Awaken the Power Within: In Defense of Self-Help

Albert Amao Soria

Jun 2018 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Ramon De Ocampo

About this audiobook

Sociologist Albert Amao analyzes the accuracy of self-help and positive-thinking claims in this groundbreaking-and wholly unexpected-exploration of what works, what doesn't, and why. "Regarding my personal experience," Amao writes, "I can testify that positive thinking and positive action have worked wonderfully for me. Born in a poor Latin-American country into a very impoverished family with both parents practically illiterate, I was the oldest of five children. I started working when I was six years old, shining shoes and selling newspapers to help my family. Nobody then would have believed that I would be able to finish high school. Nevertheless, I was able to do it going to night school, which allowed me to be admitted at the San Marcos University in Lima to get my PhD in sociology. All these things were possible because, when I was teenager, I had access to New Thought," or positive-thinking philosophy. Contrary to the critics who blithely dismiss self-help methods, or the New Age gurus who sell them as miracles, Amao-writing with sobriety, scholarship, and drawing on deep personal experience-explores the conditions under which self-help is authentic.

About the author

Albert Amao Soria is a graduate of the National University of San Marcos, in Lima, Peru. He holds a PhD in sociology, and is a social theorist and cultural critic. His books include Healing without Medicine and The Dawning of the Golden Age of Aquarius.

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon, Ramon de Ocampo is best known for his television work, especially for his recurring roles on many hit TV shows, including The West Wing, Notorious, 12 Monkeys, and Sons of Anarchy. A longtime audiobook narrator, Ramon is an Audie Award nominee and has won eleven AudioFile Earphones Awards.