Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

For me, this book hit home the idea that you can lose a potential sale forever just by saying something that doesn't sit right with the prospect in the beginning of the conversation. On page 26 of The War of Art, Steven Pressfield writes: "I once worked as a writer for a big New York ad agency. Our boss used to tell us: Invent a disease. Come up with the disease, he said, and we can sell the cure." That's pretty common marketing speak. Can't think of a good product people need? Invent a problem and offer the solution. Sell it on TV for just $19.95 plus shipping and handling. Operators are standing by. But wait, there's more! Pressfield continues: "Attention Deficit Disorder, Seasonal Affect Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder. These aren't diseases, they're marketing ploys. Doctors didn't discover them, copywriters did. Marketing departments did. Drug companies did." Spoken like someone who did not grow up with ADHD and who has never tried to raise a child with ADHD. For that matter, spoken like someone who knows nothing about chemical imbalances and how they can affect a person's life. Why stop at those disorders? Alcoholism isn't real either! It was invented by the 12-step programs to keep people paying for meetings. Just stop drinking! Lactose intolerance? Bah! I drink milk all the time! Quit your belly-aching and order a damn pizza already! Don't let the Lactaid people tell you what to buy! True, America is over-medicated. People think they can stop their perfectly healthy, yet slightly hyper kids from jumping on the furniture by sticking a few pills in their mouths. But that shouldn't invalidate those of us with very real chemical imbalances that "normal" folks like Steven Pressfield just can't wrap their heads around. So when I read that, after going through hell in all my years of school and never understanding why (because back when I was in school the copywriters, marketing departments, and drug companies hadn't invented ADHD yet), and after 10 years of literally floating from job to job to failed business, until I finally learned about ADHD, what causes it, and how to treat it, Pressfield lost me as a customer. Upon reaching the end of page 26, I put the book down and have had no desire to read on. Call it Resistance if you will, but Resistance has won enough wars that I'm okay with the label.