Dumbing Up

By RACHEL DONADIO
Few thirsts run deeper these days than the one for self-improvement, and few recent books have slaked it better than the ubiquitous bumble-bee-colored titles in the “For Dummies” series. Since it began in 1991 with “DOS for Dummies,” which helped computer neophytes navigate the user-unfriendly program that predated Windows, the series has swelled to more than 1,000 titles and sold more than 150 million copies.

The list of Dummies topics is like a parallel history of contemporary consciousness. Lawn care, Mormonism, golf, women in the Bible, Excel, auto repair. Wedding planning, digital photography, sudoku, bathroom remodeling, senior dogs, Chinese cooking. Fighting spam, TiVo, Nascar, Catholicism, yoga with weights, Sarbanes-Oxley and living with Hepatitis C, not to mention forensics, ballet, adoption, overcoming anxiety, gluten-free living, kittens, baking, eBay timesaving techniques, knitting, C. S. Lewis and Narnia, teaching kids to spell, and even sex (explained by no less than Dr. Ruth Westheimer).

“We have what we call a hit list — that would be unpublished topics — as long or longer than our actual list,” said Diane Steele, the publisher of the Dummies series. “Our challenge has never been ‘Is there anything left to publish on?’ ” Instead, it’s what to publish next. “It’s a very rare thing when someone suggests something we don’t already have on the list.” John Wiley & Sons, which bought the Dummies brand in 2001, cranks out 200 new Dummies titles a year. At that rate, there may soon be more Dummies books out there than dummies to read them.

Pitched middle- to lowbrow, the books all adhere to the same format: goofy chapter headings, bullet points, tips and lists, leavened with a laugh track of cornball, sitcom humor. Although Dummies titles have been translated into more than a dozen languages — an original French title, “L’Histoire de France Pour Les Nuls,” has sold more than 125,000 copies — there’s something profoundly American about the enterprise. Amiable and nonthreatening, the books are informed less by populist anti-intellectualism than by a bedrock belief that knowledge is democratic, that you too can master things — especially by ignoring those highfalutin experts who make you feel inadequate.

The series originated in California in the late 80’s. Dan Gookin, a technology writer and radio host, had the idea for a practical guide to DOS, with its constant “Abort, Retry, Fail” error messages. After being turned down by several publishers, he sold what became “DOS for Dummies” to IDG Books, a start-up subsidiary of the technology publisher IDG. The guiding idea was that “people don’t want to learn computers or love computers, they just want to get the answer to that one question and then get on with their lives,” Gookin said by telephone from his home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. There’s some debate about who first came up with the “For Dummies” name. “Success has many fathers,” said John Kilcullen, a founder of IDG Books who’s now president of the VNU Music and Literary Group. “Everyone has their own fine recollection.” (In 1976, a one-off book, “Auto Repair for Dummies,” appeared; IDG later bought the rights.) The first print run of “DOS for Dummies,” a cautious 7,500 copies, trailed the latest edition of DOS by a long six months. At first, Waldenbooks, then one of the top bookstore chains, declined to stock it. “They hated the color, garish yellow; they hated the title and thought it would insult their customers; and we were late,” Kilcullen said. Then word of mouth took hold. Around the 15th printing, Gookin said, the publisher “realized the sucker was just not going to stop.”

David Pogue, now a technology columnist for The New York Times, wrote the second title in the series, which also did well. “I bought a house on ‘Macs for Dummies,’ ” he said. “We call it the house that Dummies built.” (Pogue was also a co-author of “Opera for Dummies.”) Technology and personal finance books remain the Dummies top sellers — the different editions of “Windows for Dummies” have sold more than 10 million copies combined — while the No. 1 consumer title is “Personal Finance for Dummies,” by Eric Tyson, who has also written Dummies books about investing, mutual funds and mortgages.

Sometimes the Dummies editors approach authors, but to avoid opening the floodgates they now deal exclusively with literary agents. Authors are given an advance — some reported getting $12,000, others $40,000 — and royalties. The editorial team, based in Indian-apolis, gives authors a kind of “Dummies for Dummies” manual and a computer template. “Copy editors do the line editing and Dummifying,” Steele said. “It’s a word we use to talk about how to make text comply with our style guide.” The approach is strict. “We address the reader as you — you can, next you do this — we don’t talk about we,” she said. “We try to be funny, or at least lighthearted.” Furthermore, Steele said: “We don’t use future tense, we don’t use passive voice, we don’t have long chapters. A 26-page chapter is getting pretty long.”

The rest can be read at NY Times.

Anyone who would make the effort to purchase one of those books and educate themselves on the topic, rather than simply buying a new device or having the service done by others is a person to admire.

I have, however, perused a few of them and I don't believe that a person without any mechanical aptitude or basic knowledge of machines is going to repair a dishwasher or rewire the electric lines inside a house via the use of such a book. But, it's certainly valuable information for a beginner.

Over the years I have purchased a handful of the "Dummies" books and I agree they are, for the most part, intro level. Titles such as "Webmastering for Dummies" and "Microsoft Office 2000 9 in 1 for Dummies" are the more recent. Neither of them provided me what much of what I was seeking. In a similar vein, I purchased "How To Keep Your Volkswagon Alive" by John Muir. This is a book that throws in the joke times with suggested beer breaks, etc. As I have made my way through certain sections for tasks with my '77 VW Type 2 it has proven a valuable tool. It makes me laugh how someone, with a sense of humor, can lighten so many moments I have faced when dealing with both maintenance and repair issues. I guess the difference between the two types of reference manuals is the first is for "Dummies" and the latter claims, "A Manual of Step By Step Procedures fo the Compleat [sp per cover] Idiot" After all, I wouldn't want to read a book intended for incomplete idiots . . .
Steve

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Steve
'87 300TD - 132K - Soon 4-Sale
'84 300D Turbo - 122K - Driving
'77 VW Type II - 77K - Restored
'08 250EX Ninja
English Bulldog (Brier) - My best friend. Passed away 12/02/04 while in my arms.

If "How to keep you Volkswagen alive" by John Muir, is the first non-official dummies book, then I own one.
I no longer have the '74 Super Beetle (Danny Conaway of Alabama rear-ended it while drunk and tried to flee the scene. I hope he has herpes now, and that the sores in his mouth are so bad he can't speak for weeks.)

Do they actually have a dummies for dummies book? Sometimes I could use a little help when it comes to dealing with nincompoops - since shooting them isn't legal (yet).

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

I have bought a few of them. I like them because they are intro level, if you are educating yourself in a new area start with the basics, which these books provide. After that move on to the more advanced stuff.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Shooting for dummies

Damn!

I was shooting for Brain's argument that the average person is a moron and decided the sales figures and popularity of books with the phrase "... for Dummies," support his thesis.

Oh well, gottafind my evidence elsewhere.

Bot

Shot down!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200