Report on Communion

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In his popular UFO books, Communion and Transformation , Whitley Strieber noted his uncertainty whether the ``visitors'' who allegedly abducted him were extraterrestrials, fairies or something else. Conroy, a freelance journalist, argues that we should take seriously Strieber's claim that alien entities are catalysts to a higher consciousness. In this rambling, overwritten yet interesting study, he pokes around in Strieber's childhood to establish credibility, analyzes his horror fiction and assesses Strieber's UFO experiences in terms of the Jungian unconscious, fairy lore and other abduction cases in which symbolic imagery figured prominently. He also examines the mixed reception accorded to Communion both by the mainstream media and within the UFO community. In an epilogue, Conroy relates his own ``visitorlike'' experiences. Readers who lean toward a nuts-and-bolts explanation of UFOs as extraterrestrial craft will probably feel let down. Photos. (Aug.)

Library Journal

Whitley Strieber's Communion (Morrow, 1987) and its sequel, Transformation (Morrow, 1988), are the most detailed first-person accounts about alien abduction yet written. Conroy, a freelance journalist, provides a thorough examination of the book and its claims. He delves into Strieber's family history and earlier career as a science fiction and horror novelist and discusses how readers and the mass media responded to Communion . The book's acceptance among members of the UFO community is also explored, with commentary from such authorities as Budd Hopkins, Jacques Vallee, and Philip J. Klass. Unfortunately, however, the author's objectivity is called into question by his admission that he had a similar abduction experience. This should find a wide readership in most public and academic libraries.-- Gary D. Barber, SUNY at Fredonia Lib.