Outwitting the Devil

Written as an interview in which Napoleon Hill, calling himself Mr. Earthbound, questions the Devil, the book tries to explain why some people still fail after following the steps in Think and Grow Rich. Hill examines fear, procrastination, anger and jealousy, the gap between drifters and people with definiteness of purpose, his seven principles, the idea of finding one's other self and what he calls the law of hypnotic rhythm. His wife, Annie Lou, objected to the Devil's role and did not want it published, so the manuscript stayed private for decades and passed through the Napoleon Hill Foundation before Sharon Lechter annotated and edited it for Sterling Publishing.

Sumo founder Noah Kagan named it among his favorites of 2018, saying it is not about manifesting but gives solid advice on making plans and avoiding drift. MaxCDN co-founder David Henzel named it among his top three books in an interview about selling his business.