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The Making of Dr. Phil  : The Straight-Talking True Story of Everyone's Favorite Therapist

The Making of Dr. Phil : The Straight-Talking True Story of Everyone's Favorite Therapist

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $16.47
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I just didn't like it.
Review: A friend of mine actually bought this book for me knowing what a Dr. phil fan I am, but as much as I like the man I just couldn't get into the book. It wasn't that the book did not have some good information, it just didn't have enough to make it worth it. By the end I could not figure out whether this was a long rag page on Dr. Phil or if they were recommending his strategy for success. In the end, I do not know if even the author's were sure.
For as great a self-help author as Dr. Phil is and as open as he is about his life I thought it was odd that this book said that they had a closer look than anyone has ever had before. They didn't! Dr. Phil will tell anyone high and dry how he met Oprah and what their relationship is like. I did not find that they had any information that was beyond what Dr. Phil has told the world on his show. I would much rather listen to the man himself.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The making of Dr Phil
Review: A slightly disappointing book, which could have been greatly improved by a wider selection of references. The authors' obvious and scarcely disguised bias against Dr Phil emerges with every sentence, and credibility is lost by an unbalanced use of resources - almost every piece of information is derived from somebody who would seem to have an axe to grind with Dr Phil. It is notable that there is no-one from his immediate circle or staff who would cooperate with the book, and any comments from Dr Phil are clearly taken from his TV shows, thereby already being known to the reader.
The author seems to grudgingly admit this man's sheer brilliance at what he does, but always adds a negative or cynical slant to any statement of excellence or success. It becomes irritatingly repetitive in this trait, and the book would have been hugely improved by a more balanced perspective, allowing the reader to make up their own mind.
To paraphrase Dr Phil, I found myself wondering "what's your pay off" when considering the authors reasons for their obvious resentment of this quite brilliant man!!!! To any Dr Phil fan, this may prove an interesting read, but I doubt it will fulfil it's obvious intention to reduce and diminish his widespread popularity.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Quite a businessman
Review: All right: No, I'm not a huge Dr. Phil fan. My wife can't get enough of him though. But as a businessman, I'm amazed at all he has been able to accomplish in such a short time. I really read this book hoping to learn how he was able to build such an incredible empire of books, self-help tapes, seminars, TV show, diet products, and so forth. After reading this book, which was very entertaining, it's clear his success is a mix of intelligence, persistence, and luck. He apparently has been an entrepreneur since childhood, always looking for ways to make money. But he has failed at these endeavours as much as he has succeeded. Although it seems like everything he touches these days turns to gold, that wasn't always the case. So, while I still won't be watching his show, I have come to admire him more as a businessman from reading this book and hope to start using some of his success strategies to grow my own business. It's quite an inspirational read.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Peevish Portrayal of Dr Phil
Review: As a big fan of Dr Phil's I bought this book and looked forward to reading it - however I have to say I was very disappointed by the book - I found it to be fairly light going - made up of too many quotes from "unnamed sources" as well as unnecessary and continual repitition of points - obviously just to bulk up the content .
In hindsight if I had known that Dr Phil himself had no input into the book then I wouldn't have wasted my time or money !
My overall feeling on completing the book was that the authors were peevish and even jealous in their portrayal of Dr Phil. So what if he has been married before - doesn't mean his professional views are less valid - especially since he trained as a psychologist after his first marriage. The authors seemed to be envious of the success (both career and financially) of Dr Phil - maybe it had to do with hard work - something these authors would know little about as the bulk of the book was just paraphrasing of what other people had said!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not for this Dr. Phil Fan
Review: I did not think that "The Making of Dr.Phil" was unbiased. Most of the quotes that were used were not at all unbiased and they were used to create the body of the work. Because the (living) author w as not used as a source I believe that the only people they could get to participate were bitter or taken from public accounts. Because of the bias of the witnesses and the less than creditable sources I would not suggest this book for true Dr. Phil fans or any one else who enjoys good, unbiased, well-written, and creditable biographies- because this is not one of them.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Boring, bitter and badly written
Review: I didn't even want to give it one star, but Amazon won't let me go any lower.

Don' t waste your money. I wish I hadn't wasted mine.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Unfinished book
Review: I don't know why the publisher let this book be released. The authors quote some people who are mad at Phil McGraw, and admit that they could not find additional proof of the complaints people express. The authors repeat themselves is ways that expose that they did not have enough material for a whole book. The point of this book is that Dr. Phil is an aggressive bully, and the authors could have developed that point in about five pages of text. This book does a big disservice to the reputation of this publisher. I will definately research at length any book I consider buying from this publisher in the future.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Just didn't satisfy.
Review: I don't think this was a "bad" book, or not well-written. I simply didn't like it very much. I was expecting a book that delved into who Dr. Phil really is, but from what I have gathered Dr. Phil was not even a participant in the writing of the book. Any insight into Dr. Phil's world comes from second or third parties or plain gossip.
The book was well researched but it didn't have a lot to say that had not already been said before by someone else. I truly detested the so called "Life Laws" at the end! The book went from repetitive and a little boring to mean in the end.
If you don't read the last chapter the book leaves you with a feeling that overall Dr. Phil is a good guy with an amazing business sense, but without any "real" knowledge of who Dr. Phil really "is."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Most interesting of Dr. Phil's books
Review: I have read all of Dr. Phil's self-help books, and found this one to be the most interesting of all. It offers insights into his background, while revealing the secrets of his success. I also enjoyed reading about the life strategies he follows in his own life. It's full of commentary from Dr. Phil and everyone from Oprah to his friends and family. I learned many new things about his life and think that everyone even remotely interested in Dr. Phil will find this book to be of interest.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Most interesting of Dr. Phil's books
Review: I have read all of Dr. Phil's self-help books, and found this one to be the most interesting of all. It offers insights into his background, while revealing the secrets of his success. I also enjoyed reading about the life strategies he follows in his own life. It's full of commentary from Dr. Phil and everyone from Oprah to his friends and family. I learned many new things about his life and think that everyone even remotely interested in Dr. Phil will find this book to be of interest.


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