WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE

(San Francisco): (Parachute), 1971. First printing. Near fine.. True first edition, self-published by Bolles, of one of the most successful business and self-help books ever. An Episcopal minister who originally developed the techniques and advice in this book to help his congregates after their parish was closed in the late 1960s, Bolles expanded those ideas into this copy-shop edition, which he marketed and sold himself. His efforts were successful enough for a second revised edition that followed later that same year before the book was picked up by Ten Speed Press. Since then, PARACHUTE has not been out-of-print and has spawned a series of related titles. With more than ten million copies sold, and chosen by TIME magazine as one of the best nonfiction books of all time, WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? remains not only one of the most popular business and self-help books of all time, but one of the most influential as well. Indeed many of Bolles's core strategies underpin the success of professional social media sites like LinkedIn, and the book was named by the Library of Congress as one of the 25 books that have most shaped readers' lives. OCLC does not find this first edition (and located only 3 of the revised). A rare example of the birth of this classic. 11'' x 8.5''. Original comb-bound salmon-pink printed wrappers. Photo offset throughout. 116, xlvi pages. Date stamp "Mar 19 1971" and two small penned notations to front cover. Label-maker titled attached to comb spine with clear tape (as issued?). A few underlinings to the text. Else bright, clean, sound, and sharp overall, with comb entirely intact.