Paul H. Miller

For any one interested in the "near-death experience" phenomenon, this book should be read. The author has made an attempt to systematically investigate psychedelic experiences that are mediated by DMT, a substance I personally knew nothing about before reading this book. The account of the difficulty he had getting approval for his studies, and how it affected some of his other involvements, is interesting, as well. Not having a strong neurochemical information background, I found it difficult to evaluate some of the information he presented, but I do think the book is well written and provokes questions and desire for more research on the part of the reader.

I am not aware of many other books that purport to study psychedelic phenomena, at least in current times. This book is certainly more research based than most of the books I have read about altered states of consciousness.

He treated the content with respect and thus supported the overall tone and nature of the book--that is, businesslike, but with appropriate emphasis, even on the personal material.

Not necessarily, but it did hold my interest and there was a definite desire to finish it. HIs organization was logical and also showed a clear progression to the core of the results he found

This is a book that chronicles a more reasoned approach to altered states of consciousness than many of the other literature out there on this subject. He does a good job of labeling his biases when they come into play

I would recommend it, since many of my friends are also interested in near-death experiences. The author does a good job of retelling the incidents that are difficult to explain in any other way.

The father--his sincerity about his faith was very clear, as was his caring and concern for his son

Father

The discovery of the little girl and her drawings and her similarity to the main character's experience

This is a book that clearly has strong religious overtones, rather than scientific ones, but it is out front with that, and one has to respect the author for his treatment of the experiences described. I admire his faith, and the events and experiences he describes left me feeling more hopeful about an afterlife.