Help Me!: How Self-Help Has Not Changed My Life

(Paperback)

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Description

The International Bestseller 'I love it! Hilarious and thought-provoking!' - Fearne Cotton 'The Bridget Jones of self-improvement' - Sunday Times Marianne Power was stuck in a rut. Then one day she wondered: could self-help books help her find the elusive perfect life She decided to test one book a month for a year, following their advice to the letter. What would happen if she followed the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Really felt The Power of Now Could she unearth The Secret to making her dreams come true What begins as a clever experiment becomes an achingly poignant story. Because self-help can change your life - but not necessarily for the better . . . Help Me! is an irresistibly funny and incredibly moving book about a wild and ultimately redemptive journey that will resonate with anyone who's ever dreamed of finding happiness.

Reviews

I love it! Hilarious and thought-provoking! Love! -- Fearne Cotton
A laugh-out-loud funny book that also manages to be thought-provoking, perceptive and devastatingly honest. I loved it. -- Lucy Diamond
A sweet sharp read, and the last chapter made me cry. As someone a bit dubious of self-help books, its perfect: Power spends a year trying to live a month per book. Its quite a fun journey through the ups and downs of negotiating ourselves through life, but underneath that is a serious, generous message, and it really does feel like youve learned something by the end of it. -- Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist
Mariannes writing makes me smile and has moved me to tears more than once. She combines a journalists no-nonsense investigative skills with a tenderness and honesty that sets her apart . . . In helping herself, it turned out that Marianne was helping all of us. -- Erin Kelly, author of He Said/She Said
Couldn't put this book down Marianne's honesty and wit shone through. There's something everyone can relate to, whether or not you like self-help just a hugely enjoyable, fantastic read. -- Poorna Bell, author of Chase the Rainbow
Sublime and ridiculous, in equal measure. I tore through it hungrily. One minute I was having an existential epiphany, the next I was honking with laughter. Britains answer to Sarah Knight, with Amy Schumers naked hilarity and Matt Haigs soul-deep profundity chucked in. -- Catherine Gray, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober
Ive just finished Help Me! by Marianne Power and it was wonderful. Ive laughed and cried my way through its pages. If, like me, youve read any self-help books, been depressed, experienced negative self talk or just wondered what its all really about then Id highly recommend this book . . . it discusses aspects of mental health so casually and conversationally. Its a wonderfully refreshing approach. Its worth picking up just for Mariannes Mums sassy one liners alone. Give it a try! -- Keegan Hirst (on Instagram)
Sparkling . . . a laugh-out-loud odyssey, with embarrassing incidents and downright disasters aplenty. But the real triumph of the book is the way it transcends its "Bridget Jones gazes at her navel" premise to ask searching questions both about the purported effectiveness of self-help in the light of a multi-million dollar personal development industry; and about how we can really best find contentment. If you've ever worried that self-help might be a euphemism for self-obsession, then this is a book for you. * Bookseller *
Power is such an engaging writer, its hard not to empathise with what shes saying . . . Plus, shes very funny . . . Marianne Power is a delightful companion and one who (putting all natural misanthropy aside) acts a powerful reminder that the traditional ways of denigrating or demanding too much of ourselves aint going to get us anywhere . . . excellent * Emerald Street *
Funny and fearless, I loved Help Me! almost as much as I loved Mariannes mum who was always on hand with some no-nonsense advice and really needs to write her own self-help book. -- Sarra Manning * Red Magazine *

Author Bio

Marianne Power is a writer and journalist who lives in London. Help Me! is her first book.