Cover; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of Tables and Figures; Acknowledgements; About the Authors; 1 Self-Help Worlds; How to survive; What are self-help books?; Exploring self-help; Structure of the book; 2 Self-Help and Society; Why does self-help matter?; Self-made men; The self in the marketplace; 3 Self-Help's Transnationalisation; Towards a transnational perspective on therapeutic culture; Publishing statistics: size and scale; Publishing statistics: growth trends and composition; A transnational self-help entrepreneur; How is self-help transnational?

4 Self-Help Entrepreneurs in ChinaThe rise of self-help in China; Mental life and social change in Chinese society; China's glocalised self-help field; Self-help in Chinese culture and public life; Transnational self-help in contemporary China; 5 Self-Help in Crisis; Self-help in an age of diminishing opportunities; Feel-good books in an age of crisis: 'Mainstream' self-help today; Self-help dystopias: Opting out and getting by; Truth in the marketplace; No crisis: Self-help in the Anglosphere; 6 Cultural Struggles, Intimate Life and Transnational Narratives; Self-help in Latin America

Self-help and intimate life in MexicoConservative-patriarchal relationships in Mexican self-help; Plurality, individual choice and intimate life; The self, intimate life and transnational self-help; 7 The Uses of Self-Help Books in Trinidad; Self-help narratives and their readers; Self-help guides in Western Trinidad; The bookstores; Where do you find out about self-help guides?; Readership; 'It was spiritual and practical at the same time'; Preparedness and the new survivalist; Consumption; A culture of self-help in Western Trinidad; Transnational self-help in Trinidad; Conclusion

8 The Politics of Self-HelpSelf-help matters; Transnational self-help; Thin selves; The political implications of self-help; Final thoughts; Notes; References; Index