When I see a book trailer that intrigues me, and especially if it’s on a topic I may have reservations about, I Google the title to see who published it and what may have been written about the book already. Today I was intrigued by the trailer (link provided below) on Fringe-ology by Steve Volk. The book was published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers that specializes in influential books on personal growth, religion, spirituality, and wellness. Fringe-ology has been released for sale today, on what would have been my dad’s 93rd birthday.
Only one review appears on the Amazon site, written by the respected review source Booklist: “A sharply written, intelligently argued book that should appeal equally to believers and skeptics.” I’m a skeptic, as was my dad, but I have more curiosity about the whole thing. So, where he would learn about this book and say, “Bullshit,” I step back and wonder whether author Volk has brought a middle ground into view that perhaps reflects the best of What the Bleep Do We Know!? and The Truth About You, two books I have respected personally. WTBDWK highlights the science of the metaphysical realm; TTAY is a spirituality primer written to help people wean off “myths” that may be holding them back in life. Both books zero in on the power each individual has to constantly re-create his or her life.
I gather Fringe-ology (and is that a catchy title or what) focuses more on the UFO sort of unknown and therefore may become a third point in my collection of main ideas on topics surrounding spirituality. On this topic, however, I am “my father’s daughter,” and I suspect that my interest in all this is nothing but good old-fashioned wishful thinking. Still, it’s a fun way to wile away a few hours and get some people riled up. At least we’ll be talking about something that people agree is unanswerable with current systems of measure and analysis. It keeps the conversation friendly.
You are to be commended for choosing this topic for your blog. I am sure it has been a career stopper for many who dared to speak of such phenomena. My feeling is that spirituality is a very personal and diverse conclusion often arrived at through paranormal experiences, and when you know the “correct” terminology you may fit it into a religion and belong to a specific group. Those that are not learned in such things remain on the fringe.
It will be fun to see how well Fringe-ology does over the next few months, how often author Volk appears on talk shows, etc. That will be an indicator how seriously his book is being taken, whether it’s really offering anything new or not. I’m most interested, myself, in learning what his childhood experience was.
Right! Without having read the book I have a feeling his paranormal experiences will not be anything new, but a new response would be for Nancy Pelosi to launch an investigation into this instead of wasting her time investigating Anthony Weiner.