HELPING HAND: Author Beth Lisick, columnist and spoken-word performer, journeys through the self-improvement business in her funny new book, 'Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort Zone.' She appears Thursday, Jan. 3, at 7:30pm at Kepler's in Menlo Park.

Send a letter to the editor about this story.