How to Win Friends and Influence People How to Win Friends and Influence People How to Win Friends and Influence People is a self-help book written by Dale Carnegie, published in 1936. Over 15 million copies have been sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling books of all time. In 2011, it was number 19 on "Time Magazine"s list of the 100 most influential books. In 1934, Leon Shimkin of the publishing firm Simon & Schuster took one of Carnegie's 14-week courses; afterward, Shimkin persuaded Carnegie to let a stenographer take notes from the course to be revised for publication. The book sold exceptionally well from
How to Win Friends and Influence People of style or form from Carnegie's "path-breaking best seller." Although "How to Win Friends and Influence People" ascended quickly on best-seller lists, the "New York Times" did not review it until February 1937. They offered a balanced criticism arguing that Carnegie indeed offered insightful advice in dealing with people, but that his wisdom was extremely simple and should not overrule the foundation of actual knowledge. The satirical writer Sinclair Lewis waited a year to offer his scathing critique. He described Carnegie's method as teaching people to "smile and bob and pretend to be interested in other people's hobbies precisely so