Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-223) and index.

On being a poseur : early capitalists on why writing business letters takes longer than reading them does -- Dodging the great failure army : Orison Swett Marden on the strange power of finding something nice to say -- Party tips for the nouveau riche : Etiquette and the importance of asking questions -- On near universal self-absorption : How to win friends and influence people by recognizing what navel-gazers people are -- The master mind : Napoleon Hill on the proper use of friendship -- Checking yourself at the door : What Brooks brothers and midcentury handwringing over bland conformity reveal about personal style -- When it's not just about you : Helen Gurley Brown on having one's underwear forcibly removed -- Interlude : why most everything from the 1970s doesn't help -- Self-deprecation : the art of humble beginnings stories -- On defense : the dark heart of The 7 habits of highly effective people -- The uses of "no" : Donald Trump and "you're fired".

A practical handbook for a new--and slightly cynical--generation. You've landed the job; now you want to make a good impression, express yourself, excel. Unsure of how to proceed? Aspire to a class greater than the one you were born to? Time to put aside your objections to blatant cries for help. Here, author Hustad dismantles the myths of getting ahead and helps you navigate the choppy waters of office life. Drawing on the experiences of twenty- and thirtysomethings (herself included) as well as fictional strivers from novels, motion pictures and television, she shows us where things tend to go wrong in our pursuit of the great American dream. Then she culls the best advice from a century's worth of "success literature" (the books you'd be too embarrassed to read yourself ) to show how work--and even the idea of professional climbing--can be artfully reimagined.--From publisher description.