Rating: 
Summary: Get It and Judge for Yourself
Review: Anyone who arrives at this site should do himself or herself the favor of ordering this book and forming an independent judgment. In particular, be wary of today's dogmatic "skeptics," so desperate to discredit anything that might disclose a flaw in their rigid worldview. Be from Missouri (the "Show Me" state), read the book, and weigh the evidence first-hand.The remarkable thing here is the author's credentials. Schwartz (whom I don't know personally) was a Harvard Ph.D. hired by Yale, who spent many years on the Yale faculty. Normally, if you come out of a Harvard Ph.D. program and are hired by Yale, you represent the crème de la crème of your profession. Schwartz was someone destined to spend his career in the top reaches of Ivy League academe. The only reason he ended up at Arizona is his love for the American Southwest (and who wouldn't prefer the climate of Tucson to that of New Haven?). He is well-established in his profession, the author of 400 peer-reviewed articles, an academic at the top of his game. The man clearly knows how to design a sound scientific study, and he applies every iota of his expertise to this project. Part of the drama of the narrative is the story of his progressive refinement of his experimental design--in effect, making it harder and harder for the mediums to gain cues from the "sitters" by reducing verbal and other interaction to near-zero--even though the results of his initial set of experiments are already quite persuasive. It's not a case of a professor gone nutty, but of a guy who stumbles on phenomena that seem to flatly contradict the secular worldview, and who chases the truth down like a bloodhound, using every scientific resource at his disposal. Notably, Schwartz had the full backing of his university authorities in these experiments, a strong sign that professional colleagues around him do not perceive that he has gone off his rocker. In fact, one can only admire the courage and intellectual honesty it must have taken to win approval for this project and undertake it. While the book is written in a popular style (though hardly "carnival barker"), its appendices include the full texts of the scholarly articles that came out of the experiments. So if your true passion is histograms and p-values, there's also plenty here to satiate your cravings...
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating Book
Review: Dr Schwartz's efforts to prove survival of bodily death by testing well known mediums makes for fascinating reading. Whether or not the "deceased" provide information we are interested in or not is totally irrelevant, if they are communicating, they exist. The fact that so many debunking organizations have attacked this book probably means the author has made great progress in his efforts to prove survival of consciousness. I do wish Dr. Schwartz had addressed the possibilty that the information the mediums received during readings could have been from some other paranormal source, that's the only reason I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5.
Rating:
Summary: Schwartz Has Now Debunked Both CSICOP and Ray Hyman !
Review: In an issue like this (that is, the question of our own survival after death), it is easy to take strong stands, either for or against it. The research program of Mr. Schwartz may have flaws. Perhaps even many flaws! But I would like to call the readers' attention (readers who have already read the book, and readers who may still read it) to some interesting information that may easily pass unnoticed. CSICOP in their magazine "Skeptical Inquirer" has recently (January 2003) "totally debunked" this book in a review of it made by Mr. Ray Hyman, who is certainly their most skilled fellow for questions of methodological analysis of parapsychological research. What readers should know (and also read) is that Mr. Schwartz has answered this review, and that a link to this answer is available on the internet at his site (openmindsciences.com). He put Hyman's text and answered it item by item. I found Schwartz reply very convincing, informative, and consistent. Also, there is an interesting site called "Debunking the Debunkers" (accessible through a link at the site survivalscience.org) where we can get to know a lot about the skeptics' many many flaws and their often questionable tactics (CSICOP, James Randi, Ray Hyman, Susan Blackmore, and the list goes on...). At this site, there is an interesting and highly informative "exchange of emails" between James Randi and Gary Schwartz. I must say that not only does Schwartz outwit Hyman in methodological issues, he also utterly wipes out Randi's criticism! I am not saying that we can trust Mr. Schwartz. I am not saying that his conclusions are sound. What I am saying is that he is a man whose work and research we should pay very close attention to, for he surely knows what he is doing, and it seems that he is getting interesting results. Julio Cesar de Siqueira Barros
Biologist.
Rating: 
Summary: Total Bunk
Review: Schwartz goes to great and expensive lengths to demonstrate "illusory correlation." Illusory correlation is already well understood, so why does he do this? Considering all the facts, the simplest explanation is one of the following:
1: Gary Schwartz, Phd, has never heard of illusory correlation and so must have cheated his way through his psychology courses or
2: Gary Schwartz is a con man, colluding with the likes of John Edward to con innocent people who have suffered tragedy in their lives. You decide.
Rating:
Summary: Save your $$, Save Your Time!
Review: The premise is fascinating--proving that human personality continues after physical death. The author proves that yes, mediums can contact "something" that survives. But there, his questions end. This book is a turgid, wretchedly organized, constantly repetitious account of how he and his associates set up their equally repetitious experiments. Much false drama over the academic vitriol he's sure to suffer--but never does, of course. Then, FINALLY, the double-blind mediums begin tuning in. Their countless hits from beyond are clearly evidential, yes! But the resulting transcripts are as intellectually stimulating as conversations between strangers, overheard on a bus. "They'e telling me about a poodle named Fifi." "Yes, we had a poodle named Fifi." "The spirit's taking her false teeth in and out, and she's not supposed to." "Yes, my aunt Edna had false teeth." Just ONCE, you'd like to take these departed spirits by their discarnate throats and make them tell us something meaningful about the world beyond! Don't they grow new teeth over there? Will they reincarnate? Which religious system is most accurately predictive? Have they learned anything, deepened their understanding in ANY way? Any Top Ten Tips they have to teach us, the living? And now that they've got eternal Heaven (apparently) on their hands, what in Hell do they plan to do with it? Not ONE of the answers is even hinted at. From all the "evidence" presented here, the Afterlife is like a non-stop family reunion on a rainy Sunday in Kansas. Give me terminal oblivion any day! This book begins with the author's countless neurotic anxieties about daring to investigate the subject, and ends with appendices, bar charts, and other academic sludge--all to overcome his evident terror at climbing out on an academic limb. All in all, a MAJOR disappointment!
Rating:
Summary: A gamble that paid off
Review: It is interesting to have a "right brained" skeptical scientist conduct these experiments with these mediums. He looks at the evidence objectively, and this evidence is quite compelling. Personally, this book did nothing to enhance my beliefs of an afterlife, as what I "know" inside myself is the strongest proof of all. I didn't need to read this book to confirm an afterlife. I read it to confirm my suspicions about these specific mediums (mainly John Edward)...that they are indeed the real deal. It is true that the experiments could've been much harder on the mediums, but no matter how controlled and rigorous an experiment is, you could never dismiss their ability to read the minds of the subjects if they actually can talk to the deceased. And are skeptics actually going to admit that mind-reading is actually a possibility in order to debunk mediumship? This book is the best out there on this subject. If you're struggling to grasp the concept of life after death, this book may give you further insight into the possibility of it. But there is so much more to understand, spiritually, and how the "other side" works. Only your spiritual growth will determine what you understand and when.
Rating:
Summary: Filled with flaws
Review: This book is filled with flaws. It is unfortunate that a professor would write such a flawed book.
Rating:
Summary: This book is only for unscientific ...
Review: This book would be a funny joke if it were not for the fact that too many confuse this book with scientific research. This book is not scientific and its numerous research flaws have been documented by many other scientists and scientific organizations.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting book, but completely debunked by critics
Review: This book is interesting, but as much as I'd like to believe the conclusions there are very serious flaws in the research methods. I did a little exploration online, and found the bookit has been thoroughly debunked in a number of places. An excellent summary can be found at the website for the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (csicop.org). A typical quote from that article is: "(Schwartz) writes, 'Skeptics who claim that this is some kind of fraud the mediums are working on us have nonetheless been unable to point out any error in our experimental technique to account for the results' . . . These statements perplex me greatly. I have carefully itemized not one but several 'fundamental' flaws in Schwartz's afterlife experiments. . . I also brought them up again at the panel on cold reading that he convened. The other members of the panel also pointed to flaws. And Wiseman and O'Keeffe pointed to serious problems with Schwartz's first two published studies in the areas of judging bias, control group biases, and sensory leakage." I strongly suggest that anyone interested in the book read these criticisms before making the purchase. I give the book two stars instead of just one because it's easy to read and the author is at least trying to use the tools of science, but I'm being generous.
Rating:
Summary: This is a must Read
Review: I feel this is a must read book for anyone skeptical about the afterlife. I was a skeptic up until I lost a son ... at age 15. But that has all changed, and I know now there are real mediums out there that are able to prove their abilities, and this book shows that. Now this doesn't mean we can be careless in believing everyone, but the afterlife is true. Ruth Baker
North Carolina
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