Steve Salerno
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipUS
Genrenon-fiction
Subjectself-help
Notable worksSHAM

Steve Salerno is an American nonfiction author, essayist and educator who has written three books, including SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless, a critique of the self-help movement, and Deadly Blessing, about the death of Price Daniel Jr., which became the TV movie Bed of Lies. The latter book and movie dealt with themes of domestic abuse.

Early life and education

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and writing in 1972 from Brooklyn College.[1]

Career

Salerno was a visiting professor of journalism at Indiana University, has taught as an adjunct instructor at Lehigh University, and teaches at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.[2]

In November 2005, Salerno appeared on a segment of Anderson Cooper's 360° to discuss the validity of the self-help industry.[3] He discussed the self-help industry further on ABC Radio National where he was quoted as saying that the "happiness industry is banking on keeping us unhappy."[4]

Book

His book SHAM, a critique of self-help, received mostly positive reviews,[5][6] with some reviewers describing Salerno's coverage as overreach[7] in his analysis of self-help's broader effects in society. In the book, Salerno argues that self-help in recent decades has done significant damage to the American social fabric.[8][9] Salerno argues that damage principally to self-esteem-based education[10] and the fallout from the two polar schools of self-help thoughts, victimization and empowerment. He is highly critical of Alcoholics Anonymous and derivative 12-step programs. He has also described the self-help movement's intrusion into politics.[11][12] He also wrote of self-help having fatal consequences for participants at a self-help seminar by guru James Arthur Ray in 2009.

After the book's publication Salerno wrote essays on self-help's influence in politics[13] and medicine.[14][15]

Awards

He was given a silver award in 2019 from the annual National Mature Media Awards for an article he wrote in AARP The Magazine's April/May 2018 edition.[16] Salerno was awarded as Outstanding Faculty of the Year at University of Nevada Las Vegas for 2020.

Published works

  • The Newest Profession (1985)
  • Deadly Blessing (1987)[17] Made into TV movie 'Bed of Lies', 1992[18]
  • SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless (2005)

References

  1. ↑ Farruggio, Philip A. "The 99 Yarder -- A Brooklyn Story Circa 1970 | Philip A. Farruggio". World News Trust.
  2. ↑ "UNLV Steve Salerno". Background. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  3. ↑ "CNN.com - Transcripts: Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees". transcripts.cnn.com.
  4. ↑ "S.H.A.M." ABC Radio National. November 12, 2006.
  5. ↑ "Nonfiction Book Review: SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless by Steven Salerno, Author". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  6. ↑ Shermer, Michael (May 2006). "SHAM Scam". Scientific American. 294 (5): 30–30. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0506-30. ISSN 0036-8733.
  7. ↑ "Paul Ruschmann reviews SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Has Made America Helpless, by Steve Salerno". www.paulruschmann.com. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  8. ↑ Salerno, Steve (October 23, 2009). "Self-Help Doesn't Help—And Often Hurts". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  9. ↑ Salerno, Steve. "We Are the Champions". Psychology Today. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  10. ↑ Salerno, Steve. "Salerno: American higher education is sliding lower and lower". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  11. ↑ Salerno, Steve. "The trouble with Oprah is the trouble with Trump". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  12. ↑ Salerno, Steve. "Steve Salerno: Tony Robbins, Donald Trump and self-help nation". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  13. ↑ Salerno, Steve. "Tony Robbins, Donald Trump and the continuing self-delusion of our self-help nation – NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  14. ↑ Salerno, Steve (December 27, 2008). "The Touch That Doesn't Heal". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  15. ↑ Salerno, Steve. "Emmys, don't be led down Dr. Oz's yellow brick road: Oprah's favorite doctor promotes quackery – NY Daily News". nydailynews.com. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Honors: Steve Salerno" (PDF). unlv.edu.
  17. ↑ "Deadly Blessing". publishersweekly.com. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Bed of Lies". January 20, 1992 – via IMDb.
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