Books
10 Self-Help Book Recommendations for Literary Outcasts
Well-written characters are characters that face personal challenges. They are dynamic and compelling and complex — and sometimes we just don’t get them at all. (Holden Caulfield, I’m talking to you.) Because of this, many of our favorite characters are ones that exist on the peripheries; they can’t quite make it in the mainstream because some significant fatal flaw is holding them back. Oh, hamartia! Lucky for Holden (and Iago, and Miss Havisham, and all the other misfits), we’ve put together this list of recommended reading for our favorite literary outcasts. The genre is Self-Help because, just like us, these guys could use a little tough love.
Image: twm1340/Flickr
Ebenezer Scrooge — ‘The Happiness Project’
Dickens describes Ebenezer Scrooge, infamous curmudgeon of A Christmas Carol, as follows: “The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.” Writer Gretchen Rubin spent a year investigating the source of happiness and found that novelty and challenge each play a large role in our achievement of it. This book, which chronicles Rubin’s investigations and adventures (and is practically a published hug), will have Scrooge’s heart all warm and toasty in no time.
Recommended: Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
Boo Radley — ‘Quiet’
Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is the archetypal ‘quiet guy’ of literature. He’s so quiet, in fact, that he’s practically a ghost in his hometown of Maycomb, Alabama. But just because Boo is shy does not mean that he’s not secretively a bad ass. (Clark Kent/Superman stuff, right over here.) This book by Susan Cain will help Boo celebrate his introversion — and help him to harness its potential for greatness.
Recommended: Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Paloma Josse — ‘The Book of Awesome’
At the age of 12, Paloma, the precocious protagonist of Muriel Barberry’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog, makes the bold decision to end her life on her next birthday. What’s her deal? Her analytical nature and extreme intelligence booby trap her ability to find meaning in life. What Paloma needs is a big dose of awesome, in the form of this book by Neil Pasricha, creator of the website 1000 Awesome Things. There are so many awesome things to live for, Paloma. Like bubble wrap, and the other side of the pillow.
Recommended: Neil Pasricha, The Book of Awesome
Fanny Price — ‘The Assertiveness Workbook’
If you’ve ever read Austen’s Manfield Park, you might have familiarized yourself with the utterance, “Poor Fanny Price!” Fanny is a too-nice girl who lets everybody walk all over her. As a result, she is marginalized by her own family members and romantically disregarded by the man she loves (who is, in other news, her cousin). This workbook by Randy J. Patterson, will help Fanny achieve effective communication skills that will put her on the fast track for empowerment. Instead of our sympathy, we will be giving her only our high-fives from here on out.
Recommended: Randy J. Patterson, The Assertiveness Workbook: How to Express Your Ideas and Stand Up For Yourself at Work and in Relationships
Humbert Humbert — ‘Perv’
Humbert Humbert of Nabokov’s Lolita is one of literature’s definitive perverts. And so it comes as no surprise that for him I suggest this book by Jesse Bering — appropriately titled Perv. This book explores the idea that sexual deviancy is actually a norm, and investigates how we can make sense of our own fetishes and fantasies. Maybe this read can help Humbert sort out his… perviness.
Recommend: Jesse Bering, Perv: The Sexual Deviant In All Of Us
Miss Havisham — ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’
Oh, where do I start? A central character in Dickens’ Great Expectations, Miss Havisham was played by Helena Bonham Carter in the movies — which should tell you plenty about the kind of character she is. Described by Dickens as “the witch of the place,” she is an old, wealthy spinster, who has never quite gotten over being left at the altar by a manipulative man who did not love her. How does she deal? Well, funny you should ask. She doesn’t. Decades later, she is still locked up in her rotten mansion, wearing her rotten wedding dress, with her rotten wedding cake still splayed about the kitchen table. Miss Havisham, he’s just not that into you. Read this book by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo to learn more about that. And then, like, change your clothes. Okay?
Recommended: Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo — He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys
Eliza Doolittle — ‘Modern Manners’
In George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, Eliza, an unrefined Cockney flower girl, is made the subject of a bet by phonetics professor Henry Higgins. Professor Higgins wagers that he can transform her coarse ways so significantly that he will be able to pass her off as a duchess. Higgins does a great job, but this self-help book by Dorothea Johnson could provide Eliza with a bit of extra tutoring.
Recommended: Dorothea Johnson, Modern Manners: Tools to Take you To The Top
Quasimodo — ‘David and Goliath’
Quasimodo of Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame has a rough go of it. For starters, he’s a hunchback. So, that’s not great. He’s also described as “hideous” and “a creation of the devil.” Also not wonderful. He’s not really a bad dude, though — just misunderstood and a little (see: extremely) coarse. In this book, Malcom Gladwell challenges the ways in which we consider obstacles and disability, and he foregrounds his argument with the David and Goliath story. This book on battling ‘giants’ may prove to be of value for a misfit as veritably marginalized as Quasimodo.
Recommended: Malcom Gladwell, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
Holden Caulfield — ‘Bad Boys, Bad Men’
Holden Caulfield, the mythomaniacal, angst-ridden teenager of Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye, has been ‘diagnosed’ by readers with all sorts of mental illnesses. Probably the most compelling potential diagnosis is that he typifies an Antisocial Personality Disorder — that is, that he lies, steals, manipulates, and lacks empathy. Yup, that sounds about right. This book by Donald W. Black investigates the bad boy and his inherent penchant for rule breaking, and maybe his investigation could grant Holden some much-needed perspective.
Recommended: Donald W. Black, Bad Boys, Bad Men: Confronting Antisocial Personality Disorder
Iago — ‘Love Your Enemies’
Oh, Iago. Can you even be helped? Shakespeare wrote a lot of villains, but Iago of his play Othello is arguably the most sinister. A master manipulator and undiagnosed psychopath, he is motivated only by his unprovoked hatred for Othello, which propels him through the schemiest of schemes. Iago has a lot of reading to do in the self-help section, but let’s have him start with this anger management pick by Sharon Salzberg. Can’t we all just get along?
Recommended: Sharon Salzberg, Love Your Enemies: How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier
