The Contact Has Begun: The True Story of a Journalist's Encounter with Alien Beings

Book Description

On June 9, 1997, former Los Angeles Times journalist Phillip Krapf found himself whisked aboard an alien spaceship where he spent the next few days being peacefully indoctrinated into a fascinated new world.

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read for the Open-Minded Reader.......2006-04-11

If what is written in this book is true, than this will be one of the most important books you read in your life. I personally believe Phillip Krapf, but that is my personal belief after conducting my own research. Even if you do not believe his story, you can still take away wonderful insights that what is happening in our world is awful and we are on the wrong path as a species if we don't change our ways soon.

The below is directed at the author of the book; Mr. Krapf.

Sir, if you are reading this, thank you for sharing your story. If none of this would have happened, I am sure you would have been very happy to live out your life with a comfortable ease. You were chosen to write this book and I for one listened. Don't ever forget that this was truly a gift to you; even if it does cause great pain at times in your life. You know the truth and have witnessed it first hand. I am sure that many reporters would be willing to endure personal pain in order to get the full truth of a story. You were selected (probably mostly on the fact that you are a VERY skeptical person and a good writer) to begin to tell the greatest story we have ever known. That is a gift and please don't forget that you represent all of us who want to know the truth and want to live in a better world that is at peace.

I fail to understand why most of the world believes in God and the stories of the bible, but yet can't for one moment believe that there are more advanced life forms out there that have far greater scientific knowledge than us and have mastered space travel. And of course any truly advanced species would want peace in the universe. Every modern scientist that I have read and listened to that has broached the subject of "is it possible that there is other life in our universe?" give it a 100% chance. Where there is life, evolution will lead to eventual intelligent life if the circumstances are right. So the question is really, have these other life forms (which are far older than the human race) mastered space travel? Einstein was a brilliant man, but he didn't understand the universe as a whole. He spent his last years trying to come up with a theory of everything which he died without being able to complete. My point is that WE DON'T KNOW IT ALL. History has proven time and time again that what we believe is true isn't always. Just ask Copernicus or Darwin. I hope our species can survive long enough to make contact with these peaceful, helpful and wonderful aliens who want nothing more than to help us obtain peace, share what they know and VASTLY improve all of our lives. Hopefully the people of the world will finally get to hear the truth before the crazy and insane leaders of this world who keep starting wars (which they don't fight in) kill us all. If people would simply use their logic they would quickly understand that any species that has mastered time travel would have no problem easily taking over Earth if that was their intentions. Clearly when it comes to this issue, we as a species just don't want to use logic to approach the subject. Instead we rely on our natural survival instinct which is to expect the worst scenario; no matter how unfounded that fear is. I am a firm believer that your story is true and that it is completely obvious that the alien representatives are here to help our species. They are just waiting for us to start to TRY to get along. But until our species stops bickering like a couple of silly kids, that isn't going to happen.

In the infamous words of Rodney King (the random victim of senseless violence from the Los Angeles Riots of the 90's), "Can't we all just get along?"

Thought Provoking Reading.......2003-08-26

I just finished this book recently and found it very interesting. I couldnt put it down and read it in about 2 hours. But, there is one thing that bothers me. His dates towards the end of the book talk about events to occur in 2003. ..i.e mainly that more famous people will come out of the closet with their abduction story. Its late Agust 2003 and I havent heard anything from any famous person. Is the story credible? WHo knows for sure. I do believe there has been contact made b/w human beings and other intelligent being from other planets, and that there are secret agencies working with them on some projects for the benfit of mankind. Would it be so odd to think that there is someone out there in the universe that apprciates our uniqueness and wants to help us avoid the destructive path we are on?!

There have been and still are massive coverups over many years by the government/military and so called ultra sceret organizations. There are more and more ex-military folks coming forward with undisclosed information. Court documents/cases dont lie...Why the coverups? Probably becuase the government doesnt trust the average person to be able to sanely handle such information without massive fear and panic... something the government themselves is so good at invoking in the public. Thats how they get away with everything... Instill enough fear and people will allow you to take control.

None of us will ever know for sure whats out there until it actually happens. Its a huge wide world/universe out there and our planet earth is such a tiny part of it. Think of it this way, every new technological or scientific advance was at one time thought of as impossible or crazy... Maybe this "open-contact" will be the next new thing for us to swallow!

The Mainstream Meets The Messengers Of Deception.......2002-10-02

This book evokes a lot of the contradictory, even nonsensical, "revelations" that our Space Brothers bestow on contactees, as so ably chronicled by authors like Keel and Vallee.

To cite just one example, Krapf's space honey "Gina" tells him that his sizzling steak is just so much recycled tofu, because the Verdants "don't kill animals." With so many laser cored cattle rectums missng out there in Colorado, one is left wondering just how many alien organizations are out there, besides the Intergalactic Federation. It is interesting that this factoid echoes some of those involved in remote viewing sessions involving the alien "grays" and their involvement with an organization similarly named.

Another interesting parallel is the development of the abduction of the rich and famous, similar to that reported by Budd Hopkins in "Witnessed." Naturally, no names are ever disclosed.

My favorite part of this book is when Gina doffs her space robe and asks "do you want to do it?" At least something here lives up to previously reported alien contact.

SPRING 2002 IS ALMOST HERE----GOT THE TAR & FEATHERS READY?.......2002-01-09

I've been into the study of UFOs and ets since the early 70s. Have several dozen books on the subject. Been to 3 IUFOC conventions. But this is a really hard story to swallow. These Verdants of course, will change their mind and not make contact, probably because of 9-11. In several places Krapf tells how the Verdants are going to give us all this technology. Isn't that unnecessay influencing our natural evolution? I find it extremely hard to believe that any intelligent mobile life form could ever live 20,000 years. No soul would ever want to stay in the same body for that long a period of time. Very fishy that Krapf's wife won't verify any of the story. COL. CORSO, someone I do believe, once said that they didn't have to put out any disinformation, that they would "do it to themselves". This is unfortunate because the mainstream media is never going to take the subject serious, at least in this country, as long as we keep doing it to ourselves. A true story? I think not.

Just not believeable.......2002-01-02

Like one reviewer said; this book is like a 1950's scifi movie. I agree.

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Listen to the Aliens Inside Your Head
Interesting descriptions, fuzzy analysis
Path-breaking; raises fundemental questions
It is a practical book on facts
This is a pratical book

Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens
John E. Mack
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345393007
Release Date: 1995-04-01

Book Description

THE PROVOCATIVE BESTSELLER--THE MOST RIVETING ACCOUNT EVER PUBLISHED ON ALIEN ABDUCTION
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNER
John E. Mack, M.D.
"Fascinating, suggestive, and even inspiring."
--The New York Times Book Review
"A TRANSCENDENT, LANDMARK WORK...An extraordinarily rich and strange mind-expanding book.--Boston Herald
When respected Harvard psychiatrist John E. Mack, M.D., first published these astonishing results of four years of intensive research and investigation into alien abduction, he unleashed a firestorm of controversy. Now, in this paperback edition, Mack answers his critics, both believers and skeptics. Mack focuses on thirteen ordinary Americans (from nearly one hundred case studies) who tell dramatic, inspiring, and remarkably similar stories: repeated visits from large-eyed beings, mysterious machines, telepathy, invasive medical procedures, hours missing from their lives, and startling messages about the future....
"Provocative...This book is a challenge to any reader. It raises questions about how we live on this planet and with each other that the Western mind and culture will not be able to ignore for too much longer. It also raises questions about the nature of reality; of time, space, energy and the true nature of humanness. It opens the door to a very serious redefinition of life as we know it."
--Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Strange and disturbing...Something is powering this rash of abduction claims, making it worth the kind of serious investigation Mack presents here.--San Francisco Chronicle
"A groundbreaking study...Credible and thought-provoking."
--Publishers Weekly
A FEATURED SELECTION OF THE LITERARY GUILD

Customer Reviews:

Listen to the Aliens Inside Your Head.......2007-01-31

The late John E. Mack MD - Havard psychologist and Pulitzer prize winning author, investigates the alien abduction phenomenon by subjecting participants to hypnotic regression. Brilliant intellectual and excellent writer tackles a controversial and sexy topic, but it's oddly not as compelling a read as one might expect. This is largely due to the sheer number of abductions cases chronicled in this book, 13 in all with a full chapter and "discussion" devoted to each; failure to firmly answer the $64,000 question - do you believe these individuals were "really" abducted by aliens; and for those familiar with Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions (who was a life-long close personal friend of John E. Mack MD), a fatal misuse of Kuhn's thesis. The biggest problem is that the sheer number of cases Mack describes in great detail - 13 in all, grows tedious after about the seventh or eighth abduction case. I found myself skimming the last several cases, and forcing myself to read them. While some may relish in their detail and length, and argue Mack is using a quantitative approach to make his case (and I'm not exactly sure what his "case" is), it's overkill and for me became tedious.

The alien abductees come from all walks of life - regular guys and gals to successful entrepreneurs to university professors. The narrative of these abductees is strikingly similar (but with equally confounding dissimilarities). They were abducted several times during their life starting from childhood, medical experiments were performed on them, men had sperm taken from them, females were artificially impregnated and in subsequent abductions an alien-human cross-bred fetus was removed from them. Sometimes "listless" hybrid alien children were given to their mothers to hold. In their last abduction, the aliens - who are "grays" in each of the abduction cases and communicate telepathically, reveal their motives. Their cross-breeding is necessary for intelligent life to exist on earth after a soon to occur cataclysmic event of our own doing destroys the earth's ecosystem. The aliens in each case show a graphic presentation of earth's future. This event - witnessing the devastated earth in the form of an extra-terrestrial PowerPoint presentation (of sorts) is always the most emotional and distressing portion of the abduction experience for the abductees under hypnotic regression. Some literally weep like babies over the fate of the earth and mankind that was shown to them by their alien captors.

Mack believes that SOMETHING happened to these people. He believes that they believe that their expreiences were real. He writes in a style and with word choice that never doubts these accounts but never comes out and declares, "Yes, these people were "really" abducted by aliens". Instead, Mack waxes "swami", suggesting that we Westerners need to expand our minds beyond Western science notions of Space/Time to understand the abduction phenomenon. He asserts that an ontological paradigm shift is required to account for the abductee's experience and the common narrative of our own holocaust they consistently describe. Here, he loses me, as Kuhn - who coined the phrase "paradigm shift" was emphatic that these shifts apply only to hard sciences, not social sciences, and certainly not religious beliefs. Mack floats the notion that there may be a universal intelligence that our species has drifted from and it manifests itself in differing forms and reveals itself to selected people to guide us. Why it choses to communicate so cryptically - via aliens and other religious revelations and paranormal experiences, is beyond our level of understanding.

This all said, as I was into what seemed like the 90th abduction case in this book, employees at O'Hare International Airport claimed a UFO appeared there before bursting through the clouds and disappearing. A few days after this hit the news, scientists moved the infamous "Doomsday Clock" to five minutes before the zero hour due to the increased threat of nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists and unstable states. Politicians and scientists debate humanity's course of action for global warming, now being taken very seriously, save for a few on the fringe.

Perhaps the debate around this book shouldn't be whether these people were "really" abducted by aliens. Instead, maybe, we should listen to the gray's consistent message about a forthcoming ecological calamity of our own doing - and not concern ourselves with the relatively unimportant details like whether these extra-terrestrial abductors actually exist.

Interesting descriptions, fuzzy analysis.......2003-10-16

Harvard psychologist John Mack interviewed more than seventy people who believe that they were abducted by aliens. After using hypnosis and other techniques to draw out victims' memories, he concluded that they were not inventing their stories; they had suffered traumatic experiences, in many cases more than once. Mack also found that their stories were remarkably consistent. The cases he studied may be only the tip of an iceberg; a 1991 survey showed that at least several hundred thousand Americans have had abduction experiences.

Mack argues that abductions force us to reconsider our perception of reality; "no familiar theory or explanation has come even close to accounting for the basic features of the abduction phenomenon." As abductions can not be understood within the framework of Western science, a new scientific paradigm may be necessary. Mack speculates that the aliens may be from other dimensions. At the end, he offers his personal opinion that "abductions have to do with the evolution of consciousness and the collapse of a worldview that has placed humankind at a kind of epicenter of intelligence in a cosmos perceived as largely lifeless and meaningless."

Mack writes that "When we explore phenomena that exist at the margins of accepted reality, old words become imprecise or must be given new meanings." His own words suffer from that problem; many readers will find his analyses vague and fuzzy-minded, particularly when he writes about spirituality. Many of his speculations appear in both his introductory and concluding chapters, an annoying duplication.

Readers may be struck by how closely the X-Files followed the abductees' descriptions of their experiences, including implants and the creation of alien-human hybrids. The warnings delivered to some abductees sound a bit like those in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still, or in the more recent film The Abyss, suggesting that abductees may have been influenced by their own cultural experiences. Nonetheless, something peculiar happened to these people.

Path-breaking; raises fundemental questions.......2003-01-23

You do not need to be convinced by Mack in order to admire his courage: as a Harvard Professor, to take a topic straight from the tabloids and treat it seriously deserves a four-star rating by itself. I am generally open to new ways of perceiving reality, and am willing to ponder the idea that "aliens" (or fellow -earth dwellers, differently dimensioned) are playing tricks with us. My main difficulty lies with using hypnosis as a tool to uncover hidden memories, which lies at the heart of Mack's approach. Hypnosis is just too easy to abuse. It may be the only tool we can think of, currently, to use in this quest, but it just has too many drawbacks to be taken as the sole tool for alien-style research. I think Mack, too, would agree with that.

The 1990s, when this book came out, were a heady time for alien research. Many books on the subject were published, and TVs shows produced. Maybe it was the upcoming millennium, or just an increase in alien visits in the late 80s, but the field was hot. Now, it has cooled off a bit. One wonders when the next alien wave, or `flap,' will hit. But hit it will, and when it does, many will go back to Mack's book for insight. This is recommended, along with Jaques Valle's books.

It is a practical book on facts.......2002-01-03

The author has his feet on the solid ground on what he wrote. Facts are exposed. Conclusions remain open. He has the caution not to believe literally on every aspect obtained by the investigation, subjective but very significant nevertheless alternative explanations are suggested, remaining to the reader the final opinion. The author is a professional senior psychiatrist teacher. The main method of revealing facts here in this book is back-regression by hypnosis, to the time of the events, with the professional know-how not to induce, but to open individuals forgotten experiences. What for me states the quality of this work, and book, is it was done always with the goal of making the life of the persons studied a better one, not just to extract them material for a book or project. The quest to reveal and to solve the inner live problems of the people involved, and then to inform there is something REAL in the alien abduction subject. The book may deep influence some people lives, if the reader get confronted with similarities with one self or close people cases; 5 star indeed.

This is a pratical book.......2001-12-31

The author has his feet on the solid ground on what he wrote. Facts are exposed. Conclusions remain open. There is caution not to believe literally on every aspect obtained by the author investigation, subjective but very significant nevertheless alternative explanations are suggested, remaining to the reader the final opinion. The author is a professional senior psychiatrist teacher, one of the methods of revealing the facts exposed here in this book is back regression by hypnosis to the events, with the professional know how not to induce, but to open subjects forgotten experiences, and what for me states the most quality of this work, and book, always with the goal of making the life of the subjects a better one, not just to extract them material for alien stuff. It is that quest to reveal and to solve the inner live problems of the people, and then to inform there is something REAL in the alien abduction subject. The book may alter some people lives, if the reader get confronted with similarities on other people cases and dramas. 5 star indeed.

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Abduction Human Encounters with Aliens
John E. M.D. Mack
Manufacturer: Charles Scribners Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LAU3VA

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ABDUCTION: HUMAN ENCOUNTERS WITH ALIENS
Mack
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1416575804

Abductions : Human Encounters With Aliens

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Abductions : Human Encounters With Aliens
John Mack
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MVOS82

Close Encounters With Aliens (Unsolved Mysteries (Rosen Publishing Group).)

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Close Encounters With Aliens (Unsolved Mysteries (Rosen Publishing Group).)
Janna Silverstein
Manufacturer: Rosen Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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A Look At the Life of an Amazing Man

The Finest Natural History

John Muir: Outdoorsman, Conservationist, and Literate Genius

inspirational in every way

Lovers of Muir, find your home in this volume!

John Muir : Nature Writings: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth; My First Summer in the Sierra; The Mountains of California; Stickeen; Essays (Library of America)
John Muir
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures

Henry David Thoreau : A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden; Or, Life in the Woods / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod (Library of America)

Meditations of John Muir: Nature's Temple

Henry David Thoreau : Collected Essays and Poems (Library of America)

John Muir: Nature's Visionary

ASIN: 1883011248

Book Description

In a lifetime of exploration, writing, and passionate political activism, John Muir made himself America's most eloquent spokesman for the mystery and majesty of the wilderness, a master of natural description who evoked and celebrated with unique power and intimacy the untrammeled landscapes of Alaska and the American West.

Customer Reviews:

A Look At the Life of an Amazing Man.......2007-05-07

This Autobiography of John Muir was a look at the life of an amazing man. He was the type of writer that could take you to the place where he was living and make you feel like you were right there with him. His childhood experiences in Scotland and the farm life of Wisconsin formed the basis for how he viewed and related to the rest of his life and those around him. He was a world traveler who looked through the eyes of creation to observe ecology and invention. As a world traveler I also observe through the eyes of creation and as a native Californian I have had extensive experience hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada's. John Muir's writing style took me back to the places I have loved and remembered.

The Finest Natural History.......2007-01-04

John Muir was one of the founders of the early 20th century conservation movement and godfather to today's environmentalism. This collection of three books and shorter works demonstrates the reason. Muir's description of the natural world is at times scientific, at others spiritual. Here nature is not some remote thing but the living manifestation of God's love. This is not a religious book as such and yet he finds that all parts of the natural creation from rocks and mountains to trees and animals have inherent within them a life force which makes them precious. Humans are neither removed from nor a "higher" part of nature. Muir shows that we are part of this larger whole - a radical concept when he proposed it and radical still. Muir set the standard in calling for preservation of the natural world. He was a genius as an inventor and scientist and, in addition, is one of our finest writers ever. These collected Nature Writings are simply beautiful and wonderfully presented in this Library of America edition.

John Muir: Outdoorsman, Conservationist, and Literate Genius.......2003-09-15

"American forests! the glory of the world!"
- John Muir, 1901

Of all the extraordinary men and women that have made our nation great, one stands above all others for his dedication to preserving its unequaled natural beauty: John Muir. Founder of The Sierra Club, this lover of the western forests' legacy to our generation is the National Park system, through which millions of acres of unique ecosystems have been set aside for everyone's enjoyment.

"Muir: Nature Writings" is a collection of the writings of this Scottish expatriate who first stepped foot in America in 1849 as an eleven year old brawler and budding naturalist. Blessed with a childhood mastery of Latin and Greek as well as a discerning and disciplined eye, the learned boy possessed a poet's heart, a scientist's mind, and a theologian's soul. A genius, who as a teen whittled precision wooden scientific instruments, Muir used his diverse skills to vividly portray nature's life and death struggles on his family's Wisconsin farm in "My Boyhood & Youth." Here we find Muir learning to swim by observing frogs or recollecting the mindless slaughter of the Earth's most numerous bird, the now-extinct passenger pigeon, a forlorn tale that foreshadows the conservationist he was to become.

While in college polishing his mechanical skills, Muir was detoured into studying botany. Dropping out to make powered tools for factories, an accident left him rethinking that detour; he forsook the factory and walked across America. His journey led him to the Sierra Mountains, chronicled in "My First Summer in the Sierra." Now working as a shepherd, Muir drove his flock through Yosemite while making detailed nature studies. Marveling at the natural beauty of the land he would eventually champion as one of the first National Parks, Muir wrote: "We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us. Our flesh-and-bone tabernacle seems transparent as glass to the beauty about us, as if truly an inseparable part of it, thrilling with the air and trees, streams and rocks, in the waves of the sun, - a part of all nature, neither old nor young, sick nor well, but immortal."

Muir's writings here run the gamut from analytical to thrilling. In "Stickeen", the author and a canine companion cheat death while stranded mid-storm between crevasses of an Alaskan glacier. (A self-taught authority on glaciers, Muir would eventually have one in Alaska bear his name.) "The Mountains of California" is an in-depth look at the geologic formations, plants, and animals of the region. In this piece, he tells of being stuck on the side of volcanic Mt. Shasta, staying warm in the bitter cold by nestling up to steam vents. Muir also laments the loss of the vast meadows of the San Joaquin Valley as he discusses how to make a living post-Gold Rush by raising bees for honey.

What makes Muir so unique when compared with today's environmentalists is this belief that we can live in harmony with Creation if we take simple steps to prevent despoiling it. In "The American Forests" he wrote: "No place is too good for good men, and there is still room.... Every place is made better by them. Let them be as free to pick gold and gems from the hills, to cut and hew, dig and plant, for homes and bread...." Muir's balanced view of Man's place in the wilderness overwhelmingly reflects his Christian faith, for he never fails to stand in awe of each living thing God has made. That our government leaders were so swayed by Muir's writing attests to the power of his "holy" persuasion. All of us are indebted to John Muir's single-minded devotion to America's wilderness.

("Muir: Nature Writings" is part of the Library of America series. This diverse collection of the writings of great Americans ranges from sermons of early American preachers to analysis of the Vietnam War. The works of Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Ulysses S. Grant, Flannery O'Connor, and James Thurber are but a few that comprise the series. An invaluable lookingglass into the heart and soul of our nation, this collection is essential reading for anyone who longs to know what makes America unique.)

inspirational in every way.......1999-10-11

A great writer writing about great things - you'll feel like you're in the middle of the Sierra yourself. Endlessly enjoyable.

Lovers of Muir, find your home in this volume!.......1999-08-29

In a world brimming with wonderful volumes of the work of John Muir, here is the one edition in which you may find virtually everything you seek. To find it in such a handsome, handy, easy to negotiate book makes this a must for all lovers of Muir's writing. Eight inches tall by six wide and two inches thick, it is a durable and willing partner for excursions through the wilderness. Created for long life among library shelves and scholarly studies, this sleek little friend stows away quite comfortably in backpack or oversized coat pocket. Those who don't know Mr. Muir will meet the great lover of wildness (and perhaps history's most influential advocate of preservation) presented in a lovingly researched volume which includes informative notes on the evolution of Muir's field journal entries into published pieces, a chronology of his life and literary career, and all of the major writings for which he is known. A generous selection of his published essays and magazine articles reveal many previously unsuspected jewels of poetic prose. As a lifetime devotee of the works of Shakespeare, the Bible, and the immortal Scottish bard Robert Burns, Muir could recite extensive passages from all. Likewise, his writing breezes through the imagery and lessons drawn from these potent sources. Coffee table books brimming with Ansel Adams photography, biographies of Muir, and collections of his correspondence are all aspects of any comprehensive Muir collection. The words themselves, however, simple and elegantly bound, are where the journey might well begin.

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Dig Harder
Good for learning the "Inner Muir"
An interesting, if dry, memoir

The Story of My Boyhood and Youth
John Muir
Manufacturer: BiblioBazaar
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1426451776
Release Date: 2006-11-10

Product Description

With Illustrations from Sketches by the Author

Customer Reviews:

Dig Harder.......2001-01-31

The central symbol of Muir's abusive father is the father's decision to become a lay preacher, and thus his determination to study the Bible all day, while dumping all the farm chores on young John. This puts John at the bottom of a new well, hacking through the rocky ground in search of water. While the holy father urges him on between inspirational readings. One wonders if the father was reading of Jesus's encounter with the woman at the well, offering himself as the living water.

John concluded it's time to get the heck out of Wisconsin and away from his dad, to roam around the mountains and forests of the great unexplored Western U.S., appreciating the water where God placed it in plain view.

Muir's experience of being forced to work like a Calvinist, while his dad sat around like a pietist, presents a juxtaposition which can be applied to other relationships we all come across in our lives. That, and the lesson that you need not be a perpetual victim of a rotten childhood. Muir certainly overcame it.

Good for learning the "Inner Muir".......1998-12-31

I wouldn't recommend this as a first book for those who are interested or curious about Muir (try _My First Summer in the Sierra_ or _1000 Mile Walk_), but it gives a lot of insight, for me at least, on why Muir turned out the way he did. He had a cruel, strict father and had to endure a lot of pain and hardship, which made his latter wilderness travels so much easier and free in comparison.

An interesting, if dry, memoir.......1997-12-15

John Muir, one of the great leaders of the ecological movement in America, tells of growing up on a farm in Wisconsin. He gives detailed information about the wildlife he sees growing up, which is interesting but does get a bit tedious. It was interesting to learn how Muir became interested in being an inventor; before reading this book I hadn't known of his inventions. It gives some insights into how he came to love and appreciate nature, and hints at his later desire to protect all things wild. Near the end of the book he writes, "I wandered away on a glorious botanical and geological excursion, which has lasted nearly fifty years and is not yet completed, always happy and free, poor and rich, without thought of a diploma or of making a name, urged on and on through endless, inspiring, Godful beauty." Certainly Muir's writing recalls Thoreau, and his spirit has lived on through the writings of such diverse people as Rachel Carson, Jack Kerouac, and Adolph Murie. This book is not one of his classics, but if you're interested in Muir or life on the plains before they became completely tamed, it's worth reading.

The boyhood of a naturalist,: By John Muir

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The boyhood of a naturalist,: By John Muir
John Muir
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Story of My Boyhood & Youth 1ST Edition
John Muir
Manufacturer: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN CO@
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PV78KY

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The Story of My Boyhood and Youth
Muir John
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UF0ZZK

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The Story of My Boyhood and Youth
John Muir
Manufacturer: Wisconsin, 1980
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J0PLM8

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The Story of My Boyhood and Youth
John Muir
Manufacturer: The University of Wisconsin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000RFUHY2

The story of my boyhood and youth ; and, A thousand-mile walk to the Gulf (The writings of John Muir)

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The story of my boyhood and youth ; and, A thousand-mile walk to the Gulf (The writings of John Muir)
John Muir
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Story of My Boyhood and Youth By John Muir 1913

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Story of My Boyhood and Youth By John Muir 1913
John Muir
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Boston and New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000N19KG6

Product Description

Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1913. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First printing with "Published March 1913" on copyright page and 1913 date on title page. Green cloth with gold lettering on front cover and spine. Frontispiece photograph of Muir with protective tissue intact. Nine full page photographic illustrations. Light wear to cloth at corners of spine. Corners are a little doggeared. Nice copy.

Johnny stories: Scenes from my boyhood in old Ilwaco

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Johnny stories: Scenes from my boyhood in old Ilwaco
John G Williams
Manufacturer: Rosemary Folklore
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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