Customer Reviews

The Naked Quack: Exposing the Many Ways Phony Psychics & Mediums Cheat You!

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I went to Wendy!'s (does she have a last name?) website and saw kudos galore, and a price tag of $550 for a 90-minute in-person or phone session. While I'm assuming she's good, I wouldn't part with that amount of cash based on an assumption. Even so, I'm glad someone wrote this book, because the legion of quacks, cons and pretenders is growing. I attribute some of it to the state of the economy. A girl's gotta eat, right?

There's a new agey saying: "Every woman is psychic." Maybe so, but not every woman (or man) should be reading for others. I wish someone would write a more comprehensive version of this book. One reviewer was right -- this could have been summed up in an article. The publisher looks like some small vanity outfit.

I bought this book because it was written from the perspective of somebody who obviously believes in psychic abilities but doesn't think that most of what we see on psychic TV or in psychic shops really qualifies as psychic abilities worth spending hundreds of dollars on. "Wendy" definitely raises the bar on what you should expect from a psychic.

However, after downplaying the abilities of other psychics, it's ironic that after a little investigation, she doesn't come off looking much better. On her website she charges $600 for a 90-minute phone or in-person session. I seriously doubt even the level of psychic ability that she claims to possess is worth that much.

Oh, and her being president of the "Professional Psychics of America" or whatever she calls it? Well, it's hard NOT to be president when you're the ONLY member. That's right -- either she's the only Level 4 or Level 3 psychic out there, or the other psychics were psychic enough to avoid joining forces with her. I wonder what they know that we don't?

As I was reading The Naked Quack, I got angrier and angrier at myself for wasting thousands and thousands of dollars over the years on phony psychics, some of whom have huge reputations. Every page of Wendy's book showed me how I kept on being tricked by these frauds, while I kept on believing they were awesome! I even listened to the tape recordings of those readings and I was shocked to hear how easily I was getting taken in by the methods Wendy exposes.
What has horrified me even more is when I realized that the techniques in The Naked Quack are being used by three of the
most famous psychics and mediums in the country -- I don't want to name names but you see them on TV every day and night. I
used to admire them and thought they were amazing. Now I know better. It's an absolute crime that these three frauds are fooling millions and millions of people every day!
I'm so angry I could cry. And I'm so embarrassed, because I recommended some of those charlatans I consulted to my friends.
Now I'm going to recommend The Naked Quack to them and hope they forgive me!

After having the privilege of a personal reading with Wendy, I read her book and was absolutely amazed at how many times I have fallen victim to the "quacks" that are plastered all over the internet and even within my home town. Wendy, in her humorous way, takes one through the many ways that the so-called "psychics" demonstrate their "incredible abilities". As you read the book, you begin to see the tactics used to make one "think" that the readings are legitimate. I hate to think of the many times I've been taken. Wendy clearly illustrates these tactics through examples of real readings. I wish I had read this book before the many readings I have had over the years. Save your time, money and a lot of aggravation and read this book before your next reading! By the way, my personal reading with Wendy was the best ever...no wonder she's the Psychic's Psychic...a reading with her is like no other you've had before! She's great!

Work such as this helps to bridge the gap between years of extensive research in fields such as Parapsychology and the closed minded out dated belief that biology has the answers to everything. For example they're starting to wonder if the big bang theory is actually plausible.

Wendy suggests that ESP is scarce, but not impossible and there is 100 years of research to back up this claim. The CIA also came to the same conclusions, psychic ability is scarce but not impossible.

Wendy herself has achieved the reputation she has by performing brilliantly on a regular basis. No other profession is open to so much analysis, cynicism, ridicule or sabotage as this one; and it's a wonder that any genuine psychics have the courage to do what they do at all.

The book is fairly well written, easy to follow, but a little padded and repetitive.

However I think it's fair to say the work is original and fascinating.

My only criticism is that Wendy chose to use such harsh statistics, thru my own research I believe the figure is more like 70% bogus and 30% genuine. There are many psychics that refund people when they can't lock on, others are less honest. For the record I do think Wendy's fee is a little high, but she does have a fair amount of E.S.P! She isn't making this up!

Maybe she could have explored the realm of those that have a slight dash of Extra Sensory Perception, they usually mean well - but just end up out of their depth, to say virtually all psychics are frauds is a little severe.

I've also met very talented mediums who refuse to charge for their work, now surely that's worth noting.

Wendy was brave to write this book, she'll help many!

Time was there was a negative, yet truthful review of this book listed.It had quite a few hits as being helpful.
Unfortunately, it has been removed.
Guess Wendy! couldn't stand the truth.
BUYER BEWARE -- AWFUL BOOK, and so self-serving.
I have read this book, and I tried to rate it NO stars, but that wasn't allowed either. Consequently, I have to rate it 1 star, which is about a dozen more than it deserves.

I would've loved to have this information more succinct & to the point, it would have made a good article...unfortunately the author obviously attempted to stretch it out & pad it, which, in my opinion makes for a frustrating read.

I give it 2 stars because it does contain some useful information, if you can tolerate & get past the author's overstated & condescending writing style.

If you go to psychics, you absolutely must have this book! I've been going to psychics for years and I always thought they were good and I had no idea I was being manipulated and short-changed by them. It's incredible but I actually recognized many of their techniques in the book. I loved the examples of real-life quack readings. Some of them made me laugh and then I realized people fall for them. My favorite part was about how the media helps make quacks famous. I especially liked the story about the quack who hired a detective to find things out about a talk show host. The author makes two very important points. First, that not all quacks are frauds. Many quacks are just not very good psychics and, as she says, "They have no business being in the business." And second, we're all a lot easier to fool than we think. I recommend The Naked Quack very highly. It's filled with important information and it's fun and very easy to read.

As a person who has had a number of psychic readings, I have discovered the various techniques used by less-than-talented psychics first hand. For me, it was interesting to see what I had observed confirmed. I also liked that it was a book that debunked untalented psychics while not debunking psychic phenomena in general. I have, on occasion, had a reading that was right on and not like the scam readings in the book. They have been rare, and the author is right, it is only in comparison to a really good reading that one can truly recognize a vague one and see the strings that hold up the marionet. I think, however, that this book does not have enough content to warrant the cover price or packaging as a book. It is set in a very large font, is slightly repetitive and uses sometimes irrelevant verbiage to pad it out. Still, if there were a way to really know what one is getting before consulting a psychic or if this book helps raise the standard above the fortune teller level then I commend the effort.

I'm a computer professional in my mid-40s, college educated, and have been fascinated by psychics for as long as I can remember. I love listening to them on t.v., radio, and enjoy going to them. My job involves a lot of reading, so the thought of picking up a book to read, in my precious spare time, doesn't thrill me. However, when I stumbled across, "The Naked Quack," I happily found I could quickly and easily read and learn from it. (It is a fast-reading book.)

It taught me how to easily identify fraudulent psychics. I was surprised at the number of techniques that (even who I thought were "real") psychics use! With a primarily middle-age audience, for example, they might say, "I see someone in the audience whose name begins with R-O... R-O-B... who works with...around... computers(!) and has a friend who recently passed away from cancer who wants to say they're ok." Get real - someone going by the name of Bob, Robert, Robert, Robin, etc. would think it's him or her. The odds are good they have something to do with computers and, being middle-aged, it's very likely someone close to that middle-age person died recently. The "friend" could be a family member or a friend and the odds of dying from cancer are great (two of my own family members died from it in the past three years). That's just one type of generality used by so many psychics the book taught me to quickly spot. There are numerous other things they use that I can now identify.

Thanks, Wendy!, for teaching me something fascinating! I love finding easily seeing their smooth, fraudulent techniques now. It's fun!