TR Gaddis tears into Dale Carnegie Pt 2 ch 1

[Erik T. Burns]

of course Mr Pivner's problem -- which he thinks reading Carnegie can
solve -- is actually quite tragic. He cannot connect with people (esp.
his son) and he replaces that with a strange affection for the
inanimate (like politely waiting for radio announcers to complete
their sentence before switching off the receiver). he actually
believes that Carnegie's book will help him "make friends."

yes, the Gaddis excoriation of Carnegie is thorough and hilarious,
trenchant criticism of that early self help book which launched a
gazillion others, each more ridic' than the next; but at the same time
(as per usual) Gaddis is able to take it beyond just critical
twittering & snooty intellectualism and into the human, individual
reality of a nebbish like Pivner (who is, of course, Otto's father,
the son able to make friends, but not to influence people, it
seems....)



On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 5:53 PM, Edward A Moore <edmoorester at gmail.com> wrote:
> TR Gaddis tears into Dale Carnegie Pt 2 ch 1 (what do we worship?)
>
> p285-6
>
> "Behind was a veneered secretary  of anonymous century and unavowed
> design, holding protected behind glass an assortment of books
> published by the hundred-thousand,
>
> treatises on the cultivation of the individual self,
>
> prescriptions of superficial alterations in vulgarity read with
> excruciating eagerness by men alone in big chairs,
>
> the three-way lamp turned to its wildest brilliance as they fingered
> those desperate blazons of individuality tied in mean knots at their
> throats,
>
> fastened monogrammed tie-clasps the more firmly,
>
> swung keys on gold-plated monogram-bearing ("Individualized") key-chains,
>
> tightened their arms against wallets in inside pockets which held the
> papers proving their identity beyond doubt to others and in moments of
> Doubt to themselves,
>
> papers in such variety that the bearer himself became their appurtenance,
>
> each one contemplating over words in a book (which had sold four
> million copies:
>
> How to Speak Effectively;
>
> Conquer Fear;
>
> Increase Your Income;
>
> Develop Self-Confidence;
>
> "Sell" Yourself and Your Ideas;
>
> Improve Your Memory;
>
> Increase Your Ability to Handle People;
>
> Win More Friends;
>
> Improve Your Personality;
>
> Prepare for Leadership)
>
> the Self which had ceased to exist the day they stopped seeking it alone."
>
> ed
>