Books' cancer claims
questioned
Over the years a series of books about cancer written
by an Australian sufferer, Dr Ian Gawler, have proved very
popular. The best-known of these is YOU
CAN CONQUER CANCER (there is a copy currently in my
stock- see under HEALTH.
Dr Gawler reportedly suffered from secondary bone
cancer but his books tell how a program of strict
diets, meditation and correct thinking resulted in
remission. [I am unable to comment as I have no
medical training; a dilemma for those of us selling
such books - the best we can do is quote the claims
made by authors.)
Now a report by a professional group has cast doubts
on these claims, asserting that the doctor had
advanced tuberculosis rather than bone cancer. Dr
Gawler refutes the conclusion.
(The Sydney Morning
Herald carried further details which will
probably also be found elsewhere: Google: MIRACLE
CANCER MISTAKEN DIAGNOSIS.
(Other books by Dr Gawler in stock: MEDITATION
PURE & SIMPLE and a book by his partner
Grace: WOMEN OF SILENCE.The
Emotional Healing of Breast Cancer.
Books of interest . . .See story opposite (2nd column)
TALK OF THE DEVIL.
Repressed Memory & the Ritual Abuse Witch-Hunt.
Guilliatt, Richard. Text Publishing (Australia),
paperback (stiff card), 1996, 296 pages. A study of
the bizarre world of ritual abuse - does it really
occur? A journalist investigates. With various case
details. Some light edge staining but otherwise good
solid copy. ISBN 1875847294. Cat nr 19468
- $A22
SEE ALSO STORY OPPOSITE >>>
Can't
find what you want?
Drop us a note with whatever details you have and we
will try to point you to a source
Getting books into Canada (if you are
lucky!)
I am indebted to a bookseller in the United Kingdom
for this story -
I have long believed the Canadian postal service to
be modelled on the North Korean system.
About three years ago I sold an expensive
book to a customer in Canada. He hadn't paid extra
for it to be insured, but not wishing to be held
responsible for postal loss or damage I treated him
to International Signed For. It was quite a large
book and the cost was about twenty quid.
About a month later my package came back,
unopened, with a lot of labels and blue crayon
scribble. I eventually managed to work out that the
"reason" for non-delivery was "Sender failed to
write return address on package". I had, of course,
which is how they managed to return it to me without
opening it. £20 down the drain for no reason.
Since then I have been very wary of sending anything
to Canada. If they want to be the world's No. 2
pariahs then let them get on with it. There are
other places to sell books. Jonathan Cocking,
Reedmore Books, Edgware.
|
Amanda Knox escapes clutches
of Satan-obsessed prosecutor.
Amanda Knox, the young American jailed for murder,
later released, was lucky to escape the clutches of an
obsessed man - the Italian prosecutor in her
case.
Giuliano Mignini was the magistrate who relentlessly
prosecuted the visitor who unhappily became involved in
a nasty situation which saw a British woman, Meredith
Kircher, murdered under rather bizarre circumstances.
But the bizarre nature of the case must have been a huge
attraction for Senor Mignini, a man obsessed with belief
in Satan and convinced that people were conspiring
against him. In fact he even thought politicians and
journalists had conspired to see the young American
released. Mignini is a follower of a woman by the name
of Carlesi who claims to talk with a deceased priest!
It was Mignini who was involved in the relentless and
aggressive questioning of Amanda over a period of five
days, without her having legal representation.
A year ago Magnini crossed swords with an American
novelist, Douglas Preston, and when it seemed possible
Amanda might gain her release, Magnini blamed the
novelist, accusing him of masterminding a press campaign
in the USA that supported the girl. Preston had
the temerity to challenge theories put forward by the
magistrate about the Monster of Florence.
Preston, an established crime writer, moved to Italy
with his family in 2000. By chance they were living in a
house in Florence right next to one of the scenes where
the so-called Monster of Florence had struck someone
down. Learning this fact Preston decided that instead of
writing a novel he would write about the notorious
Monster and his gruesome crimes.
The Monster's attacks involved many bizarre aspects.
Chiefly young couples were attacked, usually while
'necking' in a car. After they were shot dead the
woman's vagina would be removed, occasionally a breast
also. There were suspects and trials, men accused, then
acquitted, but the identity of the serial killer has
still never been conclusively established. But at
one point an investigator, Michele Giuttari, became
convinced a Satanic sect was using the women's sex
organs as 'wafers' in black masses. Right up Mignini's
alley.
In writing his book about the crimes, Douglas Preston
co-operated with an Italian, Mario Spezi. But the
book's suggestions upset the believers in Satanism and
Spezi found himself jailed while Preston was warned he
should leave the country. This is the justice
system in which Amanda Knox found herself enmeshed.
Indeed, Giuliano Mignini asserted that Amanda was
'demonically motivated' to murder the British woman.
Amanda Knox is lucky to have escaped the clutches of
this obsessed man.
Books of interest . . .
One of
the most unusual stories to appear in print is the
amazing tale titled The TERMINAL MAN,
written by Sir Afred Mehran and Andrew
Donkin. Extraordinary but true, proving once again
that truth is often stranger than fiction.
Sir Alfred, whose proper name is Mehran Kariimi
Nosseri, lived for sixteen years in the Departure
Lounge of Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport, in
Paris. How this Kafkaesque situation came about is
explained in this autobiography.
Nosseri, an Iranian exile, arrived at the airport on 8
August 1988, intending to take a plane to London. But
he lacked proper documentation and found himself
trapped. If he left the terminal building he could be
arrested as an illegal migrant so he stayed put while
an army of lawyers and officials battled over
supplying him with an 'identity'.
And there he remained for the next sixteen years.
(Read more about this fascinating character in
Wikipedia.)
Currently there is a copy of this book in my stock -
in the BIOGRAPHY
section.
|
Europeans tell Facebook to stop
snooping!
The London Telegraph
reports that the European Commission is planning calling
a halt to the practice of Facebook 'snooping' on its members.
It appears Facebook has been collecting a lot of
information useful to advertisers - users' political
views, sexuality, religious interests, and so on. The
information, harvested with special software, could be
made available to advertisers.
It is alleged such data has been collected even when the
user has used privacy settings to maintain the
confidentiality of their activities. It is further
claimed that information has also been gathered
involving the friends and contacts of users.
A directive to come into operation in January next year
would ban the collection and storage of such data unless
the user has specifically given permission for this to
be done.
[Read further by searching Google for: FACEBOOK PERSONAL
TRACKING HITS SNAG.
Books by barge!
Talk about door-to-door service! One bookdealer in the
UK has taken to the water to sell books.
Sarah Henshaw, of Lichfield (UK) has been sailing her
Book Barge - a converted narrowboat - along the canals
of England and Wales endeavouring to promote the role of
independent booksellers in society. Over a period of
some months 28-year-old Sarah went through 700 locks and
travelled an estimated 1600 km.
The barge is set up like any bookshop and at each
stopping-off place people come on board and peruse the
shelves. Sarah is mostly alone on her journeys but
occasionally a friend joins the barge and helps out.
A fascinating aspect of the Book Barge trade is the
bartering that takes place from time to time. Sarah has
traded books for a haircut, or for shoes and food. She
was warned by some people that books could be bought
cheaper online but found that the occasional barter deal
has kept things turning over.
Sarah says she is not getting rich. Obviously she is not
trading when she's moving from place to place and this
limits her income. And there is also opposition
sometimes. She was banned from selling in Bristol. The
local council said her business 'would not be in
Bristol's interests,' and would not issue her with a
licence.
[FOOTNOTE: Sorry folks, I have no plans to operate a
barge up and down the Mary River.]
Smile (a grim one)!
General John Sedgwick, a Union commander, as killed
during a battle in the American Civil War. His last
words were: 'They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist
. . .'
Censorship Watch
A selection of reasons
books have been banned from schools . . .
Promoting witchcraft
'Obscene' words
Homosexuality
Atheism
In 1977 the junior high school at Hopkinton, Mass,
clipped drawings of female breasts from 100 textbooks
designed to teach children about consumer fraud.
The books were discussing ads for breast development
scams.
|
Enthusiastic
book customer
From the website: http://notalwaysright.com
A wonderful source
of stories from those bravely serving the public
through thick and thin (and occasionally, insults):
Customer of bookseller: 'Your books are out of
order.'
Me: 'Yeah, sorry about that. Sometimes people
take books off the shelf then don’t put them back
exactly where they were. Did you need help finding
something?'
Customer: 'No, the order’s just wrong.'
Me: 'Okay, thanks for letting us know.'
Customer: 'Would you like me to fix them for
you?'
Me: 'That’s really not necessary. Thank you,
though.'
Customer: [pause] 'Can I sort them for
you?
Me: 'Um, if you really want to, I suppose.'
(To my surprise, the customer actually sorted
everything!)
|
$uper $pecial
Future issues will scatter these offers around the
pages. Watch for them. Books going out at ridiculous
prices. This is just a first sample:
NEW WOMAN BLOKE JOKES.
Johnson, Louise. Lifetime paperback (stiff pictorial
card), 2000, 144 pages, illustrated. 'Because men are
funny'. Sample: Q: Why don't women blink during
foreplay? A. They don't have time. Good solid copy. Cat
nr 6390
Super Special Price $5.
(But there is only 1 copy)
---------
QUOTE: 'Wherever
they burn books, sooner or later they will burn humans
too.' (Heinrich Heine, 1823)
|
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MAIN
BOOK
STOCK LISTS
HERE
Recent
Book Stock
list just updated
Check it out HERE
Two or three times each month I post an updated list of
recent acquisitions.
Great Aussie Stuff-upps (stuff-ups)
GREAT AUSSIE STUFF-UPPS. (stuff-ups)
Andrews, Malcolm (text) and Mitchell, Bill (illsts).
Horwitz Grahame, octavo hardcover, pictorial boards,
1984, 124 pages, illustrated. Light wear, fairly good.
ISBN 0725517824.
$22 posted within Australia
|
Approx. A4 size, typical
children's (politically incorrect) book with cloth on
spine. Has 16 large full-colour plates of the stylized
art. There are also small
B&W illustrations in text. The boards are rubbed
and sun-affected but fair. There is some small edge
damage. The paper within shows
signs of finger marking. It is otherwise intact and
fairly tight and, having regard to childish use, is a
reasonably good copy of the book. 