Jennifer Niesslein, editor of Brain, Child, spent two years reading self-help books and then taking it a step further than most people ever do by following the advice she was reading. The result is her very funny and intelligent new book, Practically Perfect in Every Way. Here's what Jennifer has to say about the process of writing this book:

mamazine: Okay, so the premise of your book--reading and actually following the advice in self-help books for two years is really intriguing. What made you decide to do this?

Jennifer Niesslein: If I can bring the room down for a minute? A few years ago, one of my dogs was dying of a liver disease, and it was my first real day-to-day dealing with mortality. So, as the cliché goes, it got me thinking about my own life, what I was doing with it, what kind of person I am, and all that. It became apparent that there was some room for improvement.

Because of Brain, Child, I get a LOT of self-help sent to me, either in galleys of books or in emails from the experts' P.R. people. And one of the things I started noticing was how dismissive I was of things that I hadn't ever tried. Self-help is a gazillion dollar industry, so clearly some people, somewhere, found expert advice useful in their lives. The moment the project--this far-reaching thing--occurred to me was when I was watching a particular Oprah show. I was befuddled by something she said and I had this vision of myself as a cranky old lady, poo-poo-ing every idea that didn't come from my own head.

I figured that the worst that could happen is that I get some good stories from being a guinea pig. The best could be that I actually wind up with a clean house, a retirement account, a way of dealing with irritations--generally, just becoming a better, happier person. It turned out to be a lot more complicated, though.

mamazine: What was the best advice you came across during this process? The worst?

Jennifer Niesslein: I liked what Martin Seligman, the positive psychologist, had to say about flaws: Don't worry about them, and use your strengths to compensate for them.

And, good God, there are so many ways for advice to be bad! I think seeking to become a better person is a good, noble thing, and I'm pretty sure that most of the experts I used see themselves as helpful guides. That said, I've come to believe that good intentions, willpower, and the "right" expert can't fix all that ails us.

mamazine: You note in the book that as a middle-class married mom, you're the target audience for a huge number of self-help books. Why are we, as a group, such an attractive consumer group for writers--and publishers--of self-help books?

Jennifer Niesslein: I think there probably is some truth to the idea that modern parents are used to consulting experts--and we do that because we want a lot of information before we leap. It seems to me that there aren't many safety nets and, a lot of times, you want to be damn sure what you're doing is vetted. For example, I've been told for years that Social Security won't be around when I'm an old lady, so I'd better work on a retirement fund. Before I started the project, I could no better figure out how to start a retirement fund than I could figure out how to knit a evening gown.

I think women, though, have long been the intended audience for advice books. Self-help, as a genre, is still pretty old-school in that regard, with women in charge of relationships, whether it's a romantic relationship or a parenting one. Things are changing though; women are now being targeted for financial advice (although relationship books for men are still a rare bird.)

mamazine: What's next for you? Any big projects on the horizon right now?

Jennifer Niesslein: I have a tour coming up this summer. It starts in New York on May 22 and ends in mid-July. I haven't travelled much before--I've never seen the Pacific!--so I'm looking forward to that. Also, and I know this will sound self-helpish, I am trying to enjoy the moment. It's a luxury you don't get with a periodical, with the next issue's deadlines hot on your tail.