The Confidence Course

""The confidence Course" is real, not psychobabble. Walter Anderson shares practical, insightful advice based on real-life experience. It touches people -- and it works. It's not the usual 'feel-good' counseling that doesn't last." -- Alexandra Penney

"For those afflicted with self-doubt, "The Confidence Course" is as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel and as sweet as salvation. It shows you how to reach down into your own pain and mine it for the jewels within." -- Andrew Vachss

Based on Walter Anderson's popular course at the New School for Social Research in New York City, "The Confidence Course" teaches you how to make anxiety your ally and overcome crippling self-doubt. In 20 interactive lessons, complete with exercises and real-life examples, renowned storyteller and editor of " Parade magazine," Walter Anderson combines his gift for helping people tell stories with his Marine Corps training and presents a series of lessons that become a way of life.

There are chapters on simple and practical matters like How to Overcome Shyness, How to Handle Mistakes and How to Handle Criticism, as well as larger lessons like Why Am I So Angry?, The Abuse of Love, Believe in Something Big and How to Choose the Life You Want.

Called the Dale Carnegie of our time by " Kirkus Reviews ," Anderson has filled the book with appealing epigrammatic principles and rules to live by." The Confidence Course" will take its place on the bookshelf alongside" How to Win Friends and Influence People."

"The Confidence Course" is a powerful and inspiring book, written with passion and immense strategic sense. It provides a complete guide to a successful life written by someone who knows firsthandwhat it's like to make it from the bottom." -- Sylvia Ann Hewlett, president, National Parenting Association

"Walter Anderson's character and sense of ethics infuse the confidence course with a love like that of a child for its mother. What he has to say is deep and penetrating, not for all seasons but forever." -- Jerry Lewis

"The Confidence Course" is clear, concise and inspiring, filled with meaty material for the mind and heart -- the three-plus pages about giving and taking criticism alone are worth the price. I've already found myself going back to it, even memorizing some parts. It's a book readers will want to give to friends and family, especially young people." -- Dan Rather

"The Confidence Course" offers practical advice on how to embrace your fears and move beyond them. This is a book that will bring happiness into your life and into the lives of those you care for." -- John Gray,

author of " Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus."

"Gifted editor, talented author and superb storyteller Walter Anderson proves in this volume that he is also an inspiring teacher. His course on humanity's defeats and victories ought to be taken by old and young alike."

-- Elie Wiesel

Walter Anderson's wise and practical words will enrich your life and expand your thinking. You must read this fine book. -- Marian Wright Edelman

"The values and ethics so aptly described in The Confidence Course are character traits that will build a better, stronger America. The young people of America are crying out for values and confidence, and this refreshing and candid book is an excellent primer for confidence building." -- General C.C. Krulak, U.S. Marine Corps

"Walter Anderson is thatrare bird who has transcended his own fears and emerged into his fifties with full confidence. A natural philosopher and teacher, and a Marine by training, he is the ideal drill instructor to coach us across the rocky meaning crisis toward the oasis of self-fulfillment." -- Gail Sheehy, author of " New Passages"

"Walter Anderson offers you keys to creative choice in your search for infinite possibilities. " The Confidence Course" helps you discover human values for dynamic living! You will be challenged, changed and ready to go!

-- Dr. Robert Schuller

Walter Anderson has been editor of Parade since June 1980. He is a member of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences, and he serves on the boards of Literacy Volunteers of America, the National Center for Family Literacy, the National Dropout Prevention Fund, Very Special Arts, the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and PBS.

He received a 1994 Hortio Alger Award, for which he was nominated by the late Norman Vincent Peale, and the Jewish National Fund's Tree of Life Award, which he received from Elie Wiesel. He lives in White Plains, New York, with his wife Loretta. They have two children.