Mark Seemann's Reviews > How to Win Friends and Influence People

How to Win Friends and Influence People by

In On the False Earths, there are various scenes where Valerian, the (anti-)hero of the story, walks through recreations of historical scenes, only to encounter anachronisms: An Easy Rider style chopper in 1895 San Francisco. A Prohibition-era gangster in early 20th century rural France. These incidents are 'outside the program', and serve to remind the reader that something is wrong.

Reading this revised edition of Dale Carnegie's book gives the same feeling of anachronism, but involuntarily. The book is updated with examples from the continued activity of Carnegie's organisation, long after his death. Particularly jarring is an example mentioning computers, considering that the book is originally from 1936.

Apart from that, this clearly is the 'original self-help book'. It mostly consists of anecdote upon anecdote, illustrating how treating other people considerately will often be beneficial.

Most of the advice given in the book seems sound enough, and the book is an easy read, but today, the content can hardly be considered new.