Prometheus Books

[Supercharts]

Prometheus Books is a publisher of skeptical and rational books. It's 'somewhat' associated with CSICOP.
Rant: Although they publish excellent skeptical books the publishing house really needs an editor.
Why?
Take for example Susan Blackmore's book: Dying to Live. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0879758708/qid=1061336378/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/002-4194106-2175245?v=glance&s=books This is an excellent book that explains NDEs [Near Death Experience]. Susan has a lot of intelligent things to say but the book is garbled beyond reading comprehensively. What she says is very logical and important and backed up by factual evidence. The book is based on Science. But Susan can not write to an audience - she's a scientist. Where the f**k was the editor?
Another excellent book: "Abracadabra" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573921637/qid=1061336666/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/002-4194106-2175245. You could use this book as an introduction to critical thinking. Nathaniel Shiffman knows what he's talking about and gives many great examples and actually forces you to consider the influence of 'magic' not only in the 'entertainment' sphere of magic but also how we are carefully misdirected in everyday life into being fooled.
This book could have been edited into 75% of it's present size and made much more lucid.
Consider Martin Gardner. His publishers are Norton, Dover and Demensions. He's on the board of CSICOP. Why doesn't he publish with Prometheus? 'Cause they have ***** for editors, that's why.

So that's my rant. Prometheus Books - one of the very few skeptical publishers around today - really needs to get a staff of professional editors. Or, at least, get Paul Kurtz off the staff.

TYVM.

[arcticpenguin]

I just bought a copy of Abracadabra but haven't read it yet.

[Brown]

I agree with this. The books published by Prometheus are hit and miss. Some of them have excellent content and are well written. But many of them could benefit from a little editorial help.

Steve Allen's commentaries on the Bible, for example, needed a much better editor. I don't know how the late Mr. Allen reacted to editors, but if I had been assigned to edit these works, I could have made a number of suggestions. First, don't be so repetitive. Second, don't short-cut your arguments (e.g., repeatedly saying "God by definition"). Third, pare down (or eliminate) the Platonic dialogs. Fourth, to make the commentaries into a useful reference work, make a comprehensive index, and double-check your cross-referencing.

James Randi, of course, has been published through Prometheus. Most of his works are pretty good, although "The Faith Healers" perhaps could have benefitted from some constructive criticism to improve the tone. In my copy of "Flim-Flam," there's a note that says (I'm speaking from memory here) that the editors inserted material that was incorrect.

I can't remember the name of the book or the author, but Prometheus published a book that included outstanding discussions about Moses and the Old Testament.

[Supercharts]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin
I just bought a copy of Abracadabra but haven't read it yet.

It's very meaty but has some fat. Push on through and you will be rewarded.