This is an first rate account by Deborah Blum of the emergence of a growing curiosity and serious research project regarding the existence of life after death, the possibility of communication with spirits, as well as the existence of mental telepathy. The parties involved were a group of well respected scientists and psychologists in the US, as well as the UK, in the late nineteenth century who formed the "Physical Research Society." It is hard to arugue with the respectibility of William James and Harvard as well as several other educated and determied participnts. In addition to their quest for knowledge and proof of an afterlife, they also set out to uncover the scam artists who were plentiful at the time. The work went on diligently for years by dedicated, educated people on both sides of the Atlantic, though many of their contemporaries spent a great deal of effort trying to dismiss any interest in this subject matter as pure folly. Those nay sayers and detractors made it their own mission to portray any of the documented findings in a negative and dismissive light.
While the book was dry in places due to the wealth of factual information provided, I found myself unable to put it down.
Guaranteed to make you think and think again about whether or not you will accept the concept of "something else" out there, that we cannot measure or prove the existence of given our tools today.
If you happen to read this book, please feel free to email me for further discussion.
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<![CDATA[Barbara added 'Foreskin's Lament']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18185810
to: Foreskin's Lament (Hardcover)byShalom Auslander
There are not many books I have read that will make me guffaw as much as they will challenge me on my life's philosophies. This book is equally satisfying on both accounts. The humor is first rate and uniquely fresh, while the omnipresent theme of man's/woman's personal relationship to God made me stop and think about my own history on that account. If you consider yourself to be religious in any way or have struggled with whether or not you are, then you need to read this book. And even if you have never found yourself questioning or believing, you will still be much entertained. I look forward to enjoying a great deal more writing by Mr. Auslander.
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<![CDATA[Barbara added 'Can't Wait to Get to Heaven: A Novel']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6282359
to: Can't Wait to Get to Heaven: A Novel (Paperback)byFannie Flagg
I learned that character can be portrayed almost entirely by dialogue, with virtually no description.
I also learned that it is possible for a good read to make you guffaw out loud.
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