stamen take self-help to the edge, and then they keep right on going. . .

It's not that the S-D HB ridicules those of us who had made honest attempts at improving our lives, but rather that it takes on the self-proclaimed Self-Help Guru's who have founded empires (and made millions) on the backs of such hapless souls. In fact, I would argue that in their own perverse way, the authors have offered their own improvement strategies to readers. Through their sometimes irreverent, sometimes more biting critiques of the Self-Help Empires, they remind us that oftentimes the most effective coping strategies are a healthy sense of humor and the insistance on not taking life so damn seriously.

This is a hilarious satire of self-help books that skewers everything from internet dating to self-mutilation and eating disorders with wit and style. The book works not only as a parody of the form but as a surprisingly insightful dissection of self-destructive behavior. Every page has material that will make the reader laugh out loud, and anyone who's ever behaved in a manner detrimental to themselves will find the writers' observations to be both painfully funny and painfully accurate. A great book.

Anyone who can't help smirking in the "Self-Help" section will find the recommendations in this book both slightly familiar and vaguely alluring. The fact that they're also shocking and disgusting is what makes it a good read. Stamen and Wasson succeed in making us laugh at things we suspect we ought to find deeply offensive, and their send-up of popular self-help plans and cliches is funny and informed. The book is gratifying not only for its hilarious "gross-out" value, but because it wittily reminds us of what we probably already knew: that the only thing more ridiculous than shopping for self-destruction in the pages of a book is shopping for self-realization there.

Next time you're snorting with laughter in the self-help aisle, buy this book instead. If you're snorting anything else in the self-help aisle, you probably already have it.

This book is a hilarious, satirical bucket o' fun for those of us who are proud to still be fighting the good fight against the moral police.

I, for one, am proud to call myself a vodka-swilling, tobacco-smoking, un-politically correct, hedonistic, debaucherous twentysomething - and thanks to this book, I'll have all the extra tips and advice a girl could ever need when navigating the cold, gloomy winters of Boston. I loved it so much, i went right out and got a canadian wax.

I love this book. Hallelujah. I'm giving one to all my friends as holiday presents.

Everything needs to be made fun of occasionally and self helf books have to be on the top on anyone's list. This book is not only clever in its parody of content, but also of form. I laughed out loud many times and found it a fast and very entertaining read. Topiary of the world was my favorite. First time I've seen that topic covered!

This book is hilarious. It is sardonic, offensive and cynical, but in the GREATEST ways. Every page made me crack up out loud.

The sad part is, the ironies of this book will be lost on some people, especially those who will see this book as "un-PC".

It may seem cruel and ill-advised, but small minded people need to remember that this book is a PARODY. After reading this book, I would strongly recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor who appreciates observational, sociological hilarity. Actually, so much of the issues touched on in this book are the subjects of hundreds of stupid, useless "self-help" books, but they look at it from the opposite (and often accurate) perspective. Read it, and if you feel that it's too mean, keep reading.

This is the funniest book I've read since Woody Allen's Side Effects and Chelsey Handler's Hey Vodka...! Wasson is brilliantly funny. He is the perfect mix of all facets of humanity: intelligent, witty, funny, sexy, stupid, and did I mention FUNNY?!!! It's rare that you read a book that makes you laugh out loud to the point where you have to take a break from reading!

A critical reader of this book, having any sense of irony whatsoever, will realize that this just may be the best self-help book ever written. If you are like me and believe that the Onion is a better source of information on what's happening in the world than, say, Fox News, this book is definitely for you. If you're a ditto-head or a fundamentalist then skip this book - the content will sail right over your head while offending you at the same time. Most of all, if you just want to be entertained by some of the most hilarious and irreverent prose to hit the bookshelves in years, this book is for you.

A "Road Less Travelled" for those of us who still have faith in the healing power of good pharma and bad object choices. Profoundly insensitive, frequently offensive, and utterly hysterical.

If you're ready to love yourself for the deeply wounded, irredeemably flawed, and often self-defeating human being you are, this book will be the ne'er-do-well best friend you never had.