Book recommendations (4)

Books on near-death experiences, gang stalking, psychiatric drugs, and vitamin A.

Life After Life (1975) by Raymond A. Moody

The book that coined the term “near-death experience” to describe when people return from the afterlife with memories—a common phenomenon which was already widely known in 1975 but hadn’t yet gotten a catchy name in English. In my view, near-death experiences refute materialism and probably were one of main inspirations, along with psychedelic experiences, for humans to create religions.

Near-death experiencers report that there is no judgement in the afterlife, except for judgement that comes from yourself during what is called “the life review.” The afterlife is not just free of punishment and judgement, it is an indescribably joyous, peaceful, and loving place, according to the hundreds of books written on this topic from near-death experients and a range of researchers—mostly doctors.

I’ve read 9 books on near-death experiences. The near-death experience literature seems to me like pure spirituality, if spirituality is the study of the soul and the spirit world. In these books, we get first-hand accounts of the spirit world which often directly quote deities. We get information on the properties and capabilities of the soul—it can read minds, teleport anywhere on Earth (and possibly anywhere in the universe) instantly, communicate telepathically, etc.

I have a ~7.5k word essay titled “My Spiritual Evolution” that examines my development from materialism to spiritualism via my DMT trips and my reading of the near-death experience literature. So far it’s been rejected by Harper’s. I’m thinking about where else to submit it. Let me know if you’re an editor of a medium-to-large readership magazine who is interested in considering my essay for publication. (It’s the better, written version of this talk I gave on June 1.)

Anatomy of an Epidemic (2010) by Robert Whitaker

Compelling book on the severely negative effects of long-term use of psychiatric drugs. Robert Whitaker presents his case that antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, etc.) , stimulants (Ritalin, Adderall, Vyvanse, etc.), and other psychiatric drugs have caused a mental-illness epidemic, trapping millions of people in ever-worsening depression, anxiety, despair, and psychosis.

The number of “disabled mentally ill” increased an estimated six-fold from 1955 to 2007. Citing a hundred-plus studies, Whitaker argues that psychiatric drugs are not helping people and are “in fact fueling the epidemic of disabling mental illness." I recommend this book for anyone who wants to get a different opinion on psychiatric drugs than the one promoted by Big Pharma and psychiatrists. It’s disturbing and heartbreaking and stimulating and informative.

1996 (2005) by Gloria Naylor

The most credible book on gang stalking published thus far. Gloria Naylor was a famous literary author; her first book won the National Book Award and was turned into a TV miniseries by Oprah. In this book, her sixth and last, she wrote about being gang stalked by the NSA. The gang stalking began with normal harassment and escalated to the point where voices were being implanted in her mind in an effort to make her “go insane.”

With 1996, she was writing for her life, and it shows. (I’ve read two of her other books, and this book is on another level, in my view.) She used all her writing skills to construct the most compelling book that she could so that people would believe her story and she wouldn’t be shunned and dismissed as paranoid and delusional. Most readers seem to have still viewed her as having “gone crazy” with this book. It only got one piece of coverage in mainstream media, it seems—an interview on NPR where the interviewer doubted her, and she said:

But they now have technology that is able to decode the brain patterns, and to detect what people are actually thinking. And they have another technology called microwave hearing, where they can actually input words into your head, bypassing your ears.

This was her last book. It’s about 1996—she started writing it in 1996—and it came out in 2005. Apparently, her normal, large publisher declined on publishing it; it was published by a small press. She didn’t publish another book in the 11 years between when this was published and when she died in 2016. I've bought and given away ~10 copies of 1996 since reading it in 2021, including to:

1. Brad Phillips (he read it) (we have a book club, though he abandoned my last book club selection, Infinite Universe Theory, after less than 50 pages)

2. Jordan Castro (pretty sure he hasn’t read it yet)

3. Dasha Nekrasova (don’t know if she read it yet) (gave her it after I went on Red Scare because she seemed to have some interest in gang stalking)

4. Sheila Heti (unsure if she read it—she probably will if she hasn’t yet—we seem decent at reading each other’s recommendations)

5. My mom (she read it)

6. Bret Easton Ellis and Todd Michael Schultz (Todd mentioned that Bret had read it but I forgot what Todd said and don’t have access to our DMs anymore since he doesn’t have a Twitter account anymore)

7. Megan Boyle and Blake Butler (I’m pretty sure I mailed them this as a wedding present—heh—I don’t know if they’ve read it yet) (my “yet”s in this list are hopeful not presumptive—I like not pressuring people to read things)

Through my promotion of this book on Twitter and other places, I’ve probably gotten 10 to 30 other people to read it, including Katie Frank, who reviewed it here, and Robert McCready, who investigated Naylor’s story and wrote this.

It has seemed smart to share this book because if me or anyone I know starts getting gang stalked, we’ll have “nearby” who won’t doubt us (New York Times and other mainstream media views it, sadly and typically, as fake—paranoid stories by severely mentally ill people. Besides this pragmatic reason for recommending that people read this book, it’s also just an amazing, unique work that I found deeply moving.

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Poisoning for Profits (2017) by Grant Genereux

The book that exposed vitamin A as nonessential and toxic. Grant Genereux is an engineer who developed kidney failure and full-body eczema. He figured out that all the trigger foods—besides peanuts—for eczema contain high amounts of vitamin A. He went on a low vitamin A diet and cured his kidney problem (the first time his physician had seen this cured) and eczema. He’s been on a low vitamin A diet for almost nine years now—his vitamin A levels are nearly detectable—and his health is good. He charts it on his blog.

His book (available free here) examines the history of vitamin A, showing how early research on rats and vitamin A contained massive errors. The rats said to have been fed a zero vitamin A diet actually were fed diets with high amounts of vitamin A and zero zinc—an essential mineral for rats (and most animals). The eye and skin problems—and death—experienced by the rats from vitamin A toxicity and zinc deficiency (and other deficiencies) were blamed on vitamin A deficiency. I confirmed his research myself by reading many early papers on vitamin A deficiency.

Dr. Garrett Smith read this book six or so years ago and implemented a low vitamin A diet on himself and his patients, and has since taken this new knowledge of vitamin A’s toxicity and deepened it and developed it into a program called “Love Your Liver.” I’ve been following his work, using it on myself, my cats, and my mom, and we’ve all benefited from it greatly. I’m nearing month four of a low vitamin A diet.

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