ABSTRACT
The last 30 years have witnessed the publication of a torrent of books aimed at transforming the average American citizen into a successful business and financial entrepreneur who is at once thin, muscular, fit, free of illness and disease, and content with life. This transformation is to be achieved at the hands of none other than the average citizen herself, for the vehicle that will provide this metamorphosis is the self-help book or program in the hands of this same citizen. In the health arena, this change guru might be someone who has personally overcome disease or disorder or who has systematized an approach whose change formula will help sufferers overcome their deficiencies. The number of books dedicated to this enterprise has expanded to the point where the New York Times provides a separate rating system of the most successful. Clearly, the self-help book has become a major factor in the domain of self-improvement.
