<P> How to Win Friends and Influence People became one of the most successful books in American history . It went through 17 print editions in its first year of publishing and sold 250,000 copies in the first three months . The book has sold over 15 million copies worldwide since and annually sells in excess of 100,000 copies . A recent Library of Congress survey ranked Carnegie's volume as the seventh most influential book in American history . </P> <P> The book met widespread popularity, but also stark criticism in many cases . Despite many of the negative comments from his critics, Carnegie's book established a new genre . Carnegie described his book as an "action - book" but the category he created has since become known as the self - help genre . Almost every self - help book since has borrowed some type of style or form from Carnegie's "path - breaking best seller ." </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 that you may screw things out of them ." However, despite the criticism, sales continued to soar and the book was talked about and reviewed as it rapidly became mainstream . </P>

Dale carnegie book how to win friends summary