'Shelf-help' books set to fill publishers' coffers in 2014

New 'intellectually credible' self-improvement books set to outsell celebrity biographies in 2014Sir Alex Ferguson may have the coveted Christmas number one spot with the record-breaking sales of his memoir, My Autobiography. But not even celebrity memoirs are likely to match the publishing sector predicted to grow exponentially in 2014: self-help books.Next year is set to be the one when self-help gains intellectual credibility. This Thursday will see the paperback release of a surprise British bestseller of 2013, The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz. Chosen as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, it is an extraordinary exposé of the human condition, gleaned from 25 years of listening to patients on the couch.Grosz's publisher, Vintage, is launching a series called Shelf Help, a list of 12 titles that aim to improve our lives, "because, as we all know, one of the best ways to feel better about life is through a good book". Its list includes Jeanette Winterson's memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?; Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, a study of family life by Andrew Solomon; and Julian Barnes's Nothing to be Frightened Of, an examination of "the fear of death, God, nature, nurture and the author's childhood". The list launches in London next week with the Shelf Help Sessions, an event featuring Grosz and Winterson, chaired by the series' curator, literary reviewer Alex Clark, who is a former... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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