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Rating: 
Summary: Here's why this is a good book
Review: After reading a few chapters of this book, I can see now why Geller recommends it so much. It is so balanced and goes over a lot of what both skeptics and believers say and answers a lot of questions that people have about him. It is even better than I expected! Let me list the reasons why this is a very good book that I would recommend.1. First of all, like I said, it presents a balanced objective journalistic view of Geller and presents all the arguments for and against Geller that have been presented in the last 3 decades. Interviews with believers and critics are presented in the book. In fact, about 75 interviews were conducted as part of his research. 2. It is written by a journalist and skeptic who in the past has written articles debunking various paranormal phenomenon including psychics and hauntings. Jonathan Margolis makes it clear to us at the beginning of the book that he is not a paranormalist pretending to be a skeptic by citing articles and investigations he did where he debunked UFO's, fortune tellers, and hauntings. Skeptics, wouldn't you say that a proven skeptic, demonstrated by his past debunking articles, who concludes that there is a good possibility that Geller may have paranormal powers, is a much more remarkable testimony than from someone who is already a paranormalist believer? 3. It goes over what Randi says about Geller and even includes an interview with James Randi. It also discusses what happened on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson back in 1973 and points out something that you guys probably didn't know. When Geller failed the tests on the Carson show, (and Randi never bothered to mention this) there was one incident that was worth noting, which is described on page 262 of the book (UK version). Ricardo Montalban (the guy from the series "Fantasy Island" and who played Khan in Star Trek 2) who was sitting next to Geller on the show, says that the spoon in his hand (Ricardo's) did bend ON ITS OWN while Geller was trying to bend the spoons on the table. In addition, the book also points out that the same controls that Johnny Carson used on Geller that evening were also used on Geller at the SRI tests, but Geller succeeded there and was able to do his feats despite being under the SAME controls. Anyway, there are a lot of other interesting things in the book that you Skeptics probably don't know. I would love to share a lot more things I discovered in this book, but there are too many and it would take way too long. Therefore, I would recommend reading this book yourselves. The book is a real eye opener. It just might make some of you guys rethink your position. A couple of other readers on the amazon.com book review said they started out as hardened skeptics but changed their mind after reading this book. And remember, this book was written by a Skeptic who has debunked paranormal phenomenon in the past, too! Oh and one final thing. The book also lists some magicians who STILL believe in Geller as of 1998. So the skeptics were wrong when they said that pretty much all magicians who believed in Geller have changed their minds. For example, magicians like David Blaine, who is a celebrity magician and a close friend of Leonardo DiCaprio, still believes in Geller and says that Geller was always his childhood idol. Anyway, that's all I'll say for now. The author of this book doesn't conclude that Geller is a proven psychic, but merely states that based on his years of investigation and exhaustive interviews, Geller is not the fraud that people like Randi made him out to be, and that there is a good possibility that Geller may have paranormal powers after all. Thanks, Winston
Rating:
Summary: Here's why this is a good book
Review: After reading a few chapters of this book, I can see now why Geller recommends it so much. It is so balanced and goes over a lot of what both skeptics and believers say and answers a lot of questions that people have about him. It is even better than I expected! Let me list the reasons why this is a very good book that I would recommend. 1. First of all, like I said, it presents a balanced objective journalistic view of Geller and presents all the arguments for and against Geller that have been presented in the last 3 decades. Interviews with believers and critics are presented in the book. In fact, about 75 interviews were conducted as part of his research. 2. It is written by a journalist and skeptic who in the past has written articles debunking various paranormal phenomenon including psychics and hauntings. Jonathan Margolis makes it clear to us at the beginning of the book that he is not a paranormalist pretending to be a skeptic by citing articles and investigations he did where he debunked UFO's, fortune tellers, and hauntings. Skeptics, wouldn't you say that a proven skeptic, demonstrated by his past debunking articles, who concludes that there is a good possibility that Geller may have paranormal powers, is a much more remarkable testimony than from someone who is already a paranormalist believer? 3. It goes over what Randi says about Geller and even includes an interview with James Randi. It also discusses what happened on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson back in 1973 and points out something that you guys probably didn't know. When Geller failed the tests on the Carson show, (and Randi never bothered to mention this) there was one incident that was worth noting, which is described on page 262 of the book (UK version). Ricardo Montalban (the guy from the series "Fantasy Island" and who played Khan in Star Trek 2) who was sitting next to Geller on the show, says that the spoon in his hand (Ricardo's) did bend ON ITS OWN while Geller was trying to bend the spoons on the table. In addition, the book also points out that the same controls that Johnny Carson used on Geller that evening were also used on Geller at the SRI tests, but Geller succeeded there and was able to do his feats despite being under the SAME controls. Anyway, there are a lot of other interesting things in the book that you Skeptics probably don't know. I would love to share a lot more things I discovered in this book, but there are too many and it would take way too long. Therefore, I would recommend reading this book yourselves. The book is a real eye opener. It just might make some of you guys rethink your position. A couple of other readers on the amazon.com book review said they started out as hardened skeptics but changed their mind after reading this book. And remember, this book was written by a Skeptic who has debunked paranormal phenomenon in the past, too! Oh and one final thing. The book also lists some magicians who STILL believe in Geller as of 1998. So the skeptics were wrong when they said that pretty much all magicians who believed in Geller have changed their minds. For example, magicians like David Blaine, who is a celebrity magician and a close friend of Leonardo DiCaprio, still believes in Geller and says that Geller was always his childhood idol. Anyway, that's all I'll say for now. The author of this book doesn't conclude that Geller is a proven psychic, but merely states that based on his years of investigation and exhaustive interviews, Geller is not the fraud that people like Randi made him out to be, and that there is a good possibility that Geller may have paranormal powers after all. Thanks, Winston
Rating: 
Summary: Food for Thought, anyone?
Review: I had no intention whatsoever of reading this book (the title alone nearly kept me from picking it out of the freebie book pile at the office). That said, it proved a very spirited read. I found the reviews critical of Mr. Margolis for not remaining objective off base, considering its a biography, not a JAMA finding. Indeed, the author gives multiple accounts of Gellers failings, including the Tonight Show debacle. At the conclusion of this book, I could not bend cutlery. However,there is a weird addendum: Walking into the subway after finishing this book, a man in front of me dropped a spoon out of his bag onto the steps, whereupon he turned, looked at the spoon, looked at me, shrugged, and walked away. Now THATS what I call coincidnece.
Rating:
Summary: Food for Thought, anyone?
Review: I had no intention whatsoever of reading this book (the title alone nearly kept me from picking it out of the freebie book pile at the office). That said, it proved a very spirited read. I found the reviews critical of Mr. Margolis for not remaining objective off base, considering its a biography, not a JAMA finding. Indeed, the author gives multiple accounts of Gellers failings, including the Tonight Show debacle. At the conclusion of this book, I could not bend cutlery. However,there is a weird addendum: Walking into the subway after finishing this book, a man in front of me dropped a spoon out of his bag onto the steps, whereupon he turned, looked at the spoon, looked at me, shrugged, and walked away. Now THATS what I call coincidnece.
Rating:
Summary: A bunch of wierd fun
Review: I loved this book. It points out that reality is always a bit, or a lot, beyond our attempts to pin it down. Both the hard-core Skeptics and the True Believers should be baffled by this man. Geller is a trickster for sure, but I don't know if that makes him a fake. That's the beauty of this very readable, almost compulsively page-turning book- it pulls the rug out from our tendency to nail down reality with our beliefs- and I think it has the ability to make the hopelessly rational become a bit more open minded, and the hopelessly magical become a bit more skeptical. A tall order, but this book, like Uri Geller, surfs borders.
Rating:
Summary: Equivocal
Review: I want to agree with the Author, but sometimes he's just not clear enough for me. A few people he meets say they can do the same thinf with the spoons; Margolis is impressed. But we're never really told what's the difference between his imitators and the real thing. On the other hand, when you have top-notch magicians saying: "No I wasn't fooled, he's real", it's hard to find a loophole there. All and all, this book will make you scratch your head and say "If only I could see it in person, then I'd really know!"
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating subject and very well researched
Review: Jonathan Margolis a highly credible and competent biographer has completed a sensationally professional piece of work having particularly interesting subject in world-renowned psychic Uri Geller. I was lucky enough to meet both author and subject at a book signing and one of the first points Jonathan brought attention to was that if Uri had managed to fool the world for over two decades he was a more successful man than if he was just using psychic powers that he had been given, either way he is a very special guy. Jonathan takes us through his experiences and does a couple of year's worth of research. He compiles it methodically and without prejudiceAs with Jonathan, I am not utterly convinced by Uri Geller, but I personally have psychic experiences to a small degree and, the evidence offered is very, very compelling, and even if ultimately I'm not totally swayed, it pushed me further in the believing direction on many levels .The book is such a fantastic read and it tells of more than the powers that Uri possesses but also completes the picture giving some insight of his amazing character and enthusiastic nature and how he has achieved his wealth, how he started out, how he likes to spend his time. It flows beautifully along through his life to present day examining with the help of mountains of expert opinions of the various angles to controversial happenings, drawing a logical conclusion from a score of different sources. Uri Geller does not make any efforts to influence the outcome or rubbish the other side, but this but could give credence to his knowledge of the truth of his abilities. I think he is at a stage in his life when he has stopped bothering to try and prove his abilities, which he as done many times over the years under libratory conditions. From what I have read of Uri he as matured into the man who knows him self and he spends his time using his powers to heal and encourage others rather than try to prove to skeptics what he knows about himself I had one of the most entertaining and interesting evenings of my life at the Uri Geller book promotion in the UK December 1998. Things started with Jonathan Margolis who is a journalist for the London Evening Standard and the Guardian and had written Uri's biography and the subject of the book promotion called "Uri Geller Magician or Mystic?" Jonathan basically told us that he had not been particularly interested in Uri, in fact quite the opposite as he was a quite skeptical by nature and did not see the good of spoon bending? It was his son that had brought the subject up of the paranormal expressing a particular interest in Uri, much to the surprise and annoyance of Jonathan as his son David was only 14 at the time in 1996. The subject had escalated between father and son to the point of a challenge been issued from Jonathans son to his father to prove that Uri Geller was a fake. This got the journalist out in Jonathan who set out to damn Uri to his son. At the this time Jonathan was researching a story for the Sunday Times and his son accompanied him to meeting with a millionaire scientist called John Knopp (seemingly a genius at observational physics who sadly died a year later) who was researching a possible electrical cure for cancer, who as chance would have it he actually brought the subject of Uri Geller again with David, expressing the fact that he thought they had physical similarities. It turned out that the scientist was a friend of Uri's, and basically to make the story short he arranged for David to speak to Uri on the phone that lead to Uri offering the whole family around for tea at his mansion. After a rather impressive display of Uri's abilities that day Jonathan became interested in Uri as a subject, and asked if he could write a serious objective biography, hence the book. One statement Jonathan said that I thought was very accurate was that if Uri is a fake, and has fooled the world and its experts for over two decades, he is more successful than if he is just using genuine talents! Then Uri with an audience of maybe 500 people a sell out, signed books and drew a personal picture for any person that wanted one, regardless of you actually buying a book that evening at the book store, e.g. you could just produce your own paper if you wanted ly enjoyed the highly entertaining speech and mini biography, it was one of the most entertaining evenings I can remember and all for the price of £1.50, which no doubt only paid for the premises that evening. My personal impression of Uri was of a very sincere and nice person, and although I am not a total believer I am very intrigued and interested with an open mind and I tend to believe Uri has a talent, maybe he is not sure how he does it?
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating subject and very well researched
Review: Jonathan Margolis a highly credible and competent biographer has completed a sensationally professional piece of work having particularly interesting subject in world-renowned psychic Uri Geller. I was lucky enough to meet both author and subject at a book signing and one of the first points Jonathan brought attention to was that if Uri had managed to fool the world for over two decades he was a more successful man than if he was just using psychic powers that he had been given, either way he is a very special guy. Jonathan takes us through his experiences and does a couple of year's worth of research. He compiles it methodically and without prejudiceAs with Jonathan, I am not utterly convinced by Uri Geller, but I personally have psychic experiences to a small degree and, the evidence offered is very, very compelling, and even if ultimately I'm not totally swayed, it pushed me further in the believing direction on many levels .The book is such a fantastic read and it tells of more than the powers that Uri possesses but also completes the picture giving some insight of his amazing character and enthusiastic nature and how he has achieved his wealth, how he started out, how he likes to spend his time. It flows beautifully along through his life to present day examining with the help of mountains of expert opinions of the various angles to controversial happenings, drawing a logical conclusion from a score of different sources. Uri Geller does not make any efforts to influence the outcome or rubbish the other side, but this but could give credence to his knowledge of the truth of his abilities. I think he is at a stage in his life when he has stopped bothering to try and prove his abilities, which he as done many times over the years under libratory conditions. From what I have read of Uri he as matured into the man who knows him self and he spends his time using his powers to heal and encourage others rather than try to prove to skeptics what he knows about himself I had one of the most entertaining and interesting evenings of my life at the Uri Geller book promotion in the UK December 1998. Things started with Jonathan Margolis who is a journalist for the London Evening Standard and the Guardian and had written Uri's biography and the subject of the book promotion called "Uri Geller Magician or Mystic?" Jonathan basically told us that he had not been particularly interested in Uri, in fact quite the opposite as he was a quite skeptical by nature and did not see the good of spoon bending? It was his son that had brought the subject up of the paranormal expressing a particular interest in Uri, much to the surprise and annoyance of Jonathan as his son David was only 14 at the time in 1996. The subject had escalated between father and son to the point of a challenge been issued from Jonathans son to his father to prove that Uri Geller was a fake. This got the journalist out in Jonathan who set out to damn Uri to his son. At the this time Jonathan was researching a story for the Sunday Times and his son accompanied him to meeting with a millionaire scientist called John Knopp (seemingly a genius at observational physics who sadly died a year later) who was researching a possible electrical cure for cancer, who as chance would have it he actually brought the subject of Uri Geller again with David, expressing the fact that he thought they had physical similarities. It turned out that the scientist was a friend of Uri's, and basically to make the story short he arranged for David to speak to Uri on the phone that lead to Uri offering the whole family around for tea at his mansion. After a rather impressive display of Uri's abilities that day Jonathan became interested in Uri as a subject, and asked if he could write a serious objective biography, hence the book. One statement Jonathan said that I thought was very accurate was that if Uri is a fake, and has fooled the world and its experts for over two decades, he is more successful than if he is just using genuine talents! Then Uri with an audience of maybe 500 people a sell out, signed books and drew a personal picture for any person that wanted one, regardless of you actually buying a book that evening at the book store, e.g. you could just produce your own paper if you wanted ly enjoyed the highly entertaining speech and mini biography, it was one of the most entertaining evenings I can remember and all for the price of £1.50, which no doubt only paid for the premises that evening. My personal impression of Uri was of a very sincere and nice person, and although I am not a total believer I am very intrigued and interested with an open mind and I tend to believe Uri has a talent, maybe he is not sure how he does it?
Rating: 
Summary: Uri Geller and the Easter Bunny: Stranger Than Truth
Review: Margolis' book is just the latest example of the decline in objectivity in journalism. Had he prepared himself by researching his subject before meeting Geller and being "dazzled" by claimed "mystical powers" (like, say, reading "The Truth About Uir Geller" by James Randi) he would have found that every illusion that Geller performs has been used by magicians for years. The only difference between Geller and a stage mentalist is that Geller claims supernatural powers -- putting him squarely in league with televangalists and other charlatans. The JREF Foundation has offered Geller $1 million if he will subject his mystical gifts to scientific analysis. Geller has steadfastly refused -- as has every other psychic. When Geller was invited on to the Tonight Show, he failed every single attempt at a paranormal event. Every one! Why? Because James Randi was invited by Carson to ensure that none of the keys, cylinders, or spoons were tampered with prior to Gellers arrival on stage. Why didn't Margolis mention any of this in his book?
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