Rating: 
Summary: A Grain (Make That A Ton) Of Salt
Review: As with other books and videos I would prefer to give this material no stars. Since Amazon requires some grade, I give it the lowest one possible for the following reasons.1: Many if not most of the so called near death experiences occured while the subject were under the influence of illegal drugs or under medication in a hospital. Since the brain is sensitive to such, one must be skeptical. 2: Doctor Rommer interviewed atheists and folks of all faiths, Catholics included who died and came back to life and yet not once recorded any affirmation or denial of the rites and rituals of those faiths. Atheists were reported to have been given no direction to join a church. Catholics did not learn if recieving the Sacraments was right or wrong. Jews were not told that keeping kosher or going to synagogue was needed for salvation. I say the problem is not with the subjects but with Doctor Rommer who has a problem with organized religion, doctrine, and dogma and perhaps thinks in good conscience such is not needed for salvation. 3: The most profound spiritual change in these resurrected folks is a greater increase in philanthropy and charity. Well enough but with out personal growth in God by way of study, prayer, and ritual I doubt one can attain salvation. Sanctity as taught by the Catholic Church is not attainable on acts of charity alone. 4: Many of those who died and came back returned without substantial changes in their personalities. One woman even came back advocating euthanasisa and mercy killing of the elderly and cripples! I cannot believe the so called spiritual beings she saw in death advocated a genocide in the name of charity! This book has made me more skeptical of near death experiences than before I read it. Of course with anything of this nature one must always take it with a grain (make that a ton) of salt! Thus so I do not believe the so called near death experiences as reported by Doctor Rommer were real.
Rating: 
Summary: Comments from a near-death researcher with over 23 yrs exp.
Review: Barbara Rommer's book is quite extraordinary. Aside from the usual cases of heavenly abodes, angels, and cities of light, she dares to reveal more about those who have unpleasant or hellish near-death episodes. And she talks indepth about the people who experience this and their fears about what they went through. Near-death experiences are not religious experiences, nor do they reflect religious doctrines, per se. They are moments of "otherworldly" awareness that happen most often on the edge of death and to both children and adults. When we speak of near-death experiences, we're really talking about a complex dynamic that is not easily understood or explained. But true it is in the sense that this phenomenon happens to about 1/3 of those adults who face death, nearly die, or who are clinically dead but later revive or are resuscitated. With children, the figure is closer to 70%. Average length of time without vital signs is from 5 to 20 minutes. Not only are near-death experiences important because of the venue in which they occur, but because of the pattern of psychological and physiological aftereffects that tends to increase with time. Also, in many of these episodes, information is revealed or witnessed that could not have been known by the experiencer beforehand. The medical reality of near-death states can no longer be denied. That's why physicians, like Dr. Rommer, are finally speaking out. That Dr. Rommer focuses on the unpleasant aspects is critically important to our understanding of these states. I only wish that her publisher would have allowed her to carry more of her actual research findings and methodology in this book. Rather, they wanted to keep the text simple for the average reader. I think this is a mistake. "Average" readers are more intelligent than publishers think and are quite capable of evaluating and understanding good research. I have been speaking out about unpleasant near-death experiences since my beginnings in the field of near-death studies, and mostly to deaf ears. Now, finally, hellish and/or unpleasant experiences are receiving the attention and study they deserve, and without judgment or rancor. I congratulate Barbara Rommer for her courage in speaking out. And I hope she does more. If we only hear what we want to hear about this important phenomenon, we are robbing ourselves of a vast treasure-trove of material that very well could describe not only an "afterlife" - but the rich complexities of human consciousness and of our ability to change and grow, to transform.
Rating: 
Summary: should be more critical
Review: Blessing In Disguise relates many patient accounts but in only a portion of these was clinical death recorded or reported to the reader. Many cases are used where patients were only under heavy medication or anesthesia this is not the proper study of NDE's since halucinations are too common. The book also overwhelmingly interprets patient accounts in terms of the paranormal such as astral planes, astral projection and mediums etc.. The book also seeks to see the reported NDE's in a theoretical model that is opinion. I am well read on this subject and have carefully interviewed people who told me of their NDE's. Though the book received positive reviews from other writers The reader should rely on more scientific, critical works such as Dr. Morse's CLOSER TO THE LIGHT. The book was not proof read well since there are a number of typographical errors.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book
Review: I happen to know Dr. Barbara Rommer. I was also one of the many people whom she interviewed for this book. This book delves into the near death experience in a way no other book has ever done. It covers the near death experience that was less than perfect. It explains the less than perfect NDE's in a way that anyone can understand. If you have ever heard Dr. Rommer speak about her book as I have several times you would absolutley want to read this book. I am actually one of the subjects listed in the book. If you fear death, read this book. Dr Rommer has been featured on many television programs such as Montel Williams. Many of you will be surprised to know that Dr. Rommer died a few weeks ago in February 2004. Thank God that the legacy of this book continues.
Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK
Review: I happen to know Dr. Barbara Rommer. I was also one of the many people whom she interviewed for this book. This book delves into the near death experience in a way no other book has ever done. It covers the near death experience that was less than perfect. It explains the less than perfect NDE's in a way that anyone can understand. If you have ever heard Dr. Rommer speak about her book as I have several times you would absolutley want to read this book. I am actually one of the subjects listed in the book. If you fear death, read this book. Dr Rommer has been featured on many television programs such as Montel Williams. Many of you will be surprised to know that Dr. Rommer died a few weeks ago in February 2004. Thank God that the legacy of this book continues.
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Summary: Facinating book!
Review: In her book, Dr. Barbara Rommer shares with readers Another Side of the Near - Death Experience, i.e. the "less-than-Positive" experiences. This thought provoking book speaks through the words of the experiences themselves to those often frightening or unsettling experiences that have taken them on their journeys to the brink of death. Often for them, we find in the pages of this book their experiences, through unpleasant, become the entrance to positive and meaningful changes in their lives. The ten chapters in this book take the reader from a revisit with peaceful near-death experiences to some conclusions, which is titled "A Plea to the Medical Community". In between, we find well-documented chapters, which deal with, and overview of Less Than Positive Experiences. While Dr. Rommer, like many of us, cannot absolutely say that there is an afterlife, she is able to present anecdotal evidence of the probability of the continuity of life beyond bodily death. In the book, Dr. Rommer has interviewed over 300 patients and shares their experiences in their own words. As explained in the book, she has experienced first hand how often her patients, who fear the dying process, are really fearful of what happens after dying and therefore sometime fail to live life to the fullest. Therefore she, in this book, fulfills her goal "to allay people's fears by reporting the experiences of those who had died and been resuscitated". In this book you will not only find the convictions of experiences shared in openness and with honesty, but you will also find the convictions of the author openly shared regarding her life's journey of her own soul's spiritual transformation. I found the book extremely informative of her research and extremely thought provoking on the question most people ask about life and death. It makes you stop and think about each and every day we live and how we must strive to make the very most of every moment. Worth reading and re-reading.
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Summary: Cowards Die Many Times
Review: Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar "Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once." That said suffice it to say I have literally died at least twice in the hospital, and not in any time did I experience what the folks in this book went through. Fact is, each time it was just like going to sleep and waking up again. As a devout Catholic I keep trying to ready my soul for death and in want of inspiration and encouragement like to read books like this. However I found this book most discouraging, disheartening, and anything but reassuring. I am content to be a Catholic and am very disappointed that Barbara Rommer did not write anything about the afterlife that would verify or contradict the teachings of Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam or any of the other religions. In want of inspiration I'll stick with the saints!
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Summary: Dubious Blessings
Review: There are hundreds of books on the subject of Near Death Experience (or NDE). Most of them are filled with positive experiences such as meeting loved ones, angels, and beautiful landscapes. I bought this book because it covered the darker aspects of NDE, which Rommer calls LTP (or Less Than Positive) experiences. One statement made in the book stands out very clearly. If you expect hellfire and brimstone, that's what you're going to get.There were a wide variety of individual accounts, some of them typical of the NDE. But she also covers those who have misinterpreted their experiences as bad. Such as those who had relived all the horrible aspects of their lives before being resucitated. Those she labeled Type II LTPs. The type IIIs, I found disturbing. Many of these people suffered from depression and/or drug abuse of varying degrees, or they were brought up to believe that their soul would go to Hell for all the sins they committed during their lifetime. Some of these people had attempted suicide, either overtly or covertly. Every account was distinctly different from the next, but every one of these people were given the same message. They could face up to their misgivings or misperceptions and change their own destinies. Many of them have.Blessing in Disguise is the most informative book I've read on Near Death Experiences. It isn't clinical or watered-down, like some of the books by Moody and Ring. Another good book is "Beyond the Darkness, My Near-Death Journey to the Edge of Hell and Back," by Angie Fenimore.
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Summary: The Best in the Field
Review: There are hundreds of books on the subject of Near Death Experience (or NDE). Most of them are filled with positive experiences such as meeting loved ones, angels, and beautiful landscapes. I bought this book because it covered the darker aspects of NDE, which Rommer calls LTP (or Less Than Positive) experiences. One statement made in the book stands out very clearly. If you expect hellfire and brimstone, that's what you're going to get.There were a wide variety of individual accounts, some of them typical of the NDE. But she also covers those who have misinterpreted their experiences as bad. Such as those who had relived all the horrible aspects of their lives before being resucitated. Those she labeled Type II LTPs. The type IIIs, I found disturbing. Many of these people suffered from depression and/or drug abuse of varying degrees, or they were brought up to believe that their soul would go to Hell for all the sins they committed during their lifetime. Some of these people had attempted suicide, either overtly or covertly. Every account was distinctly different from the next, but every one of these people were given the same message. They could face up to their misgivings or misperceptions and change their own destinies. Many of them have.Blessing in Disguise is the most informative book I've read on Near Death Experiences. It isn't clinical or watered-down, like some of the books by Moody and Ring. Another good book is "Beyond the Darkness, My Near-Death Journey to the Edge of Hell and Back," by Angie Fenimore.
Rating:
Summary: Among the Best NDE books
Review: There have been a number of good books on the near-death experience over the past 25 years, but this one must certainly rank among the very best. It is different from most in that the focus is on what Dr. Rommer calls "less-than-positive" (LTP) NDEs. Most of the NDE books detail the blissful or "heavenly" type experience. Accounts of the LTP experience have not been as readily available, apparently because people who have had them have been reluctant to tell others about their "hellish" experiences. However, Dr. Rommer has managed to interview a number of such LTP experiencers. She finds that such experiences, while often frightening, are usually transforming and therefore "blessings in disguise." A large percentage of LTP experiencers "awaken" to their past transgressions and to the need to straighten out their lives by embarking on a spiritual path. There are numerous interesting accounts by experiencers. While the focus is on the LTP, there are enough positive experiences to offer the reader some bliss to go along with the unpleasant and more than balance the negative. There are some very interesting philosophies related by some experiencers. Dr. Rommer approaches the subject with scientific objectivity, but fortunately, for the reader, she lacks the willful blindness and intellectual arrogance of the avowed skeptic.
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