The Truth About Uri Geller
by James Randi
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Book Summary Information
Author: James RandiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1982-01
ISBN: 0879751991
Number of pages: 275
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Book Reviews of The Truth About Uri Geller
Book Review: Many One Stars from Uri Geller and Friends
Summary: 5 Stars
It's always interesting to analyze the patterns involving timing, word selection, writing style, and (of course) ANONYMITY that accompanies many (or most) reviews that try either to entirely praise a given book (or movie, etc.) or completely criticize another one.
Here, for instance, are just some of the patterns involving the 35 previously submitted reviews of James Randi's The Truth About Uri Geller -- which were submitted between 2 Feb 1997 and 29 Aug 2005:
On being ANONYMOUS:
1) 1-Star -- 9 of 10 (90%)
2) 2-Star -- There were none.
3) 3-Star -- 1 of 3 (33%)
4) 4-Star -- 3 of 3 (100%)
5) 5-Star -- 4 of 19 (21%)
On Timing of Submission:
1) 8 of the 10 (80%) 1-Star reviews were submitted between 2 Aug 1998 and 3 Sep 2000.
2) 7 of the 10 (70%) 1-Star reviews were submitted between 2 Aug 1998 and 8 Feb 1999.
On Word Selection and Writing Style:
The 1-Star reviews overwhelmingly revert to either ad hominem verbal attacks against Randi or flat-out putdowns of his book -- rather than attempting to "prove" Geller's abilities or disprove Randi's findings. Examples include, "[the book is] a joke," "useless and ridiculous," "[Randi is] a SAD SAD man," "a BITTER and AWFUL book," "unreadable," "RANDI IS A JEALOUS NASTY UNHAPPY MAN," "narrow-mindedness, "The book is claptrap," and "Appalling".
When reading the 1-Star (lowest possible at Amazon) reviews, I was impressed by the remarkable similarity in writing style and tone that most of them displayed.
CONCLUSION:
I would venture that Uri Geller wrote between 7-9 of the 9 ANONYMOUS 1-Star reviews -- in an early effort to dissuade Amazon customers from buying or reading this book. This is not an unknown phenomenon at Amazon: case in point is a movie entitled "H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds," which was apparently timed for DVD release and sale (Jun 2005) just as Spielberg's WOTW was hitting (or soon to hit) the movie theaters. Several very credible Amazon reviewers noted the amazing similarity of the large number and percentage of POSITIVE reviews for this poorly produced movie -- speculating that the backers of this "rip-off" movie were simply trying to counterbalance the overwheming negative reviews of the DVD. If you have the time, check it out -- as it makes for some interesting reading.
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