Who’s Got a Secret?

DE gustibus non est disputandum, yeah yeah, but there’s also no disputing that the world is full of fools. How else to explain the phenomenal success of The Secret?

The Secret isn’t much of a secret, but here’s an executive summary in case you’ve missed it. An Australian TV producer named Rhonda Byrne recently began moonlighting as prophetess-in-the-desert. In this more exalted station she made a film and wrote a book, both called The Secret and both claiming to reveal The Secret. The Secret to what? Why, to everything: wealth, health, relationships, happiness, world peace. Want to be a millionaire next month? Consult The Secret. Feel like eating whatever you wish and having 8 percent body fat? It’s in The Secret. Need to re-grow that diseased kidney? The Secret tells you how.

About the Author

Jason Lee Steorts

Jason Lee Steorts is a former managing editor of National Review.

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DE gustibus non est disputandum, yeah yeah, but there’s also no disputing that the world is full of fools. How else to explain the phenomenal success of The Secret?

The Secret isn’t much of a secret, but here’s an executive summary in case you’ve missed it. An Australian TV producer named Rhonda Byrne recently began moonlighting as prophetess-in-the-desert. In this more exalted station she made a film and wrote a book, both called The Secret and both claiming to reveal The Secret. The Secret to what? Why, to everything: wealth, health, relationships, happiness, world peace. Want to be a millionaire next month? Consult The Secret. Feel like eating whatever you wish and having 8 percent body fat? It’s in The Secret. Need to re-grow that diseased kidney? The Secret tells you how.