Title: 'Scenic' Taxi Ride
Product review: The title of this book promises "compelling evidence" but what it offers instead is only "compelling writing." For all of Tom Shroder's self-proclaimed healthy skepticism he really offers the reader nothing but second and third-hand stories that are all easily explainable and full of gaping holes. The fact that many of these cases come from cultures that believe in reincarnation (i.e. the social norm says reincarnation is an everyday event) should warn the reader that what follows may well be tainted and skewed data. Hardly a scientific work, Old Souls, is just another pseudo-science [take-off]. Admittedly, Shroder's writing style is punchy and journalistic, taking the reader along for an interesting ride. After a few chapters though it gets "old" and the "souls" all appear to be (perhaps well-intentioned) con artists taking two white guys in a foreign country for an endless series of "scenic" taxi rides that never actually go anywhere.
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