Humanities & Social Sciences
The Gospel of Prosperity
Literary and critical perspectives about the science of getting right quick
by Luis Miguel Estrada
In 2020, amidst the whirlwind of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ideas from books about the science of becoming a millionaire returned to Luis Miguel Estrada whom, since he left a financial job, has dedicated himself fully to literature. In this book, he thinks some of the key questions raised by bestsellers from Napoleon Hill to Kiyosaki. Do we stop seeking money just because we pursue art? More importantly: regardless of what we do, how do we seek money? Why have narratives like positive thinking and the law of attraction become a universal language that gains strength during each economic crisis? Is there a link between bestsellers about the science of getting rich and great universal literature? This book attempts to answer these questions, beginning with the origins of books on becoming a millionaire, which delve into the agile 19th-century United States, transition through the fast-paced turn of the century, and explode in the years after the Great Depression. The journey continues with examples of wild successes (real-life fraudsters like Elizabeth Holmes or fictional criminals like Walter White from Breaking Bad) that prompt us to question the influence of success-at-any-cost ideas on popular culture, as well as their ethical limits. How can one reconcile readings, cultural products, and experiences that seem so distant? The broader reading audience responds more to "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill than to "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. Is there a way to read them alongside each other and emerge renewed from the experience? This book invites you on that adventure.
