Erik Vance: Suggestible You

SUGGESTIBLE YOU:
THE CURIOUS SCIENCE OF YOUR BRAIN'S ABILITY
TO DECEIVE, TRANSFORM, AND HEAL
Erik Vance
National Geographic, November 8, 2016, $26.00
ISBN-10: 1426217897; ISBN-13: 978-1426217890

Vance reports:

I have always been fascinated with the idea of a miraculous healing. The notion that a moment’s inspiration or transcendence could erase pain or disease captivated my imagination. Partly this was due to my upbringing in Christian Science, which relies almost totally on prayer to heal.

In 2009, I realized I was not alone. Reading a list of speakers at a brain imaging conference, I recognized a fellow Christian Scientist from my days at a religious college in southern Illinois. His topic was the power of placebo. In that moment an idea grabbed my mind like a tick and wouldn’t let go until I had seen it through. I became obsessed with all things mind/body — not just placebos, but mysticism, hypnosis, traditional medicine, curses, superstition, witch doctors, and auras.

Naturally, a lot of what I found was bunk — marketing scams dressed up as pseudoscience. But all of it carried a grain of familiar truth. And in their adherents, I saw glimpses of my own past as a faith healer. But proper evidence was hard to find. Being a science writer, I wasn’t satisfied with cosmic mysteries or vague promises of hidden psychological powers. People often say, “The mind is a powerful thing.” No kidding, but can you be a little more specific?

I soon realized that the key to understanding mind/body healing was in the burgeoning field of placebo science. I wrote a profile for The New York Times about a placebo scientist and a feature for Discover about the state of modern placebo research.

During this time, I received a message from an agent, Susan Lee Cohen, who knew one of the scientists I had interviewed. Susan runs a boutique operation, loves to work closely with a select clientele, and fell in love with the idea for my book. Which was good because it was a hard sell. Placebo books had underperformed, and few publishers seemed to understand what I was trying to do. But Hilary Black at National Geographic got it immediately, and soon so did the features editor, Jamie Shreeve, which led not only to a book but now a cover story in the magazine.

Contact info:

• Erik Vance, 510-868-1763, erik@erikvance.com, http://www.erikvance.com/
• Publicist: Lena Khidritskaya Little, 202-857-7174, Lena.Little@natgeo.com
• Agent: Susan Lee Cohen, 413-772-0067, rivlit@sover.net
• Book website: http://www.suggestibleyou.com/

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