Customer Reviews

Do You See What I See?: Lasers and Love, ESP and the CIA, and the Meaning of Life

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I have been a student and a contributor to the field of parapsychology for the last 35 years. And, it is with good authority that I highly recommend all of the books by Russell Targ -- for two simple reasons. First, Russell Targ is a very clear thinker. He expresses his thoughts easily and with great clarity (and wit!). Second, and I believe of even greater importance, Russell Targ is one of the most experienced and successful parapsychology researchers of the last fifty years. He writes from the perspective of an insider's insider. And, I regard all that he has to say to be of great importance to anyone trying to understand this very tricky field.

In addition -- and this is particularly relevant to Do You See What I See? -- Russell, himself, has been on a path of personal transformation. This book is especially lucid in terms of integrating modern, scientific ideas with thought from Hindu and Buddhist teachings.

Because it is autobiographical, this is the most wide-ranging of all of Targ's books. It is also the most personal. For anyone interested in the human story behind the career of a great parapsychology researcher (not to mention laser physicist), this book is a must read.

Even though I first met Russell Targ nearly three decades ago, and having been active in the field,there were still things to be learned. This book is full of details that will delight the reader. In addition to the historical perspective of remote viewing, Targ manages to provide a personal perspective about what brought him to the field, the family relationships that give depth, and an understanding of what it all means in a global, even spiritual, context. If you think you've heard it all before; well you haven't.

As the reader learns, Targ is a very complex man, one who has followed a multiplicity of trails. While he is legally blind and a self-confessed "Mr. Magoo,", he really does ride a motorcycle efficiently. Though best known for studying consciousness, he is also a laser physicist. Somewhat surprisingly, those, and many other aspects of his life, are adroitly intertwined in a way that makes sense, but only after the disparate pieces are assembled.

This is the latests of several books he has written. They are clear, concise, and complelling. Do You See What I See? is highly recommended for both consciousness aficionados and those novice-curious.

Russell Targ is a man of great talent who has contributed to physics, 21st Century technologies, and ground breaking psychic phenomena. In addition, he has enormous skill in writing a fascinating account of much of his life in all these areas. From Targ's early years in Chicago to his many years in New York and California, the reader remains fascinated by a life that is most unique, described with a flowing literary style. From his work in laser physics to his even more astounding work in psychic phenomena, the reader is compelled to just keep reading. Who would have thought that his former neighbor, a world famous magician, was working for the CIA for some rather devious purposes while Targ, also supported by the CIA, was using remote viewing to locate secret Russian facilities.

Then there are very personal discussions relating to Bobby Fisher, Targ's brother in-Law. The memoirs have a most unusual ending discussing the burial of Bobby in Iceland in which Targ played an important role.

As a person deeply involved with Buddhist thinking, Targ describes how he has developed a philosophy leading to an enviable peaceful and fulfilling life. His book should be interesting to just about any sophisticated reader.

Robert J. von Gutfeld
New York, New York

I expected this book to deal more with the author's work than it did. His very interesting work life was glossed over and the book mainly delt with his personal life, which I did not find that interesting. So if you what to know what Russell did, read one of his other works. If you want to know about his life, read this one. Overall, I was very disappointed with this story.

This Book:

The reference to Zelig in the book's description is apropos, and I was glad to find it wasn't marketing bull manure. There are lots of great stories here from a guy at the top of his game, and really nothing with which you could take issue. Targ's not selling any ideas here that you have to buy; the research and evidence from his career are presented in other publications.

For me, "Do You See What I See?" was a fabulous book with many surprises. Not the least of which were these two, paraphrasing from Targ's writing: 1.) You're not your business card or personal story, and 2.) he believes that our species has evolved as far as it's going to, and now our business is about consciousness. To have seen a man who used to be all about military RV write such a thing is cause for pause and reflection. Although Targ wasn't an enlisted man, the massive organizations for which he worked literally wear their jobs and ranks in full view on their sleeves.

There are also pleasant, personal anecdotes from Targ's earliest life, while he grew-up marinated in the environment of famous authors who worked with his publishing father. He drops thoughtful, funny and surprising one-liners with some regularity. Probably my favorite was, "Indeed, at this stage of my life, I am much more interested in questioning answers, than my previous specialty of answering questions." Having been afflicted with that attitude most of my life, his writing feels like that of a kindred soul.

The style of this book is rambling, through Targ's stream of awareness. Since eidetic memory isn't one of my skills, I'll go back and revisit the sections which spoke to me. This is obviously not a textbook so one shouldn't expect it read like one. There are many sections which I found touching or amusing, especially Chapter 14. If you'd enjoy "sitting by a master" and hearing them hold forth about real life experience, with real mistakes and triumphs, this would be a lovely read for you. Although I do get the feeling Targ would deflect the label "master."

My Introduction to Targ:

What interested me about Russell Targ's work is *who* he is, because that has informed and directed his now legendary work. Targ is one of the men who initiated the remote viewing (RV) programs for the U.S. military. The RV programs eventually led to colorful or dark fictions like those contained in the movies, The Men Who Stare at Goats or Suspect Zero. So this book has been my pleasant introduction to Targ's compendium of personal and professional experience. Happily but unexpectedly, I had found myself on a June Sunday standing next to Targ in a sparsely-populated conference hallway of an organization he co-founded, the International Remote Viewing Association. He and Paul Elder (Eyes of an Angel) were examining and photographing a drawing Paul made of an object Targ uses for RV.

I was interested in asking Targ a question about a project on which I'm working; to my pleasant surprise he invited me to sit with him at lunch. Targ was polite, direct and had droll humor in conversation. He even asked my opinion of one of IRVA's seemingly failed presenters. If you've co-founded the organization at which the presentation takes place, you're allowed that latitude. I hadn't seen the presentation, so I had the good fortune to answer that I couldn't have an opinion about it.

I asked Targ why he got into remote viewing and was simply interested in what intrigues him. In the years I've known one of Targ's beloved friends, Stephan A. Schwartz, I hadn't delved into Targ's now legendary work because I didn't always agree with the uses to which the work was put. So I intended this published bio to be my first look at what Targ thinks about himself and his work.

If you didn't catch the interview for the book, Russell Targ appeared on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory on the night of May 7-8 2008. If you are a Streamlink member you can hear it archived in its completeness; and at least for a limited time, catch a few hours of a interview with R.T. and Art Bell in the Classic Show archive section from 1999.

The books in said to include How-To methods for Remote Viewing, philosophical insights, as well as humorous anecdotes. However, here on Amazon the book is said to be released on May 23, 2008.

Also check out RT's webpages at espresearch.com.

I found this book by Russell Targ to be an interesting and entertaining read on two levels. It is an entertaining autobiography in a historical sense because of Mr. Targ's family's connection to the history of Europe during WWII, his father's influence in the publishing world, his participation in the development of the laser, his family connection to the genius chess master Bobby Fisher, and his involvement in the psychic spying and Remote Viewing programs sponsored by the CIA made famous by the recent film "Men Who Stare at Goats" with George Clooney.

This book, however, goes beyond being an interesting story because the narration is infused with Mr. Targ's keen sense of humor and a good amount of scientific, psychological, and spiritual insight. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and I would consider it to be required reading for anyone aware of and interested in Mr. Targ's work. I would also recommend this book to anyone interested in the history and development of Remote Viewing.

This story covers in an autobiographical manner a contemporary of mine who has accomplished many things in science....lasers, remote viewing, psi....There are a few things I knew about people that I did not know about...He is instructive as well as entertaining...A bit of a scientific background might be helpful as he courses from the physical to the non-physical world...

Make no mistake, this is a personal memoir. You will not find out much about remote viewing, or Uri Geller, or any of the other secret stuff that went on at SRI, but you will gain some insight into the mind of Russell Targ.

Targ rambles, jumps about in time, a bit like listening to a favourite grandpa.

The problem is, Targ's life was so involved with secrets - mentioned in passing, referred to obliquely - that the reader is left with a feeling of dissatisfaction. The book does not live up to its cover.

Still, and all, he seems a lovely man.

Excellent book on the memiors on the man who began experiments on Lasers,remote viewing. It really peaked my interest as my late father worked at NASA when the 1st laser was being built. After a few beers he talked about great things, in the making, in Arizona/New Mexico area. Of course all the things he mentioned have come to pass but it makes me wonder what else he knew that is mentioned in the book by Russell Targ? I read another book by him and it teased my mind as well.

Gale