Michael

Well-written, insightful

Revisado: 04-25-25

I loved listening to this book. It draws parallels between the heavy-drinking writers of the early to mid 1900s (Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Tennessee Williams, etc.) and provides some interesting insight as to the role that alcohol played in their lives. My only puzzlement is: why didn't she include Truman Capote? Yes, he is mentioned but she doesn't give him the same in-depth treatment as the others.

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Much needed

Revisado: 03-08-25

Another fascinating book by one of the foremost thinkers in the world of ufology. We so much need to get beyond our fascination with the hardware and to start looking closely at the occupants of these amazing machines. Who are they, why are they here, and what do they want? We may not be able to figure it all out, at least not at this early phase, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try, because so much is at stake. Whitley's latest takes an important step in that direction. A lot of it is based on speculation, but he backs it up with observations about their physiognomy and behavior. We need more books like this.

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For pre-beginners

Revisado: 12-21-24

This book is vastly overrated (based on the fact it's been around for so long and has gone through multiple editions). It's for people who have never done any writing at all, and they may not even have any ideas, they just know they want to write a screenplay and make a million dollars and be really famous. Well, here's your book. The advice is incredibly banal, with lots of filler. I will definitely be asking for my money back.

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Only goes so far

Revisado: 10-12-24

Must admit I only listened to about half of this. I found all of the examples to be of the same variety--people who experience shame for reasons that are really no fault of their own, i.e., feeling ashamed about not getting over your grief quickly enough, shame about trauma, shame about not meeting unrealistic expectations of yourself, etc. I'm not trying to dismiss the experience of people who feel shame for such reasons. This book might be a good resource for you if you do. But what about people who have actually done bad things--parents who have neglected or maybe even mistreated their children, alcoholics and drug users whose addictions have left a wake of carnage, people who have betrayed friends and/or family members, people who have committed crimes, etc. What about them/us? How do we begin to address the shame we feel over our behavior? This book doesn't venture into these ethically ambiguous topics, at least not as far as I read, and not from what I could tell from the table of contents. These are really challenging issues, and I think it would be great if somebody wrote a book that helps people who are struggling to come to terms with objectively inappropriate behavior from the past.

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Major Rejection

Revisado: 09-29-24

A memorable book of short stories. Parts of it were difficult for me to listen to, so it's not a book where I got lost in the rapture. But I think it captures the sensibilities of the author's generation, much in the same way that Edith Wharton and Franz Kafka did. These are stories of people who've been deeply impacted by rejection, disappointment, and alienation, which are unfortunately the realities faced by many young people today. More than just short stories, they are like mini-biographies that tell you how the person came to be the way they are.

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Inside scoops

Revisado: 09-15-24

There was a lot of hype around this book and I was really looking forward to it because I thought it was going to tell us what the govt knows. But I had to adjust my expectations once the book got underway. Elizondo doesn't say very much about the phenomenon that we don't already know, aside from interesting speculations about the technology that propels the craft. This is mostly an exposé that makes an undeniable case that the govt knows much more about UFOs than it's letting on, from an insider's perspective. It's a personal story that shows how one person was profoundly affected by the code of secrecy that surrounds this topic on Capitol Hill, and his involvement in AATIP. The fact that he narrates the story itself makes it that much more personable.

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A bit too fast

Revisado: 05-19-24

This starts with an intro by Dr. Andrew Weil, which gives the rationale for energetic therapies and medicine. That part was great. But the rest of the book consists of exercises led by Dr. Ann Marie Chiasson. The problem I had with it is that she goes through the directions quickly and then segues into a "workout session" where she coaches you to keep going with music in the background, like a fitness trainer in a cycling class. The directions on how to do the exercises are not at all self-evident, at least they weren't to me, and I had to look them up on youtube to even begin to comprehend what she was saying. If they do another book like this, I suggest that she slows down and spends a little more time in guiding us through the exercises, saying it a couple times in different ways. It's not obvious if you've never done it before!

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Bottom's up

Revisado: 12-21-23

I thought this was a good encapsulation of the evidence we have that materialism is doomed. But I just want to point out an error that the author made when summarizing the philosophy of idealism as espoused today by Bernardo Kastrup. The author correctly said that idealism presents a logical argument against the idea that matter somehow creates consciousness, but Gober didn't get it quite right when he inferred that it's actually the reverse, that consciousness creates matter. That's not what Kastrup is saying. In fact it's much more radical than that. He's saying that matter doesn't exist. There is only consciousness, and what we perceive as matter is a projection of consciousness. I think it's worth pointing out because it comes up a number of times throughout the book.

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Greenland

Revisado: 10-14-23

A great book made even better by the narration. Theo Solomon, the voice talent who reads the book for Audible, should get an Academy Award for the way he slips in and out of different accents and ways of speaking.

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Excellent overview

Revisado: 09-24-23

A blend of theory (or view, as it's called in Buddhism) and practice. There's also a bit of history regarding the Siddhas, but most of it is applicable to practitioners or those curious about starting a practice. If you're already established on the path, this is still worth considering. There are lots of good reminders of goals and pitfalls. Also nice to hear it in the author's voice. He has a very calm, even delivery that's suited to the material.

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