HOW TO STOP WORRYING AND START LIVING (306 pp.)—Dale Carnegie—Simon & Schuster ($2.95).
Stretched taut as a wet clothesline by nervous tension, studded with warts of worry, perforated by ulcers, 20th Century man lives his much-cartooned life sandwiched between the deep blues and high blood pressure. Starting this month, he may take a new lease on life: his problems have been taken in hand by the author of the century's bestselling success story, How to Win Friends and Influence People.
In twelve years, How to Win Friends has sold 3,500,000 copies—excepting classics, a U.S. non-fiction record ("I am probably one of the most astonished authors now living," says Dale Carnegie). How to Stop Worrying, of which 125,000 advance copies are already in print, is likely to make a bestselling bang that will surprise even its sophisticated publishers.
The Worms Have It. When Dale Carnegie discovered that worry was "one of the biggest problems of ... adults," he hotfooted it off to "New York's great public library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street." To his horror, he found 189 books listed under WORMS, only 22 under WORRY. Obedient to one of his favorite maxims ("Cooperate with the Inevitable"), Carnegie thereupon went to work from scratch. He read everything that "philosophers of all ages have said about worry." He read biographies "from Confucius to Churchill." He interviewed everyone from General Omar Bradley to Dorothy Dix. He spent seven years on How to Stop Worrying. "Let me warn you," says he, "you won't find anything new in it, but. . . you and I don't need to be told anything new. We already know enough to lead perfect lives . . . The purpose of this book is to . . . kick you in the shins . . ." Indeed, Author Carnegie's assault on worry is irresistible.
The book is composed chiefly of worrywarts' case histories. Samples: ¶ Mr. H. J. Englert of Tell City, Ind. got scarlet fever, then nephritis ("a kidney disease"), ran his blood pressure up to 214. Doctors advised him to make sure that his "insurance was all paid up" and then to get dressed for his funeral. After a week's "wallowing in self-pity," Mr. Englert "threw back [his] shoulders, put a smile on." Today, he is not only alive and happy, but his "blood pressure is down."
¶ Miss C. Daley wanted to be a singer, but she had "a large mouth and protruding buckteeth." At her debut "she tried to pull down her upper lip to cover her teeth," got all her trills gummed up. Bawled a friend: "Open your mouth, and the audience will love you!" Today, openmouthed Cass Daley is "a top star in movies and radio. Other comedians are trying to imitate her!"
¶ Earl P. Haney of Winchester, Mass. was forced (by ulcers) "to give up a fine and highly paid position" and expect "a lingering death." He made what Author Carnegie calls a "rare and superb decision"; he set off on a round-the-world jaunt, taking his coffin with him. The undertaker has now bought back the coffin, and Mr. Haney, who stopped worrying en route, has "gained 90 pounds."