OT: A story of unparalleled literary magnitude

OK, I admit I am fascinated (maybe in the same way as gawkers at a car wreck) with Maxine Asher's forays into the literary world.

I notice from her website (atlantisresearch.com) that her newest book is out, and is described as follows:

A science fiction story of unparalleled literary magnitude, this novel recounts the last days of Atlantis with a contemporary point-of-view. Dr. Maxine Asher, internationally known explorer, Atlantis researcher, writer and noted educator has given readers her premier vision of the world
of ancient Atlantis and its impact on today's frightening global events.

Certainly our regular contributors won't want to miss a book of "unparalleled literary magnitude", although, truth in advertising, it could be that no book parallels the exceptionally poor quality of this one... I do have used copies of her other works "Ancient Energy" and "Tapping Into the Force" on order, but I'll just have to wait until I finish those before I'm ready for this epic masterpiece.

Just thought folks might like to know what one of our favorite mill operators is currently up to.

 

I offer one (and only one) paragraph, from the key climactic scene, when the villains are trying kill the astronaut heroes who discovered Atlantis and its secret crystals when their space shuttle crashed to the bottom of the sea.

Inside the Atlantis shuttle, Jane received an intuitive message indicating that help was coming. However she also sensed that something ominous was about to happen. Confused and elated at the same time, she and Tom huddled together in a corner of the craft, eventually falling asleep. Two hours later Jane awoke. She was filled with terror, and keenly aware that a shocking event was imminent. Suddenly she had a strong precognitive vision that the pyramid was about to be destroyed. She could clairvoyantly see the evil forces blowing up the pyramid with the priests inside. Alerting Tom to her vision, the two astronauts quickly got into their little glass enclosed boat and headed back to the pyramid. As they approached the site, they saw divers planting explosives at the base of the structure. It was clear that this was the enemy they had sought for so long. Powerless to stop the impending explosion alone, they contemplated their course of action. Unfortunately, one of the members of the team of evil-doers spotted their boat. he then quickly alerted his companions. Tom and Jane knew that the men were armed and dangerous. They felt certain that the end had come. While four members of the evil team continued to plant the explosives, the rest of the team prepared to fire a missile at the glass enclosed boat, killing Tom and Jane instantly. As the divers approached the boat, Jane became paralyzed with fear. Tom, however, maintained a clear presence of mind. her was a skilled navigator and when the men came within six feel of the craft preparing to fire a missile, Tom swerved the vehicle around and sped off into another direction. The maneuvers were like a chess game. Each time the evil doers moved into destroy their rivals, Tom was gone again swerving this way and that, causing confusion and chaos in the choppy waters of the Caribbean Sea.


The book is published by Bookhenge of P. O. Box 450, Lewiston, NY -- which I am pretty sure is the address used by the dreadful Mellen University, before the "moved" to Iowa.

 

Looks as if this story's literary magnitude may indeed be unparalleled. Thank God.


Peace,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

 

After reading a paragraph of the book and seeing how the book is described on her website, I must ask.

Is it common for degree mill operators to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

 

Narcissistic Personality Disorder? No! Asher is just someone who likes to write letters to the editor of Time expressing support for Delta Burke's fat and proud of it attitude and telling the world that she's 40 pounds overweight and that her clients (?) have been picking on her about it for years, and to the Los Angeles Times telling the world that she had her mother "declared insane" for frittering away money on contests.

I don't yet own a copy of Asher's deathless novel because some misguided bookdealers at bookfinder.com have the notion that the "first edition" is infinitely rare and desirable. When there's a copy for $10.00, I'll buy it. I'm certainly not going to buy the current edition from Asher since I'm not interested in enriching her by one cent. --Although I do have an agent who has ordered a copy of her fabulous new all-color American World University catalogue or brochure, with pictures of Arafat accepting his AWU degree and of incredibly shabby graduation ceremonies with Asher presiding. The ceremonies look like they're taking place in especially cruddy church basements. You can see these pics at awukorea.com. Anyway, it's only $6.00 bucks and I figure it's a very helpful resource which will help me to explain to the world in full detail just what kind of "universities" Asher runs.

Speaking of Asher's literary accomplishments, I have a copy of the authentically rare (and entirely undesirable) "A Layman's Guide To the Right Brain," which is even autographed by La Asher herself!, self-published (it looks like a poor-quality mimeograph job or something created with those old stone age typing copy sheets, whatever they were called) in 1982. I just love that it's a "layman's guide." She's an expert and she's presenting us with the simplified, layman's version of her insights? This book will at least be helpful because it discusses her Walden dissertation. I have been trying to get a copy of that dissertation but may never manage this because not only was it done too early to have been sent on to University Microfilms, but the original copy actually at some point got up and walked away on its own from the basement (or lower-level) storage room at Walden's Minneapolis offices where all its fellow disserations from Asher's year are happily ensconced. Very suspicious.

I haven't yet read it cover to cover, but it's full of wonderful crackpot stuff about the joys and benefits of getting in touch with the "right brain" (i.e., crackpot) side of your mind. It'll help with "energy transfer between mates" and protect you from the "psychic training for sabotage [that] is now taking place in Moscow." All of this published under the aegis of the Ancient Mediterranean Research Association. Now, when the U.S. government decided to give all sorts of benefits to non-profit corporations such as the AMRA, I'll just bet that they had in mind the importance of first-class travel for Asher (a lifetime AMRA member has told me that Asher always goes first-class all the way) and sterling academic publications such as this. No doubt Asher's scholarship was heightened by psychic communing with ancient Atlanteans.

Of course, if you want really nauseating reading, try her Ann Miller book "Tapping Into the Force," in which she, writing for Ann Miller, tells the world all about the joys and wonder of Maxine Asher. She creates dreadful socratic dialogues with supposed Miller friends who are simply matchstick figures to whom Asher can then impart her "wisdom" and tell how her right-brain thinking brought her closer to "the spirit world," and enabled her to see 100s of bloody ghosts as she lay in bed at a Scottish or Irish castle.

The book includes in passing Iris Schirmer, the widow or divorcee of Mr. Schirmer of the Schirmer music publishing fortune. Presumably, Asher met her through Miller. In any case, Asher, Schirmer, and Asher's old confederate Julian Nava formed in 1989 the corporation "Schirmer, Asher, Nava International, Inc." According to the California corporations Web site, this firm was "suspended." I'm not sure what that means, but I don't think it's good. Mr. Nava and Ms. Schirmer have told me that they no longer have any contact with Asher, but were not more forthcoming about the corporation's purpose or any other details, although Ms. Schirmer did say, with exclamation marks, that she hopes never to come across Asher again.

Finally, if anyone wants to know about Asher's recent television appearances, her basic contribution to the ABC special on the "science" behind Disney's "Atlantis" was a statement that the ancient Atlanteans may not have actually been wondrous beings in white robes and who flew about in space ships. And for TLC's "Atlantes In the Andes," she stated, "So all of the television specials, the books that have come out, even if people are skeptical, all will help toward the ultimate discovery and validation of Atlantis. Look at Heidrich [sic] Schliemann and his discovery of Troy, look how he was ridiculed in his lifetime, and yet Troy is now valid. There have just been endless things that have been discovered, and Atlantis is the next one. We're ready for Atlantis now." Imagine this with Asher's accompanying smug and phoney smile.

If anyone ever comes across documentation about her appearance or appearances on "The Quiz Kids" in Chicago in the 1940s, back when it was a dazzlingly successful radio show on a par with today's "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire," I'd love to hear about it. Although it did have one tyke who went on to become James D. Watson, Nobel prizewinner, a lot of the kids were just smug little tots who were full of themselves. So, you see, Asher has been at this since early childhood. Now if she would only learn, at age 70, how to write competent English....