One of the most popular self-help books of all time remains surprisingly au courant
“If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive.” So begins Dale Carnegie’s (no, he’s not one of those Carnegies) perennial classic. First published in 1936 after being transcribed from a lecture course, How to Win Friends and Influence People remains one of the most popular self-help books of all time. Organized into six primary sections, listeners are guided through simplified social arts, such as “handling people” and how to be likeable. Rhetorical skills are fundamental to Carnegie’s pedagogical method. Listeners learn how to subtly “win people to their way of thinking” without alerting them to their powers of persuasion. The course is designed to initiate the listener into the echelons of leaders “who change people without giving offense or arousing resentment.” Consider this a set of operating instructions for the breed of success that appears innate but is, in actuality, carefully measured.
Carnegie lends advice that — once thought radical — is now comfortingly familiar (Ask questions instead of directly giving orders!). It’s no longer revolutionary, but the program’s composition is satisfyingly structured and does, indeed, include some hidden rhetorical gems (Appeal to noble motives! Dramatize your ideas!). The theme that unites these pithy directives is one of conscientiousness and constant surveillance. By attending to others, in the long run, you are in fact investing in yourself.
The earnestness of the book — at first seemingly retro — feels unexpectedly au courant in today’s climate of threatened jobs and tense work relationships. Listening to How to Win Friends and Influence People is perhaps the best and most authentic way to absorb the material of the endlessly reprinted bestseller. Andrew Macmillan’s gravelly tenor and deliberate enunciation makes it easy to summon images of Depression-era motivational speakers and their desperate audiences. His narration lulls the listener into an aspirational trance. Heed Carnegie’s advice, and you just might have a chance of attaining just the sort of mysterious power that weathers even the most torrential storms.
