I'm not sure if the RR board is appropriate for me to be posting this because the Chicken Soup books aren't exactly cultish. However, the more I read about Jack Canfield (one of the founders of the series) and his "specialities" (Law of Attraction/The Secret, self-help, prosperity consciousness, etc.) and who he keeps company with (Bob Proctor, Michael Beckwith, etc.), the more I wonder about these books.
I took a look at the Chicken Soup site and they have new titles coming out all the time, targeting just about every market you could ever think of: Moms, Dads, veterans, golfers, scrapbookers, chocolate lovers, grandmothers, teachers, pet lovers, Latinos, dieters, Christians, Jews, African Americans and teenagers, too (let's get them hooked young!). And if you're dealing with menopause, stress, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, breast cancer or back pain, there's a book just for you. And this is just a partial list!
The problem with self-help, motivational and diet books is that once you become hooked, you're likely to keep coming back for more. If the first self-help or LOA book had worked, you wouldn't need to buy another book or DVD and you wouldn't be signing up for yet another expensive seminar.
They're also taking advantage of the vulnerable. If you're grieving, they've got a book for you. If your life is challenging, they have a book called
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Times, Tough People. I'm all for emphasizing the positive, but when I'm going through a difficult time I don't want syrupy anecdotes. That's not going to fix anything.
Here's a link to an article that appeared in
Scientific American which asks some of the same questions I've been considering about SH in general and about the CS books: