NEWSWEEK: No New Thinking in Rhonda Byrne's Publishing Phenom 'The Secret'; Just New Marketing, Newsweek Concludes

Newsweek :: NEWSWEEK: No New Thinking in Rhonda Byrne's Publishing Phenom 'The Secret'; Just New Marketing, Newsweek Concludes:

"NEW YORK, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- In the current issue of Newsweek, Senior Editor Jerry Adler takes a cold-eyed look at Australian television producer Rhonda Byrne's new self-help book, 'The Secret' - a publishing phenomenon featured on Oprah with 1.75 million copies projected to be in print by March 2, plus 1.5 million DVDs sold - and concludes that although the book brings 'breathless pizzazz and a market-proven gimmick' to the tired self-help genre, what it doesn't contain is a secret. 'That should be self-evident to anyone who has ever been in an airport bookstore. The film and book are built around 24 'teachers,' mostly motivational speakers and writers (dressed up by Byrne with titles like 'philosopher' or 'visionary') who have been selling the same message for years,' Adler writes.
Byrne's 'secret' is the law of attraction, which holds that you create your own reality through your thoughts. The book's explicit claim is that you can manipulate objective physical reality - the numbers in a lottery drawing, the actions of other people who may not even know you exist - through your thoughts and feelings. Byrne emphasizes that this is a law inherent in 'the universe,' an inexhaustible storehouse of goodies from which you can command whatever you desire from the comfort of your own living room by following three simple steps: Ask, Believe, Receive."