Healing Yourself with Wishful Thinking

Tired of self-help books that take themselves too seriously? Hate reading mindless drivel that passes itself off as serious advice? Then this is the self-help book for you! With a delightful blend of insightful research, tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, and laugh-out-loud humor Arthur Bloch takes a wide-ranging look at self-help techniques that will keep you in stitches while providing a basic introduction to New Age thinking. In 23 brief chapters Bloch manages to introduce and poke fun at Meditation, Visualization Techniques, Spirit Guides, Chakras, Inner Child Therapy, Positive Thinking, Past Life Regression, Alternative Medicine, Shamanism, Angelic Guides, Channeling, and some techniques new to this book like Wishful Thinking, Blame-Fixing, and Positive Forgetfulness. Even if Wishful Thinking is not your idea of the solution to your problems, the delightful humor of this book will go a long way towards giving you a happier life.

Bloch has done it again with this book. I nearly died laughing, but kept looking over my shoulder to see who was watching. A must for every doctor's waiting room alongside "Murphy's Law: Doctors: Malpractice Makes Perfect".

No matter what your personal position on life's metaphysical issues, anywhere from skeptic to disciple, Bloch's blisteringly funny book will inform you while making you laugh from way down deep. If you've seen Bloch's other works in print, video and the Web, you know he is a first-rate researcher and takes no shortcuts. (His "Murphy's Law" books and "Thinking Allowed" TV shows are particularly famous.) Okay, so I like this book a lot, what's the gift angle?I like to take advantage of birthdays, Christmas, parties of all kinds to give people gifts that I feel sure they will enjoy, and which also tell them something about me, about them, or best of all, about our relationship. I happen to be a fan of Aristotle and logic, prizing objectivity. So while I can't know what my gift-receivers think about all the metaphysical topics, I know that Bloch's book represents each one fairly and objectively. This means it won't offend me or my gift-receiver. I also know that Bloch will point out each topic's silly side. I happen to think that everything has a silly side somewhere, especially metaphysics, and the more seriously someone takes a subject, the more helpful it is for them to see its silly side as well. And as an instant-gratification bonus, Bloch is a highly skilled writer and knows how to make his points in very funny prose.The end result of these features is that after giving this book, I can cheerfully discuss any of the included topics with the gift-receiver without fear of total ignorance, being trapped in excessive seriousness, or accidental offense. And I think the book's intelligence and common-sensical perspective reflect well on me as a gift-giver, as well as on the gift-receiver.

This little book more than delivers on its sly promise to amuse and delight. It also provides a concise yet comprehensive survey of the entire astonishingly broad spectrum of New Age hooey. I was laughing out loud right away, WISHFUL THINKING is that good. Before I had even finished the first chapter, I thought of a half dozen friends to whom I must send a copy of this sweetly skewering, smart and sassy, sly and sophisticated, easy to read book. While it pokes fun at New Age malarky, this funny little book also supplies a brief course in critical thinking. Perfectly organized and accessible, beautiful printed and produced. My highest recommendation!