Bright-sided

Starred review from August 10, 2009
Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed
) delivers a trenchant look into the burgeoning business of positive thinking. A bout with breast cancer puts the author face to face with this new breed of frenetic positive thinking promoted by everyone from scientists to gurus and activists. Chided for her anger and distress by doctors and fellow cancer patients and survivors, Ehrenreich explores the insistence upon optimism as a cultural and national trait, discovering its “symbiotic relationship with American capitalism” and how poverty, obesity, unemployment and relationship problems are being marketed as obstacles that can be overcome with the right (read: positive) mindset. Building on Max Weber's insights into the relationship between Calvinism and capitalism, Ehrenreich sees the dark roots of positive thinking emerging from 19th-century religious movements. Mary Baker Eddy, William James and Norman Vincent Peale paved the path for today's secular $9.6 billion self-improvement industry and positive psychology institutes. The author concludes by suggesting that the bungled invasion of Iraq and current economic mess may be intricately tied to this “reckless” national penchant for self-delusion and a lack of anxious vigilance, necessary to societal survival.

Starred review from July 15, 2009
Accomplished social critic Ehrenreich (This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation, 2008, etc) eviscerates the positive-thinking movement, which she blames for encouraging us to"deny reality, submit cheerfully to misfortune, and blame only ourselves for our fate."

The author argues that the promotion of unwarranted optimism began in the early days of the American republic, was taken up by 19th-century philosophers and mystics—William James urged people to repeat to themselves"Youth, health, vigor!" while dressing in the morning—and entered the American mainstream in the 20th century, when it became an integral part of consumer culture. Ehrenreich's quarrel is not with feeling upbeat but rather with the"inescapable pseudoscientific flapdoodle" of life coaches and self-improvement products claiming that thinking positively will result in wealth, success and other joyful outcomes. Such magical thinking has become a means of social control in the workplace—where uncheerful employees are ostracized—and prevents action to achieve social change. With life coaches, business motivators and evangelical preachers promoting delusional expectations—"God has a plan" for those who have lost jobs and homes in the current economic crisis, says Christian preacher Joel Osteen—positive thinking can claim partial credit for a major role in such recent disastrous events as the Iraq war and the financial meltdown. Ehrenreich's many interviews include meetings with psychologist Martin Seligman, whose"positive psychology," she finds, offers little credible evidence to make it any different from the wishing-will-make-it-so thinking of writers from Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends& Influence People) to Rhonda Byrne (The Secret). The author's tough-minded and convincing broadside raises troubling questions about many aspects of contemporary American life, and she provides an antidote to the pervasive culture of cheerfulness—reality-based critical thinking that will encourage people to alter social arrangements in ways that improve their lives.

Bright, incisive, provocative thinking from a top-notch nonfiction writer.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 14, 2009
According to Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed), all forms of "positive thinking" are equal. Women with breast cancer who remain hopeful that their treatments will succeed are no different from manipulative motivational speakers. While Ehrenreich accurately points out that unjustifiable optimism can lead us into trouble (e.g., the recent financial crisis), her book is unbalanced and unfocused. Ehrenreich argues that Americans may do well to be more realistic, even skeptical, but she fails to develop a nuanced argument for a more thoughtful engagement with our world, if this is her goal (it is not easy to tell). Verdict Ehrenreich's latest is an angry, uneven narrative. Still, devoted fans will be looking for this one.-Elizabeth L. Winter, Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2009
Best-selling author Ehrenreich believes Americans have succumbed to the cult of cheerfulness to the point where we have left ourselves vulnerable to chicanery on nearly every front, from rosy military and economic forecasts to overblown promises grounded in religious faith. Ehrenreich examines the prevalence of positive thinking in American culture and its not-so-positive implications. How did the nation go from the stark limits of Calvinism to the broad horizons offered by Oprah Winfrey and Joel Osteen? Ehrenreich examines the historic roots and figures behind positive thinking, among them, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Norman Vincent Peale, and Dale Carnegie. She traces those pioneers straight to todays mega-church preachers and televangelists, including Robert Schuller and Rick Warren. Corporations and the government have also succumbed to positive thinking with disastrous results, according to Ehrenreich, as she argues that the Bush administration pushed rosy predictions regarding the war in Iraq and the financial sector blinded itself to the reality of home and stock values. Psychology has also helped fuel a cottage industrylife coaches and motivational speakerswho strongly imply that any shortcoming is the result of failing to think positively. Ehrenreich highlights the dark side of American optimism: a willful suspension of reality. And the pressure on those who think less than positively is enormous, Ehrenreich asserts, citing her own experience with breast cancer and being repelled by the sugar-coating of the disease. In this wide-ranging and stinging look at the pervasiveness of positive thinking, Ehrenreich warns against a reckless optimism that causes individualsand nationsnot to plan for inevitable downturns and disasters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)