Kidnykid's Full Review: David J. Pelzer - Help Yourself: Finding Hope, Cou...
Dave Pelzer is perhaps most famous for A Child Called It, The Lost Boy and A Man Called Dave, a trilogy describing his horrendous experience of child abuse and what happened once he recovered from it.
HELP YOURSELF describes some of the techniques that can help readers help themselves. Under ordinary circumstances - that is to say, were Pelzer not a person who has overcome one of the worst experiences of child abuse documented in California history - I'd say that Pelzer was merely mouthing platitudes.
However, Pelzer has actually used the techniques he describes in HELP YOURSELF. That lends this book credibility, a fact which wouldn't be true unless he had been so severely abused as a child.
It helps that Pelzer is an excellent writer. Although he admits to hating the whole process of writing, he has the discipline to sit himself down in front of the computer and write some of the best prose I've read in some time. As I have implied earlier, he has had enough experience in life to know what he's talking about, and it shows in the pages of HELP YOURSELF. Readers are given substantive advice designed to assist them in making their own decisions.
As Pelzer himself makes abundantly clear, you can't expect people to hold your hand and do things for you. You have to do things for yourself, and he assumes - most of the time, rightly - that people reading this book are quite capable of doing things for themselves.
The most glaring fault in HELP YOURSELF is that Pelzer does sound so much like most unabused motivational speakers. For those skeptical enough to be justifiably wary of motivational material, this will be a significant handicap. As a matter of fact, if Pelzer hadn't developed a mountain of credibility from having used the techniques detailed in HELP YOURSELF, I would be skeptical of the material in this book myself. Also, if Pelzer hadn't overcome the significant obstacles presented him by his alcoholic mother - who singled him and him alone out for abuse, while leaving his two older brothers alone and treating them well - I'd have avoided purchasing the book.
It all rests on Pelzer's ability to convince you that he is a credible giver of advice in the areas in which he advises readers. If you think he's just another motivational speaker mouthing platitudes, you will likely not like this book. However, I am willing to listen to Pelzer precisely because I know enough about him from his other books to know that he isn't just mouthing platitudes; he means what he says, and walks his talk.
It is for that reason that I advise reading HELP YOURSELF, and perhaps even purchasing it.
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