Reddit reviews The Art of Worldly Wisdom: A Pocket Oracle

I think you should know better than to assume the Internet is a window into reality rather than a frame into the individual creators mind. People acting wildly get clicks. People being outrageous get attention. Like a car on fire in the street, we are fixated by potential threats. Your own behavior is unfortunately the result of this mediated environment, and it's more unfortunate still that somewhere it is being recorded.

May I suggest a few books?

https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Every-Argument-Abuse/dp/147252912X

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0385421311/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492614126&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=art+of+worldly+wisdom&dpPl=1&dpID=51PYUaO9GdL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0226748421/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492614163&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=anger+mercy+revenge&dpPl=1&dpID=31QLikJ2OGL&ref=plSrch

Give those three a try and let me know when you're finished.

> compared to my expectations of a pocket guide

Ah, if you want pocket Machiavellianism 48 Laws/Concise 48 isn't what you're after, Baltasar Gracian's "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" is.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Worldly-Wisdom-Baltasar-Gracian/dp/0385421311/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416099756