From Publishers Weekly
"Scoffing at the paranormal seemed perfectly normal," writes British journalist, biographer (Cleese Encounters, etc.) and one-time skeptic Margolis. But his own conversion experienceAa private demonstration of Geller's reputed spoon-bending and mind-reading powersAassuaged his doubts about Geller's psychic abilities and the paranormal in general. After compelling opening chapters on the Geller family's departure from Europe during WWII and Geller's Israeli childhood, Margolis becomes an advocate, even for some of the stranger claims made on Geller's behalf: of a high school knack for never missing a shot in basketball, of an ability to teleport metal objects and himself, of intelligence work and undocumented high-level meetings with diplomats and even President Carter. Margolis does raise some questions, particularly about long-time Geller associate Andrija Puharich, a scientist and paranormal researcher. But even after establishing Puharich's paranoia and occasional deceptions, he refuses to dismiss his theories of alien contact. Similarly, Margolis insists that occasional "cheating" (use of sleight-of-hand rather than of psychic power) to get through off-days does not undermine Geller's claims to authenticity. It may take a conversion experience on the order of Margolis's for die-hard skeptics to relent, but others will find Margolis's account one of the best yet to appear on Geller. Still, it is difficult to suspend disbelief when Margolis grows as grandiose (even if his tongue is a bit in his cheek) as the flamboyant Geller himself: "if it should turn out in the future that Uri was, indeed, a Jesus figure, I should be a little surprised, but delighted. It will have meant, for one thing, that I have accidentally written the New Testament." (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Geller has attracted considerable attentionAand inspired considerable skepticismAbecause of his evident abilities to bend metal, read minds, and find things. In his authorized biography of Geller, Margolis, a European contributor to Time and the author of biographies like Cleese Encounters, sets out to discover whether Geller is a magician performing through sleight of hand and misdirection or genuinely a man of mysticism and paranormal powers. He thoroughly traces Geller's lifeAfrom his birth in Budapest, through childhood in Israel, to his adulthood (all over the world)Aand draws on interviews with prominent magicians, illusionists, and skeptics to assess Geller's feats. In the final chapter, Margolis comes to some conclusions but offers nothing decisive about the source of Geller's powers. Engagingly written, this book will be a popular addition to public library collections. Geller's own Mind Medicine is another matter. According to Andrew Weil (who wrote the book's foreword), this is the work of a man who has moved beyond performing feats of psychic wonder to become a mature and thoughtful healer. In this compendium of history, psychology, exercises, and self-help advice, Geller argues that anyone can use the power of his or her mind to cure illnesses and psychoses. He provides many interesting and effective exercises to discipline the mind and harness its healing powers, but much of what he says about alternative therapies is dubious, if not mistaken. And while his suggested exercises are helpful, he breaks no new ground here. Other books, such as Rudolph Ballentine's Radical Healing (LJ 1/99), provide more challenging information and suggestions for combining alternative therapies with conventional medicine. Recommended with reservations for collections on meditation and alternative healing.AGail Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology Lib., Cortland
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
by Uri Geller
