false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255579455m/6452749.jpg 6452749 3 <DIV><P><B>A sharp-witted knockdown of America’s love affair with positive thinking and an urgent call for a new commitment to realism</B></P><P>Americans are a “positive” people—cheerful, optimistic, and upbeat: this is our reputation as well as our self-image. But more than a temperament, being positive, we are told, is the key to success and prosperity. <P>In this utterly original take on the American frame of mind, Barbara Ehrenreich traces the strange career of our sunny outlook from its origins as a marginal nineteenth-century healing technique to its enshrinement as a dominant, almost mandatory, cultural attitude. Evangelical mega-churches preach the good news that you only have to want something to get it, because God wants to “prosper” you. The medical profession prescribes positive thinking for its presumed health benefits. Academia has made room for new departments of “positive psychology” and the “science of happiness.” Nowhere, though, has bright-siding taken firmer root than within the business community, where, as Ehrenreich shows, the refusal even to consider negative outcomes—like mortgage defaults—contributed directly to the current economic crisis. </P><P>With the mythbusting powers for which she is acclaimed, Ehrenreich exposes the downside of America’s penchant for positive thinking: On a personal level, it leads to self-blame and a morbid preoccupation with stamping out “negative” thoughts. On a national level, it’s brought us an era of irrational optimism resulting in disaster. This is Ehrenreich at her provocative best—poking holes in conventional wisdom and faux science, and ending with a call for existential clarity and courage.</P></DIV> 6642954 book 13 10 2009 Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America total:142|5:27|4:53|3:44|2:13|1:5| 142 510 781 69 4 0 false false Fri Nov 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 28 09:15:40 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 28 19:39:37 -0800 2009
First, she d...more...]]> 4 10 false false Wed Oct 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 15:11:20 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 15:48:36 -0700 2009 The Secret, the "prosperity gospel," and all the rest of the American happytalk crap. I get so sick of it. I get so fucking sick of it. God, I got so sick of it at the American Cancer Society--all the smileys and balloo...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 11:11:44 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 11:36:30 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 14 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 12:35:33 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 17:01:09 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 2 false false Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 11:45:36 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 16:48:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Oct 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 07:37:51 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 07:40:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Oct 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 15:43:56 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 22:07:52 -0700 2009
I forced - I mean, really FORCED - myself to finish the first chapter,...more...]]> 4 4 false false Sat Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 11:28:10 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 24 16:20:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Oct 19 14:42:13 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 06:14:53 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 21:13:56 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 20:06:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 15 10:02:02 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 10:08:03 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 06:32:30 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 06:44:11 -0700 2009
Ehrenreich herself was charming and quite upbeat in a ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 18:41:13 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 18:49:58 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Nov 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 22:47:56 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 22:56:11 -0800 2009
E...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Oct 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 19:03:47 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 07:28:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Nov 28 10:59:19 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 28 11:04:45 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 21 14:19:34 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 14:22:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Nov 27 09:47:53 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 27 09:52:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 03 17:35:35 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 17:35:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Nov 07 15:23:26 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 15:40:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=6452749