The Believer is the weird and chilling true story of Dr. John Mack. This eminent Harvard psychiatrist and Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer risked his career to investigate the phenomenon of human encounters with aliens and to give credibility to the stupefying tales shared by people who were utterly convinced they had happened.
Nothing in Mack’s four decades of psychiatry had prepared him for the otherworldly accounts of a cross section of humanity including young children who reported being taken against their wills by alien beings. Over the course of his career his interest in alien abduction grew from curiosity to wonder, ultimately developing into a limitless, unwavering passion.
Based on exclusive access to Mack’s archives, journals, and psychiatric notes and interviews with his family and closest associates, The Believer reveals the life and work of a man who explored the deepest of scientific conundrums and further leads us to the hidden dimensions and alternate realities that captivated Mack until the end of his life.
""A compelling biography. . . . This well-researched account uses Mack's personal journals, archives, and notes, along with interviews of close friends and family members, to capture the full picture of Mack's life and genius."--Marissa Mace, Library Journal"
""With his access to Mack's archives and other significant sources, Blumenthal's book is a significant insight into the man, his missions, and the controversies that followed them."--Bill Chalker, UFO Truth Magazine"
""In this probing biography, Blumenthal, a former Times reporter, depicts Mack as a complex, deeply intelligent seeker, a man drawn equally to the mysteries of consciousness and the cosmos."--Gal Beckerman and Emily Eakin, New York Times Book Review"
""Drop all mention of the extraterrestrials and The Believer remains a riveting look at the psychology of how we come to believe things. Mack's abilities, his brilliance, flaws, hubris, and mania, are anatomized with sensitivity. Readers will close the book wiser than when they opened it and painfully aware of what they do not and perhaps can never know about Mack, about extraterrestrials, and about the nature of truth."--Simon Ings, The Times [London]"
