Barbara Ehrenreich may be best known for taking on the world of the modern low-wage worker in Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, but in her new book she looks at a cultural phenomenon with deep roots in American history: the cult of positive thinking. Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America is an in-depth look at the rarely-discussed downside of looking on the bright side. Ehrenreich notes that positive thinking functions as a form of social control and a way to blame the victim, something she first noticed during her own experience with breast cancer and then traced back to the country's foundation--and right up to the collapse of the economy. Less