Growing Up Psychic: From Skeptic to Believer [Paperback]

Michael Bodine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2010

This gripping memoir chronicles the hair-raising and hilarious moments in Michael Bodine’s haunted life. It includes amazing true stories—a dangerous ghost friend with a hidden agenda, the hodgepodge of psychics who gathered in his mother’s kitchen, ghost hunting misadventures, spirit messages, possession—along with an inspiring account of his successful battle against chemical dependency as he learned to accept his unusual gift. 

Praise:
“Fans of based-in-reality psychic family TV drama Medium, or anyone who wished Running With Scissors had more ghosts, will be gratified with this memoir from professional psychic Bodine.”—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Growing Up Psychic is not a how-to book about developing psychic ability, but it does show that the ability, once recognized and accepted as natural, can be a part of everyday life and become a valuable service that can aid others.”—NEW AGE RETAILER 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of based-in-reality psychic family TV drama Medium, or anyone who wished Running With Scissors had more ghosts, will be gratified with this memoir from professional psychic Bodine, who grew up with a psychic mom and sister in a house full of spirits. Happily, the paranormal isn't Bodine's primary focus; among relatively few instances of psychic phenomenon, Bodine's account is an absorbing family drama featuring a mother suddenly enraptured with the beyond; a wealthy father who leaves his wife and four children; Bodine's own pre-teen descent into drugs and alcohol; and, ultimately, personal redemption and fulfillment. Most striking is Bodine's sense of loneliness and abandonment; he makes it seem almost natural when he embraces a friendship with Jerry, a dead boy who chooses to be Bodine's spirit guide, but who reads like an increasingly malevolent imaginary friend. Still, Bodine's narrative can meander, and occasionally skips over important-seeming events without explanation ("My therapist tried to have sex with me which completely freaked me out so I stopped seeing him"). Though it won't turn any skeptics into believers, Bodine's tale should capture the imagination of the open-minded. END

About the Author

Michael Bodine (Minnesota/Los Angeles) is a professional psychic whose clients include many celebrities.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1 edition (February 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738719617
• ISBN-13: 978-0738719610
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Biography of an unusual coming-of-age, to put it mildly!, February 24, 2010

By 

Happy Reader (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Growing Up Psychic: From Skeptic to Believer (Paperback)

This is an autobiography with no bombast whatsoever. It can be very funny (1) and very sad (2). But most of all, it is very interesting. Without histrionics, Michael states how his normal upper-class family discovered that most of them had psychic abilities. Reactions varied, from enthusiasm to denial to disgust (his father left the family when a salt shaker moved across the table without aid). To let you know where I'm coming from, I believe in extrasensory abilities of many kinds, but I frankly don't believe everyone has them or can learn them, and I have no touchy-feely reverence for psychic abilities. They are abilities, period, like being able to sink a 3-pointer under pressure or understand quantum mechanics with one hand tied behind your back.

And as Michael points out, there aren't just fake psychics, there are real psychics who endanger their abilities when they start to believe their own press and let the ego take over.

That said, I ended this book believing that Michael and his sister, Echo, just may be the real thing (I've never met them or employed them). The book isn't a tell-all about his Hollywood customers, its a story of how he nearly destroyed himself discovering what he wanted to be when he grew up, and the persons, dead and alive, who helped and hindered him along the way. I really enjoyed it, and found it immensely informative about the psychic mileau (yes, psychics get together and help, teach, support just like any other occupation), of which I've never been a part. I've already bought a 2nd copy of the book to give as a gift, and am considering who else would be openminded enough to enjoy this look at an unusual life.

(1) Good storytelling, such as when his Mom first introduces him to a powerful psychic. His Mom told Michael how the first time SHE met the psychic, the psychic knew what she was thinking. So the 10 year old Michael is determined to not think anything stupid when he meets this woman. Turns out she's homely and he ends up (I'm paraphrasing) repeating to himself under his breath, "Don't think about a sea hag, don't think about a sea hag." To his embarassment, the psychic leans over to whisper in his ear, "A sea hag has more teeth!"

(2) Michael's form of denial results in trying to drown everything psychic out. He is an alcoholic by the time he's 13 and spends his teen years in a fog of drugs.

Very highly recommended. If I made this sound like a heavy tale, I didn't mean too. It is engaging and fast-paced.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book, May 20, 2010

By 

L. Pietruszewski (St. Paul Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Growing Up Psychic: From Skeptic to Believer (Paperback)

I loved this book. Wasn't sure what to expect as I already read books written by Echo (Michael's sister). I have had the pleasure of meeting Echo and now I can't wait to meet Michael. I loved to laugh while reading books and so this was fun to read. Very interesting to read about the same story with a different point of view. Thank you so much for sharing your story and at the same time teaching me new tools to share with others. Take care and keep up the great work.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most Believable Book on the Subject of Psychics Ever, March 2, 2010

By 

Carolyn I. Erickson "cerickson3" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Growing Up Psychic: From Skeptic to Believer (Paperback)

This book could just have easily been named: I Was Psychic Before it was Cool and It's Not All About Knowing What The Lottery Ticket Number Will Be. If you are interested in learning about ghostly phenomena and natural psychic ability, and who isn't on some level, you have to weed through a lot of conflicting material from experts. I became interested after I lost my mother. I wish this book had been available. I guess no one has all the answers. Refreshingly, Mr. Bodine admits this freely and does not purport to have the answers; but he has some real insight and presents this in a way that makes it hard to put that book down. It is personal and often hilarious, but most important, credible. The biggest surprise for me was how this world dovetails so nicely with spirituality. An epic yet realistic journey through the life of a gifted psychic. So well worth the read!