Customer Reviews

Small Mediums At Large: The True Tales of a Family of Psychics

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I knew I was going to dig this book; call it "intuition"! As a fan of anything leading edge- and trust me the world hasn't even scratched the surface of multi dimensional reality- I was hoping this book would give glimpses of things that I haven't yet been able to view first hand. I was not dissapointed ; I loved feeling just like I was right beside the author as she gives the reader a tour of her experiences. The psychic eccentric early family dynamics that gave birth to the current life are hysterical and poignant.I enjoyed seeing firsthand what certain pockets of experience were like in the sixties and seventies in NY city, downtown and on the Upper west side,in psychic dens, tarot readers lairs and spiritualists meetings. Most people will be left with with their mouths agape over some of the events that take place in the spiritualist community- objects that materialize out of thin air and are delivered via a horn!
The author is very sincere and open, revealing personal heartaches and doubts, the pain of being so receptive and wildly spiritually adventurous- LSD trips notwithstanding. Imagine having no filters to the despair that surrounds you at times- i.e. catching the eye of a man on the subway and seeing a mental picture of a murdered woman in a hotel room- knowing that he was the killer ,reading the headlines the next day confirming the story ...
We also get a whole lot of the authors organic journey and the maturation of herself into a bona fide psychic reader separate from the family shadow , cast from the Jupiterian Wizard that is her famous older brother... Really nothing is held back or hedged, it's rare to find this kind of honesty in a life tale; revealed in nuanced details. I just couldn't put the book down once I began, and that's always the highest praise.

I am 3/4 done with this book, and I haven't finished it yet, but I wanted to write this review. It's about Terry's childhood, and then her life on her own, out in the big world. She goes to New York, gets jobs, gets roommates........and it continues about her discovering herself and her world and her relationship to her family members. It gets a little bogged down at times because it seems like she's having a hard time growing up and being on her own, and you just want her to get on with it.

There are some things in this book that caught me off guard a little. It got a little kinky and weird at times, but it is about her life and experiences, so you have to go with it to continue with the story. Like I said, I haven't finished it yet, but I am anxious to get back to it. She is a good story teller and is brutally honest. That's all I ask for in a good book. She has the guts to tell her story, because she doesn't always look good in the situations she finds herself in. She doesn't always make the right decisions!

So, At 3/4 done reading this book, I give it 5 stars because it has held my interest.

This book was impossible to put down. I loved it! I recommend that anyone with an interest in paranormal read this book.

Baby boomer Ask the Psychic Cosmo Girl columnist Terry Iacuzzo writes an intriguing second insightful biography that showcases growing up in Buffalo and beyond as an adult as part of a fortune telling family of seers. The acclaimed psychic provides a complete picture including non-paranormal relationships as much as the otherworldly séances and visions. Whether you believe or not, this is a terrific bio that showcases a family that dared to be different yet had dysfunctional elements such as a fortune telling matriarch who could work the other side but was unable to nurture her children. Most interesting is the teenage Terry who used her powers to gain social acceptance in high school. The 1950s through 1970s dialogues are fascinating especially the supernatural claims even if a doubting Thomasina questions recall during the drug haze of the Nixon era. Still this remains a superb engaging memoir of a complex convoluted family where the incredible is accepted as the norm, but the norm is questionable at best.

Harriet Klausner

This is a truly wonderful book, an amazingly personal, open, and honest look at the life and family of an extremely gifted psychic. The author, the youngest of 3 psychic children born to psychic parents, traces the influences of her family and friends on her attempts to claim and assert her independence and self determination. She pulls no punches; this is a sometimes painful telling of her lifetime search for understanding and truth. The book is almost impossible to put down and engages you from the first page -- I read it in one extended sitting and was very sorry to see it end.

I am typically not a fan of autobiographies, however Ms. Iacuzzo's story immediately pulled me in. At each page I found myself wanting to know more and more about her and found it very difficult to put down. Her voice definitely speaks through the text with an honesty and vulnerability that is refreshing and enlightening. Her life experiences coupled with her rare gifts reveal a fascinating existence...this is a story that definitely needed to be shared.

This is a fascinating, honest and, at times, bizarre account of psychic, Terry Iacuzzo's life. I could not put this book down --jaw-dropping accounts of psychic experiences and seances as well as descriptions of Terry's personal odyssey of drug use, sexual experimentation, assorted oddball friends -- some like protective angels to her, others very destructive.

The parts that were most difficult are the descriptions of her cold, undemonstrative parents and her excruciatingly cruel treatment by her brother, Frank Andrews and his lover, Jay. I found it mind-boggling that a brother could treat his sister so shabbily -- stealing $2,000 from her, forcing her to work to live in an unfurnished/unheated apartment, assigning her to the basement to live, not allowing her to be at home during the hours of 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Infuriating and incomprehensible that she would allow that kind of treatment!

I recommend the book to all who are interested in psychic phenomena, however - it is highly readable.

It takes true courage to expose your personal psychological vulnerabilites to the world. Iacuzzo does that, possibily in an attempt to debunk any 'better-thans' around being psychic. People are people no matter what 'talents', innate or otherwise, they come into the world with and Iacuzzo seems to go out of her way to show us some of the personal hazzards that go with her particular growth path. The lack of self esteem; inability to create boundaries; constant need for approval and love, are just a few of the 'drivers' that propel her through her early adulthood. Now throw in the drug culture of the sixties and some wildly dysfunctional family members and her story begins to take on mythic proportion for all of us who survived those wild and crazy times. Throughout it all emerges a woman who is trying to keep her heart open and her mind discerning. Someone who is trying to understand her 'talent' w h i l e building a healthy 'self'. No small task when you can see behind the curtain.

If you are the type that does not believe in psychic ability, then you won't like this book. If you are like me and know it exists, then this book is a very interesting read. I couldn't put it down, wanting to know what happens next. There is a lot of talk about homosexuality and while I'd like to think that everyone would have no problem reading about it, the truth of the matter is that some people are uncomfortable for whatever reason so be forewarned. Terry talks about her whole life from what her parents were like when they grew up to how she is now. There is talk of her finding herself and learning who she is as well as examples of her and her family's psychic ability. I wish I had that amount of psychic ability myself although it must be hard to have others thoughts and feelings bombarding you day in and day out. I am very glad I found this book.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. A major page-turner, very emotional and engaging. Appreciated it so much that (since the author no longer does readings), I contacted her sister, who's also psychic, and had a reading done. Those predictions have yet to transpire, but should soon. Get this book. PS. to prior reviewers - I believe the message from the author is some things are meant to be. We have a past, and, perhaps, a future. She claims her family has been here before, together. Part of knowing about everything is knowing about everything.