Believe it or not, I opened an unsolicited manuscript from a Scientologist today. It didn't say it outright, but I became suspicious when he referred to psychiatric drugs as "toxins" and the use of them on children a crime performed because the parents were "stupid." That was the thesis of his book - children are diagnosed with bogus psychiatric problems - everything from ADD to autism to pyromania - because their parents had bad marriages.
I checked his biography. He was a psychologist (not a psychiatrist) with no clinical experience and had won the Citizien's Commission for Human Rights Award in 2008. Bingo. The CCHR is that Scientology front group dedicated to discrediting psychiatry, lobbying for less screening for emotional problems in schools, and funding bogus studies to present psychiatric drugs as unsafe. Taking my compazine for nausea? NOT a human right.
(Compazine is an anti-psychotic that, in low doses, can treat severe nausea. It's also a drug Scientology spends millions to get proven unsafe even though it's been on the market for years)
I did not write anything in the rejection commenting on this. I made that mistake once for someone's incredibly racist book about Muslims and he called the BBB on my boss. Never making that mistake again.
In an update on the Complex book situation, what apparently happened was Scientology's corporate offices sent "legal letters" to all the major booksellers in the UK, who promptly pulled the book for fear of lawsuit. Whether there's any legal grounds for a lawsuit is completely unknown. Merlin, the publisher, had no idea this was going to happen (the author did, and said he's not surprised). Merlin doesn't do books internationally on its own, and is now trying to sell foreign English-language rights to places like America, where we have free speech. Just not on Amazon, where it's suspiciously completely out of stock and has been since the day it was posted.
I ordered the book from Eason, and they charged my credit card and said they shipped it. EDIT: Apparently you can still find it on their website. They're an Irish store, not UK, so who knows how long they'll have it up, but here's to the Republic of Ireland!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
26 comments:
The book is still listed at Eason: http://www.eason.ie/look/9781903582848/Complex/John-Duignan - after reading your post on this last week I made a point of ordering it (the publishers wouldn't ship to England, and weren't even able to say why on the phone). Eason frankly deserve my money just for standing up to that cult.
Rejector:
Thank you so much for having the guts to write about this. I went to a school (non-Scientology, a mainstream Christian religion) where certain topics were not to be discussed because of dogma, and I got to see how the ignorance hurt the students first-hand. I find all this very scary, but I'd rather know about it than not.
I'm pretty sure you would already know this, but just in case: Scientologists love to argue that thalidomide was considered safe for years, and point out what it did to the babies of mothers who took it to combat morning sickness. Your anti-nausea drug is not safe because it's been on the market for years; it's safe because when taken in low doses, it works, safely. Period. That way no-one can argue about it except about the "low-dose" part, at which point one can argue back that spinach is also poisonous if consumed at the wrong dose.
This is the second time in as many days that I've heard about someone questioning mental illness and blaming it on something else (the first time was on slate.com, where someone wrote to the Dear Prudence column because her family was convinced her schizophrenia was actually Satanic possession).
Again, I'm scared. But we need to know if we're going to fight it.
Thank you again.
"He was a psychology (not a psychiatrist) with no clinical experience and ..."
I think you mean *psychologist.* I worry if my submission letters are rejected by folks who don't proofread. Then what? That seems somewhat unfair to me...
hmm i hate it when people do that it is a bad thing that raciests and ones who hate anothers religion want to write books to get others to hate them as well. as for the amazon that is just curl for them to do i would not have done it free speach is free speach in book form or in the spoken form
ps: sorry i am having a bad day with my spelling and my spell cheeker is junk on this computer
And the last time the Rejector was ever seen was on Nov 21st, 2008. Strangely, the next day she joined Scientology and was whisked away to their mysterious base outside of the country.
"She's happier now," Tom Cruise was reported as saying. "You know all those issues in her life? Yup, they were all because of her parents and aliens possessing her and making her unhappy. Dianetics rule!"
No further comment was available as the movie star began to cackle loudly (and bounce on soft furniture) for two hours before raising his fist into the air, shouting; "The Hubbard Signal!" and flying away into the sunset.
---
I can not wait until these people get raided by the FBI and shut down. It'll probably be for something stupid, but man I want them gone already!
Anon 8:27,
People can be blind to their own work, because they see what they think they wrote (it's a trick of the mind).
Also, 2:50 am.
I ordered a copy from Eason's as well. It'll probably be the most expensive book I buy this year once shipping to Canada is factored in, but somehow I just had to after I heard about the censorship. My plan is to loan it to everyone I know. So there, Scientologists!
...wow, go Eason's!
Compazine given in the correct dose is basically harmless. I've given a lot of compazine and have never seen any side effects from it.
That said, compazine isn't that popular in my hospital. It isn't as effective an anti-emetic as the other two options. It just costs less.
We prefer phenergan, so long as the patient has a large bore IV with fluids running or, even better, a central line.
Otherwise, Zofran is the drug of choice.
Phenergan is available in an oral form, but we don't use it much. (Never did see the point to an oral anti-emetic...)
I guess the ICU nurse is still lurking in the author yet. :)
Maybe if the author had warned the publishers, they would have made provision to defend the libel suit.
I just got an Eason gift card for my birthday and wondered what books I should get: I'll put Complex on my list.
Thanks for the links, and a great post.
Anonymous,
This is a blog, not a professional document. Minor typos are allowed IMHO.
Adisla: "my spell cheeker is junk on this computer"
If that typo (cheeker) wasn't deliberate, it's an amusing spot for a typo.
Mimzy - funny stuff. We'll miss you Rejecter. Maybe when the Rejecter is sent back to the mother ship, we'll get blog entries from space.
I loved the Scientology episode of South Park. I'll freely admit that some people (particularly lazy parents) are too quick to try to manage problems with drugs (parent by prescription), but that's a far cry from Scientology.
If Mimzy's right maybe the Rejecter can continue blogging from the mother ship.
Funniest thing I ever saw on Scientology was the South Park episode.
(Anonymous - it's a blog, not a professional publication so minor typos are permitted,
Zofran is definitely the best drug, but it's crazy expensive.
I can't take compazine anymore because it's a conflict drug with another thing I'm on daily (made that mistake once and almost had to get IV benedrayl to stop shaking), but when I could take it, it was awesome. But it is a psychiatric drug, which means Scientology thinks it's a toxin made by Nazis and wants it gone.
I worry if my submission letters are rejected by folks who don't proofread. Then what? That seems somewhat unfair to me...
Ha-ha-ha that's so funny... NOT. This blog is written in what is likely the VERY spare moments of Rejecter's time. Quit being "clever" and be thankful she takes the time out to write this blog.
I don't mean to pile on to Anon 8:27, but come on. I hate it when people come to a blog and then get snippy with the blogger for a typo. The spirit of a blog means you are there to gain info, and focus on the content.
Yes, this is a publishing blog, but a blog entry written on the fly is not, nor should it be, held to the same standard as a ms or query you've worked on for months and months. Rejecter isn't trying to PUBLISH the blog. She's already proven her ability to write by getting a book deal, she has nothing to prove.
I ordered the book today. It is my early birthday present to myself.
This book is one of the best examples of why e publishing has a niche to fill.
wow i may stop giving out about Easons now lol..
Found this on tribune.ie 'Merlin's Chenile Keogh said: "We are standing by the book and the author. The book is on sale in Ireland and there is no problem with us publishing in Ireland..."
well fair deuce to Easons and to Merlin.
to all you who jumped on me re: a typo -- blogs are not supposed to, IMU, be written "on the fly." this is a communication. and if someone is writing as an agent's assistant, don't you think they would exhibit the behavior they expect their clients/writers/etc. to demonstrate? that, to me, seems fair.
ps: i do appreciate the rejecter's input, as she's helped me many times. and those of you who jumped all over me will notice that the typo on The Rejecter was indeed corrected.
thanks.
I would venture to guess that the anonymous who was so snippy about the error in The Rejecter's post is also the kind of person who goes into other people's houses and makes snide comments if there are a few dirty dishes in the sink or criticizes the curtains.
Sheesh.
Errors/typos in an official agent website and errors/typos in a private blog, even one belonging to an agent's assistant, are two different things. Yeah, I'll agree that a business site had better be error-free. But an individual blog doesn't have to maintain the same standards. Give The Rejecter a break, huh? D'ya think she WANTED to have an error in her post?
You should read Radar Magazine's article 'Scientology Under Siege: Inside the Guerrilla War Against Tom Cruise's Cult.' A thorough introspective on the cult and threats from a group known as Anonymous. I believe the magazine received a threatening letter before they went to press...before Radar Magazine fell into the hands of American Media who turned it into a snoozer of a gossip ezine.
Rejector,
Not to devolve the conversation into one only about pharmaceuticals, but Zofran actually isn't that expensive at all. Since going generic (maybe 2 years ago), it's very affordable. Ondansetron (the generic/chemical name) is available in both tablets and ODT (orally dissolving tablets). I highly recommend the ODT. They work wonders. Now, there are some newer anti-nausea drugs that are ass-crazy expensive but they've really just an improvement on the ondansetron chemical and not worth it.
Glad to hear. It used to be - when I started taking it in 1998, it was $39 a pill or something like that.
A threatening letter or a letter before action? Just wondering.
You'd think they'd have their own publishing company by now. Maybe looking for outside acceptance?
Post a Comment