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Noah Greenberg
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Sat Nam Rasayan
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Possible Lawsuit Against RALPH
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Thank you very much indeed for reviewing my book Pied Piper: The Many Lives of Noah Greenberg.
The reviewer did a competent enough job, but I would trust his understanding of leftist history a little better if he had spelled Max Shachtman's name correctly.
james.gollin@verizon.net
Fortunately, we Anarchists never admit that our faces are red; instead they are black.
Ralph:
To whoever wrote the review of Marya Hornbacher's novel, I would like to tell them how utterly wrong they are. Not only is the review obviously written by someone ignorant on the topic of eating disorders, it is extremely offending to the millions of eating disorder sufferers. It's a result of CNC (confirmed negativity condition) which develops in the brain which sometimes causes the onset of eating disorders. These disorders are developed after a CNC sufferer goes through some form of abuse whether it is inherent in the brain, physical, sexual, emotional, or traumatic abuse. The drive to be thin and skinny is all a cover up for the real underlying emotional issues.
Eating disorders are absolutely not a way to tyrannize one's family, nor an attempt to ruin the lives of family and friends. Eating disorders are a method of "lashing out" on oneself which is the reason why sufferers try to keep their disease so secretive.
It's a slow, painful method of suicide that needs to be addressed.
Over all, it's a disease that says a lot about the need to focus on a child's feelings and tender stages of life.
Eating disorders are a great issue. They should not be overlooked, stereotyped, nor written about by ignorant reviewers.
Eating disorders are a medical disease just like cancer is.
Can you imagine writing an article about how cancer is a method of tyrannical children to destroy family's lives. What you did is basically the same thing.
As a three year sufferer, and successfully recovered anorexic, I feel as if I and the rest of those who suffer through these diseases are owed a great apology. You could call me a naysayer, but I and the rest of the eating-
rocketjess@hotmail.com
Terry Brown here, editor of Wake-Up-America and founder of America's Consumer Fitness Association.
I was conducting a search on Google for Sat Nam Rasayan and found your site and Ignacio Schwartz's review of Anatomy of Miracles [by Subagh Khalsa].
I wasn't clear if there was any benefit from the session or if it was felt to be a rip-off.
If you would be so kind to respond I would appreciate your input and any thoughts you can share with me on this treatment.
Terry Brown
Editor-in-Chief
jbrown@acfa.com
I didn't and don't think of myself as a Sufi and was not so sure about all this "being empty" and "sacred space" business but what did happen during our session was that Subagh Khalsa managed somehow to sense that I was lugging an ancient, stupid memory about with me and told me about it.
I liked that because it meant I could contemplate whatever it was lurking around in the cellars of my psyche and perhaps begin to try to slough it off.
A couple of weeks ago, I met with Subagh again. He gave me another piece of wisdom. He said he was feeling restive because he didn't feel enlightened, even after so many years of dedication to the practice of Sufism.
"But then," he said, "one day I decided to pretend to be enlightened ... and go from there.
"And," he reported, "it worked."
Anyone who can come up with that kind of insight has my vote.
RALPH: I want to purchase Sailing Alone Around the World. Can you tell me where to get it? Thanks.
This message is for the use of the intended recipient only. It is from a law firm and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient any disclosure, copying, future distribution, or use of this communication is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please advise us by return e-mail, or if you have received this communication by fax advise us by telephone and delete/destroy the document.
DB@Capdale.com
Thank you for your e-mail.
Your letter tells us that it comes "from a law firm and may contain information that is privileged and confidential." Further, if it turns out that we are not "the intended recipient," that "any disclosure, copying, future distribution, or use of this communication is prohibited." Finally, if we did receive it in error, we are told that we must ring you up and at the same time, "delete/destroy the document." Whew.
Since we are but a lowly book review magazine and not necessarily in the book-buying referral service, we have no idea in the world if we are the intended recipient of your letter. In addition --- from what we have heard of modern computers --- God alone knows if we can "delete/destroy" the message you sent us.
We've been led to understand that nothing can be erased from these miserable machines. Even when you think your words have been sent off to cyber-heaven, old messages can hide there in the smoky backrooms of the memory bank, lollygagging around in the bowels to, some day, jump out and scare you to death. Certain peoples involved in nefarious activities have learned this to their considerable dismay.
Thus, even if we hit the delete button, your letter may still be noodling around in our computer's hyperspace, a veritable Frankenstein to rise up and haunt us sometime in the misty future.
Having said all that, we've decided to take the high road. We are thus prepared to swear, avow, and affirm that we are not now nor have been a book referral business, but, because of our passionate devotion to the cause of literature and most especially because of our affection for the book by the good Captain Joshua Slocum --- we take our misgivings in hand and inform you that despite any and all possible consequences, and to the best of our knowledge, there is a book service that we have used many times in the past, a confederation, as it were, of small book stores, just the kind of book stores that we (and possibly you) might want to support --- bookstores that survive to counterbalance those flashy chains where the clerks can't tell a Josh Slocum from a Stephen King (and neither from Oprah); and who certainly could never differentiate between Sailing Alone Around the World and Chicken Soup for the Brain-Pan.
It's called the Advanced Book Exchange, or ABE, and can be found at
We would like to affirm our sincere hope that by sharing this information with you we are not being gratuitously felonious, although, given our immense affection for books, especially old and graceful ones like Sailing Alone Around the World, we would gladly be willing to serve a limited time in the pokey if it would further the cause of bibliophilia in these our troubled times.
Editor
RALPH
Thank you very much for your very entertaining reply to my e-mail. I love it! People in my law firm keep telling me to C R E A T E my own fax cover sheet, instead of using the firm's, for personal faxes. And I keep forgetting to do it. But today after receiving your message, I know that I have to do it. And so I have. The next time I fax you anything, if there is a next time, it will be on a personal sheet. Again, thank you for making me laugh. And thank you for the info about the book.
This message is for the use of the intended recipient only. It is from a law firm and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient any disclosure, copying, future distribution, or use of this communication is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please advise us by return e-mail, or if you have received this communication by fax advise us by telephone and delete/destroy the document.
DB@Capdale.com
Sailing Alone Around the World