Description

Offering a tongue-in-cheek approach to living well, quiz show host and former White House speechwriter Ben Stein has written How to Ruin Your Life. Asserting that “failure is often a virtual road map to success in reverse,” Stein tells readers, “[f]ollow these rules and you’re guaranteed disaster. Avoid them, and you’re on the high road to achievement….” He proceeds to explain how to “make yourself useless,” “be a slob,” “convince yourself you’re all that matters” and “act like the world owes you.” If ignored, his advice is sound and realistic, and may be the perfect way to push recent grads or other impressionable readers in the right direction.How to Ruin Your Life is a powerful self-help tool in the form of a work of humor. It is sardonic advice, presented in a tongue-in-cheek style, explaining how people can “ruin” their lives. Topics include essays such as “Convince Yourself That You’re The Center of the Universe,” “Think The Worst of Everyone,” and “You Can Change People.”Seriously, though, to anyone who reads this book, it is an earnest warning about falling into traps of self-destructive behavior that can ruin any man or woman’s life. More than that, it comprises 35 steps which—if read and understood—provide a road map to making life work in the most effective way possible. It is humor and self-help all in one, delivered by Ben Stein, a man who has witnessed more than his share of people who did ruin their lives—as well as those whose lives have been wildly successful. Ben Stein, a nationally renowned “Renaissance man,” is host of the long-running quiz show Win Ben Stein’s Money. He is a former White House speechwriter, Wall Street Journal columnist, trial lawyer, law school professor, scriptwriter, and novelist—and author of several self-help books on finance; including Money Power: How Profit from Inflation (out of print). He has seen the biggest (Richard Nixon) and the most famous (many Hollywood stars) ruin their lives. He has also seen how some seemingly ordinary people made something great of their lives—by doing the opposite of what he sees as ruinous acts and modes of thought. He resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife and son.ENJOY!