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Summary: Possibly the best self-help book ever written
Review: A critical reader of this book, having any sense of irony whatsoever, will realize that this just may be the best self-help book ever written. If you are like me and believe that the Onion is a better source of information on what's happening in the world than, say, Fox News, this book is definitely for you. If you're a ditto-head or a fundamentalist then skip this book - the content will sail right over your head while offending you at the same time. Most of all, if you just want to be entertained by some of the most hilarious and irreverent prose to hit the bookshelves in years, this book is for you.
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Summary: Deep down we all suspect smoking may be cool . . .
Review: Anyone who can't help smirking in the "Self-Help" section will find the recommendations in this book both slightly familiar and vaguely alluring. The fact that they're also shocking and disgusting is what makes it a good read. Stamen and Wasson succeed in making us laugh at things we suspect we ought to find deeply offensive, and their send-up of popular self-help plans and cliches is funny and informed. The book is gratifying not only for its hilarious "gross-out" value, but because it wittily reminds us of what we probably already knew: that the only thing more ridiculous than shopping for self-destruction in the pages of a book is shopping for self-realization there.Next time you're snorting with laughter in the self-help aisle, buy this book instead. If you're snorting anything else in the self-help aisle, you probably already have it.
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Summary: It's about time
Review: Everything needs to be made fun of occasionally and self helf books have to be on the top on anyone's list. This book is not only clever in its parody of content, but also of form. I laughed out loud many times and found it a fast and very entertaining read. Topiary of the world was my favorite. First time I've seen that topic covered!
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Summary: Stamen and Wasson's Excellent Adventure?
Review: I laughed, I cried, I laughed so hard that I cried . . . We live in a Self-Help Age. In fact, I dare you to find someone who hasn't snuck a peek at one of these lifestyle-bibles, whether it's Dale Carnegie, Dr. Phil, 7 Habits, or another self-improvement book. The search is futile because we live in a culture which bombards us with a million different messages saying that we aren't good enough, productive enough, thin enough, having good enough (or enough good) sex . . . the list goes on and on, and there are hundreds of books out there which proclaim to have the answers. Who could resist? The Self-Destruction Handbook is the first time that anyone has had the nerve to stop and challenge this phenomenon. Wasson and Stamen take self-help to the edge, and then they keep right on going. . . It's not that the S-D HB ridicules those of us who had made honest attempts at improving our lives, but rather that it takes on the self-proclaimed Self-Help Guru's who have founded empires (and made millions) on the backs of such hapless souls. In fact, I would argue that in their own perverse way, the authors have offered their own improvement strategies to readers. Through their sometimes irreverent, sometimes more biting critiques of the Self-Help Empires, they remind us that oftentimes the most effective coping strategies are a healthy sense of humor and the insistance on not taking life so damn seriously.
Rating:
Summary: Stamen and Wasson's Excellent Adventure?
Review: I laughed, I cried, I laughed so hard that I cried . . . We live in a Self-Help Age. In fact, I dare you to find someone who hasn't snuck a peek at one of these lifestyle-bibles, whether it's Dale Carnegie, Dr. Phil, 7 Habits, or another self-improvement book. The search is futile because we live in a culture which bombards us with a million different messages saying that we aren't good enough, productive enough, thin enough, having good enough (or enough good) sex . . . the list goes on and on, and there are hundreds of books out there which proclaim to have the answers. Who could resist? The Self-Destruction Handbook is the first time that anyone has had the nerve to stop and challenge this phenomenon. Wasson and Stamen take self-help to the edge, and then they keep right on going. . . It's not that the S-D HB ridicules those of us who had made honest attempts at improving our lives, but rather that it takes on the self-proclaimed Self-Help Guru's who have founded empires (and made millions) on the backs of such hapless souls. In fact, I would argue that in their own perverse way, the authors have offered their own improvement strategies to readers. Through their sometimes irreverent, sometimes more biting critiques of the Self-Help Empires, they remind us that oftentimes the most effective coping strategies are a healthy sense of humor and the insistance on not taking life so damn seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent Satire, But Not Recommended For The Faint-Hearted
Review: My wife and I picked up this book based on the title alone. The clerk, reading the title as we paid for it, noted that "no home should be without this." I've always wondered if he'd actually read the book or was just riffing on the title. First off -- this book is satire. It's a joke. Some of the jokes are tasteless, many are crude, a couple are just plain wrong. But they're jokes. All of them. I can image that this book is misunderstood and reviled by many who take it at face value. But any issue that I, or anyone, should have with this book is about the humour and nothing else. It's not that "you either get it or you don't" -- I get it, but that doesn't mean that I'm obligated to find everything in it funny, either. Bone-dry, satire-with-a-side-of-detached-irony isn't everyone's cup of tea. Nor is that brand of satire a carte blanche to get away with whatever insult/offensive remark/slur that you can think of. A lot of bad writing gets published in the name of satire, and while this book isn't bad writing, it has it's moments. Like I said, some of this book is pretty rough going, even for a seasoned satirist and humourist such as myself. There are some very deadpan jokes in here about such obvious targets as eating disorders, STDs, the obese, children, the elderly, smokers, non-smokers...etc. Not all of them are as funny as you'd hope. It's a dark little book. Some of the jokes are so dark, in fact, that it seems a little cruel even reading them. It's not that they're offensive; it's just that they're not funny. They're outrageous, they're mean-spirited and, even though they're clearly not meant to be taken seriously, they can be tough to read. That said, the book can also be witty and clever, especially when the authors are going for something more sophisticated then pure shock value. It's a funny book, and I like it, but thoughts of buying one for my sister upon her graduation from medical school quickly evaporated after I'd read about 3 pages. This book, like all satire, isn't for everyone. Taken from the handbook's "How To Lose Way Too Much Weight In 90 Days" chapter: "Fun Fact: Joining a soritity increases your chance of developing and maintaining an eating disorder by 130%." If you're offended already, you might want to pass on this one. If, on the other hand, you're always wishing that "The Daily Show" would finally take the gloves off and start really making fun of people, you might like The Self-Destruction Handbook.
Rating: 
Summary: A bunch of planted 5 star reviews don't make a book good
Review: The book is pretty alright, but I am giving it five stars solely for it's A+++ cover which is drawn by Sam Brown of ExplodingDog. There are people in this world who can only judge art by superficialities such as minute detail and "a reader" is most assuredly one of these.
Rating:
Summary: A bunch of planted 5 star reviews don't make a book good
Review: The glowing reviews which have obviously been planted here by the authors are akin to movie studios that invent quotes from fictional film critics to hype bad movies. This book is shallow tripe.
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Summary: I smell vomit OR how I learned to hate this book.
Review: The kind of people browsing reviews of The Self Destruction Handbook (hereafter "BOOK") do not need watered down sardonic comedy, we need strong drink. We are the tired, poor, and huddled masses giving up on the future, looking for someone to tie us down and push the button on that large machine in the corner of the room, full of esoteric liquids waiting to drip into our already-polluted blood stream. We want to renounce thinking altogether, we want someone to tell us how to self destruct in nicely bulleted statements, we want a creative plan, we want to know what to do next that will show the world exactly how we feel about it. We are tired of asking 'why am I here?' and 'why am I doing this?' without any answers. We simply want an answer, even if it is horribly wrong and we know it. Unfortunately, there are no wrong answers in this book.
Lets face it folks, self destruction is a talent. You cant buy a book and paint like Picasso(props to the sarge).
I myself had bought this book in particularly daunting circumstances. I had set aside a month to self-destruct, it was to be a journey deep into introspective aspect the American Dream.
Anyways, long story short: this book didnt help. Its childish humor run through a thesaurus. Your better off blowing your cash on a case of forties, selling your goth makeup, and watching reality tv like the rest of us.
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Summary: ...
Review: The problem with this kind of book is that it's joke is limited. After the novelty wears off, it all becomes a bit stale.. but then, don't most REAL self-help books?!
Some of the sections are quite funny... for instance, the part on how to start smoking (you start of by building up your nicotine addiction by wearing the patch or chewing nicotine gum!)... also quite funny was the self mutilation section (everything from enlargement of "certain reproductive features" to cutting).
The greatest flaw of the book, perhaps, is how it never quite goes as far or gets as outrageous as it should. They should have called this "The Practical Self-Destruction Handbook."
Pick this book up cheap (used, or in the bargain section) for an amusing read. Or get it as a creative gift. But don't pay full price for yourself and expect to get a lot of milage out of it.
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