Product Description
Flight instructor Jamie Forbes guides a woman to landing her plane safely after her husband loses consciousness, then flies on to his own destination unimpressed by his act...flight instructors guide students every day. Only after she tells reporters that a stranger appeared in an airplane alongside hers and hypnotized her into landing, and after he meets his own guiding stranger does he solve the bigger mystery: how each of us creates, step by step, what seems to be the solid world around us. The best mysteries are the ones whose answers lie in front of us, in plain sight. The best solutions are those moments when all of a sudden we realize what we've known all along.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

Short & Sweet
This is an inspiring short but sweet story. If you are looking for a quick read that will encourage you to look at life and the things we tell ourselves from a different perspective, this is the book for you.

We're Already Hypnotized
My friends strongly recommended this book, and I read it, but the material feels old to me.The first chapter is wonderful, but then.Yes, we're already in a trance of consensus reality.Yes, our beliefs shape the way we experience the world.Yes, we know.Perhaps it's just the timing.Perhaps I just don't understand yet.I found Eckart Tolle's "A New Earth", repetitive and tedious as well.Perhaps if you loved "A New Earth", you'll love "Hypnotizing Maria" as well.
Among Richard Bach books, I adored "Illusions", but found "Johnathan Livingston Seagull" too lightweight.
For books about hypnotism, I recommend Brian Weiss' "Many Lives, Many Masters".

I Got Hypnotized
Despite my nitpicking here, the first 18 pages of this book were great. What nitpicking? On page 3 we learn that what happened was last September... (page 4 blank) then page 5"Jamie Forbes was flying his Beech T-34 from Washington State to Florida, turning winter to summer" and the story continues. Um, you guys up in Washington State, is it already winter in September up there? Nitpicking you say, fair enough.After page 18, the story takes us off into the wild blue yonder where life is but a dream. In essence, we hypnotize ourselves into our own reality. I am sure there is more to the book than that, but I just didn't get it. Why was Jamie Forbes flying to Florida? Because it was too far to walk? Where did he leave his wife? Where did he put his home? What am I missing here?

Best Book I've read in a very long time!!!!
Richard Bach has not disappointed me and my friends!We all bought his book and he continues to have us at "hello" right from the start.He shares the mysteries of the Universe in a parable, in a way we can hear the information through such an entertaining story.It's a quick read, short book but my friends and I underlined over half of the book.We couldn't put it down and have read it twice AND then did an entire evening discussion group with about 12 friends last Thursday night on all we learned.I can't recommend it highly enough...I'm retired and an avid researcher, reader and it kept my attention the entire time.I couldn't put it down.What a wonderful surprise to see he can still provide something FRESH & expansive in this world.A MUST for anyone looking to understand more of who they are and WHY in this vast magical Universe...

i love Bach books, just not this one
this was my third Richard Bach book and i've always enjoyed reading his work, but this one fell completely flat for me.it started out with promise and just got progressively worse.in the end, i had a difficult time just getting through the short 160 pages.

the first few pages of the book were extremely intense.Jamie Forbes is out on an uneventful solo flight when he finds a woman panicking because her husband has lost consciousness mid-flight.Jamie, an experienced flight instructor, calmly walks her through the procedures to make a safe and graceful landing at a nearby airstrip.having completed his good samaritan-like duties, he goes on to complete his flight and mostly forgets about the encounter.like i said, intense.

Jamie learns later that the woman, named Maria, is claiming that a man hypnotized her and led her to safety.this leads Jamie on a personal introspective journey of recollection and soul searching, in which he is trying to understand and bring to life the concept of manifesting your own destiny.and this is where the book flopped.hard.

what started off as a book with amazing potential turned into a book you might find in the self-help section that was preaching the ways of self realization.and on top of that, the editing left the book feeling like a rough draft, with some heavy stream of consciousness type stuff.the book would gain some steam and then lose it altogether before plowing back into the story.it felt like a bunch of really great ideas that never tied together and it left me pretty disappointed.

on the positive side, the book, much like Bach's other books, raises a lot of good questions and provokes some really great questions.as for his other books, i still love Jonathan Livingston Seagull and would steer people toward that title instead of Hypnotizing Maria.good potential, but a dud this round for me. ... Read more

Product Description
In the cloud-washed airspace between the cornfields of Illinois and blue infinity, a man puts his faith in the propeller of his biplane. For disillusioned writer and itinerant barnstormer Richard Bach, belief is as real as a full tank of gas and sparks firing in the cylinders...until he meets Donald Shimoda--former mechanic and self-described messiah who can make wrenches fly and Richard's imagination soar....

In Illusions, the unforgettable follow-up to his phenomenal bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give our souls wings: that people don't need airplanes to soar...that even the darkest clouds have meaning once we lift ourselves above them... and that messiahs can be found in the unlikeliest places--like hay fields, one-traffic-light midwestern towns, and most of all, deep within ourselves. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (499)

Not all that inspiring.
Richard Bach's pseudo-philosophical novel about a "reluctant messiah" is a meandering, unfocused attempt at a very specific subset of philosophy.The story centers around a first-person narrator (conveniently named Richard) who becomes the apprentice to the messiah referred to in the title.I'm not sure why the author chose to use his own name as the narrator - whether he fancies himself a messiah in training, or just wishes he could find himself in the carefree, barnstorming lifestyle in which the characters are engaged.

Essentially, the central philosophy of book (which manages to somehow exist exclusive from the conflict or plot) is that reality is nothing but a programmed illusion that we have the power to deny.I realize this book was penned in the 1970's when it was far more original to promulgate this type of philosophical construct, but I'm kind of tired of it.By the end of the book, it gives no insights to actual existence.In many cases when this philosophy is promoted, there's also some useful hints about how we can use the "create your own reality" construct to control our fears and understandings of our own world.Sadly, this book does no such thing except to suggest that we can get through life without having to accept it as real at all until we die... which then is surprisingly real, and not an illusion at all.That part just didn't make a damned lick o' sense.

I've become very sensitive to philosophies that allow people to live in a fantasy land, and get irritable when they don't provide any basis for people to translate them into reality.Again, this book is from a different time, but it presents itself as a philosophical read and there's very little useful thought a reader can glean from it.This would all be okay if the story were compelling.Sadly, it really isn't.Very few readers will ever have anything in common with a couple of guys who fly recreational airplanes for a living and don't interact with other people.

Buddies
Richard,Donald,and I go back a few decades. My revisits to their influence can span a few years or a few hours. Always they delight in teaching me something new I was ignoring about myself. Always they leave me knowing more about how powerful I am. The truth is I find less powerful, less and less becoming. The how come and why I choose to "be" less, interests meless and less. Richard and Donald within a few pages "re-mind" me so completely that I can spare the effort of diggind up the how come and why. Powerful friends these two. I recommend their company.

Just as promised
The book came in the condition promised (like new) and got here quickly. Great service. Will definitely purchase from this vendor again. As for the book, "Illusions" is one of the best. I'd read it many years ago, but had somehow gotten rid of my copy. Great story; a book you'll want to re-visit every now and then. Richard Bach ROCKS.

Incredible
I LOVED this book so much. I bumped into it unexpectedly and it instantly became one of my favorite books of all time. Extremely powerful albeit it's simple style, and I recommend it without reservations.

Eye-opening
This book offers a great way to look at the world.It's very empowering!! ... Read more

Product Description
I gave my life to become the person I am right now. Was it worth it? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (56)

my favorite book...
...since I can remember.
You make your path, whether right or wrong, and every decision you make leads you to a different road... make the most out of it!

Great read
The book was recommended by a friend. It's a great read philosophizing the paths we choose in life - and how every decision can change the course of our lives.

About 1/2 way through - so far so good!

Best book I've ever read!
This is the best book I've ever read, hands down.It taught me a lot about the world, our perceptions, and what could be.It challenged me to think differently about well, everything, and I really feel different, and in a good way, than I did before because of it.There are very few experiences in life that can do that to you and even fewer books that can have that kind of effect.Jonathon Livingston Seagull was almost as powerful.This book should be required reading for high school seniors, and they should re-read it a few years later.

Confluence
Bach takes the reader into his domain, a small piece of heaven.The whole story exists within a second.One of bach's better stories!!

A beautiful, life-altering book
This book profoundly changed my perception of life, afterlife, time, the soul, love, free will, and God - for the better.It presents a view on these things that does not conflict with Christianity, but broadens its scope.It taught me to look beyond the skin and bones that I am today, to think about the beautiful spirit that I am and will continue to be when my time on Earth is over. ... Read more

Product Description
In Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, Richard Bach met Donald Shimoda, a fellow pilot with the keys to the universe who barnstormed the Midwest in a Travel Air biplane. Part of Shimoda's secret was a small book, bound in a what looked like suede - Messiah's Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul. "Open it," he said, "and whatever you need to know is there." Lost for decades and rediscovered, here it is in print at last - reminders for those who have outgrown cynicism and doubt.Amazon.com Review
Readers of Richard Bach’s Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, will recall that said messiah, Donald Shimoda, carried with him a small book entitled the Messiah’s Handbook. According to Shimoda, all Bach had to do was, "Open it, and whatever you need to know is there." Now, decades after Illusions was first published, Bach has made the handbook available to all of us "advanced souls in training."

Rather than reading it cover-to-cover, Bach counsels us to close our eyes, focus on the question we want an answer to, then open the handbook at random, open our eyes and read what’s on the page. In this regard, Messiah’s Handbook can be likened to a 21st century version of the I Ching or The Book of Runes, with the same appeal to readers who enjoys such works. Each page is composed of a single, thought-provoking aphorism.

As with all of Bach’s books, at the heart of Messiah’s Handbook is his encouragement to his reader to follow the drumbeat of their dreams without compromise or apology, knowing that we can have what we desire so long as we believe we can. Used as directed, Messiah’s Handbook is a delightfully insightful guide for making those dreams come true.--Larry Trivieri Jr. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

Massiah's Handbook
I had hoped since reading Illusions in June 1981 that the Messiah's Handbook would be published.It is excellent and worth waiting for.
Thank You.F K Jones

LOVEABLE
Gosh I wish I could meet this guru ;)
I bought this book out of love and respect for my collection of Bach books - and I should have known it would GLOW by itself... I love it, simply magical. Thank you Richard Bach.. you are one in a couple of billion.

Messiah's Handbook
This is a must have for any Richard Bach fan, you know who you are. This is the handbook that Donald Shimoda had in his plane in Illusions. This is a terrific little book that you refer to and open up for pieces of wisdom. It is great fun and you will receive knowing smiles from your friends who know of the book Illusions. Who would not want to peek into the Messiah's handbook every once in a while. I lost mine in a move and had no choice but to replace it. Put's a warm spot in your heart and is profound when you need a pick me up of wisdom. Enjoy it wherever you are.

Richard Bach has done it again!
Great things come in small packages!Words of wisdom are plenty in this small but mighty book by Richard Bach.A must for any soul searching would-be messiah and a good read for us average folks as well.

Will give as a gift to all my Spiritual friends!
Wow!I mean WOW!This book is so "outside the box" that it literally comes across as there ARE NO BOXES!The jewel of my Spirituality book collection!I plan to buy several copies and give them to my special friends.I'm still reeling over some of the passages.Talk about excercise for the mind!Each page is an experience of self discovery and enlightenment.Simply a book I will keep forever! Wow! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Can't keep.
I have owned this book around 15 different times. And as always I give it away. For me this is what you should do with this book...read it and pass it on. This is the way I have received my first copy. This is a great book and when ever I needed it it ha been available to me cheap,I then read it and instantly know of someone else that needs to read so I give it to them and they pass it on to someone else. I love this book and highly recommend it to everyone...It is easy to read and can take a lifetime to learn...Great book!!!

Illusions Can Be a Dillusion!
Everyone can add credance to their own life if they try to get on the band wagon by reading of others who have been traveling trying to define themselves. "Illusions" is just such a journey. Dillusioned Baby Boomers will better understand this kind of writing, having been there on similar roads to the ones described by the author, as the era mentioned was one of self discovery, hippies, free love, redefining christianity and Christ.Reading this novel will shred self dillusions and make one wonder why they haven't thrown away previous beliefs that have handcuffed them to old ways and limitations so they can just walk on water at will or heal their ailing grandmother by holding her hand.Quite a "trip" in literary timelessness, you will either think that Richard Bachs hould have stopped writing at his last novel "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" or changed his religeon.A very interesting read.You will never look at self discovery the same again.

Illusions, by Richard Bach
I found this book remarkably insightfull as to learning to accept our situations in life and how to enjoy it. There are paradoxes and parables and statements that on the surface don't make sense, but when you think about them the are very true and meaningfull. I don't want to reveal much more or I'd be giving away the whole point of this book. I think that everyone should read it. It might become a cult (the good kind) classic. Enjoy.

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
A great read! This book invites into the realm of magic and creative thought. A comparatively short book, this one sucks you in and gets you glued to the text, wanting to know what happens next. Full of humor and insight, this is a book you will remember for years to come, refer it to friends and family, and probably re-read it years later. Great job! Spirit Journeys: Freeing the Soul in this Life and Beyond, Healing Thoughts: Applying Therapeutic Shamanism in Your Daily Life

It All Started with a Blue Feather
Way back in the old days when I was a teenager, I was given a copy of Richard Bach's amazing book, Illusions. At the time I read it, I was intrigued.

Illusions set me on a path in the next 30+ years that I might not have followed had I not read the book - and what a wonderful path it is.

In a simple and engaging fashion, Bach challenges the nature of what we perceive as reality by telling the story of Richard's interactions with Donald Shimoda, a reluctant messiah he meets while barnstorming.

Even if you don't buy the principles being discussed in the book, it is a simple and engaging read that may just leave you thinking like it did for me. Illusions has been on my list of favorite books since I was 13 years old. ... Read more

Product Description

More than one year on the New York Times bestseller list! Richard Bach's timeless and uplifting classic of hope and love

Customer Reviews (123)

Love Story
One of the best books I have read in a long time. This was really a love story with a difference, It has given me hope that one dayI'll be able tofind my soul mate.

Back for more...
Of course I loved it. Like One before it, Bridge Across Forever came to me at a time in my life that I needed an inspiring read. This book did not disappoint. I loved reading about Robert and Leslie's path to true love, it gave me hope for my future and I recommended it to friends for many years. And then they got divorced. Oh well.

Another winner from Bach!
I've been an avid Richard Bach fan since Jonathan Livingston Seagull was first published, and I was not disappointed by The Bridge Across Forever.

As noted elsewhere, the first half is somewhat slow moving, which I think reflects Richard's own sometimes tedious search for a soulmate. I'm amazed at his ability to portray himself so honestly while simultaneously sharing such a wonderful philosophy with the reader. It's as though he's taking us along on the journey for the fun of it.

I've seen a few comments reflecting a disillusionment with this book
because of his divorce. But who's to say that soulmates always stay
together, or that they ever meet in any given lifetime? Personally, I
think they did very well.

All in all, a joyous mix of discovery, metaphysics, humor and love!

Facsinating learning experiance
The author gives execelent exapmles of how to change and grow within a relationship.Commitment avoidance is over come to show true personal growth and meaningful spiritual growth.

Thought provoking and mind opening
The first time I read The Bridge Across Forever was in 1991. My joy in learning about the synchronicity of Richard Bach and Leslie Parrish's lives led me to yet one more interesting and challenging point of view. Like lovers who cross paths 20 years earlier without knowing the level of their significance to each other. This is an incredible story of lovers sharing each other's dreams while sleeping and the discovering their completeness when finding their soul mate is the epitome of life's purpose. We should all be so fortunate. Each time I have read this book, I am enlightened and over joyed. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a story for people who follow their hearts and make their own rules...people who get special pleasure out of doing something well, even if only for themselves...people who know there's more to this living than meets the eye: they'll be right there with Jonathan, flying higher and faster than ever they dreamed.Amazon.com Review
"Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight--how to get from shore to food and back again," writes author Richard Bach in this allegory about a unique bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. "For most gulls it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight." Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe, or neighborhood finds your ambition threatening. (At one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock.) By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan gets the ultimate payoff: transcendence. Ultimately, he learns the meaning of love and kindness. The dreamy seagull photographs by Russell Munson provide just the right illustrations--although the overall packaging does seem a bit dated (keep in mind that it was first published in 1970). Nonetheless, this is a spirituality classic, and an especially engaging parable for adolescents. --Gail Hudson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (344)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull Book Review
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is the perfect book for those going through a transition and wishing to maximize their personal development in the creative space. This book will take you only an hour or so to read, however it will have a huge impact on your life. The story is an analogy tracing the development of a seagull as it learns to free it's mind, and by doing so reach unprecedented performance. Although Jonathan Livingston Seagull was originally published in 1970, the book is timeless and I have a feeling there is knowledge within that I may have missed and will eventually pick up as I further evolve. May be useful to revisit at various points in your life.

Once you've finished Jonathan Livingston Seagull check out Ground of Your Own Choosing: Winning Strategies for Finding & Creating Work by Beverly Ryle.

Johnthan Livingston Seagull
I got this book for my 8 yr old granddaughter and she just loved it. I think every child should read this book. I think you take away from the book that you can do anything you put you mind to dolike Johnthan did.

Carolyn Ray

Unamazingly Imbecilic
This book is a worthless story about some stupid seagull who extricates himself from a group of mundane, materialistic seagulls in order to pursue a 'higher purpose'. He is then taught by equally stupid and like-minded seagulls about how to become stupider, until after much effort he finally reaches the level at which he can teach other gulls to be as stupid as he is. Lastly, Jonathan Livingston Seagull and friends, who are too good to collect food, abandon the less enlightend task of sustenance gathering and live off of the crumbs that idiots on the beaches throw to them. Unfortunately, due to their failure to migrate during the winter (because they began their journey by knowing that they had already arrived at their destination) when no one goes to the beach, they all starve to death (but the author fails to mention this fact, alluding to it only in a brief discourse towards the beginning of the story between Jonathan and his parents when the mother says "Why don't you eat? Jon, you are bone and feathers!" and the father warns him, "Winter isn't far away. Boats will be few, and the surface fish will be swimming deep"). To top it off the book is written in a highly irritating style which is probably supposed to make everything seem ethereal but instead makes one feel as if they are in a delusional stupor.

Make sure to buy this book so that the author and the publisher can reach their higher plane of existence by buying food and other banal necessities with your (possibly) hard-earned and now wasted money. But be warned: Captain Underpants books are more philosophically enlightening than this drivel.

greed,pure greed
I personally liked this book and wish the publishers weren't being so greedy about a book that they don't have to print,ship or advertise,wait till they come down in price or pick up a print copy for .25 cents in a bargain bin.

Johnathan Livingston Seagull
For anyone who always seems out of step with the people around him.This one is a keeper. ... Read more

Product Description

Here for the first time in a single volume are three of Richard Bach's most compelling works about flight.

From his edgy days as a USAF Alert pilot above Europe in an armed F84-F Thunderstreak during the Cold War to a meander across America in a 1929 biplane, Bach explores the extreme edges of the air, his airplane, and himself in glorious writing about how it feels to climb into a machine, leave the earth, and fly.

Only a handful of writers have translated their experiences in the cockpit into books that have mesmerized generations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

hear it from Huck
I am a pilot who up until this year hadn't flown in over twenty years.Reading this book opened my eyes again to my love of flying and the spiritual freedom I have enjoyed by my time in the air.Because of this book I have once again started flying.But the book is more than just flying.It is about finding out what is important to you -REALLY important and finding the courage to look beyond all of the excuses for not following your dream.Trust the universe and do what you were meant to do!!

As a gift it's a hit!
I bought this book as a gift for my son who is taking flying lessons and working at a small airport.I had read Bach's stories separately and liked them all.My son loved it!It makes a lovely gift.

If you love flying. . .or love someone who loves flying. . .this is the book to get
This work is an "omnibus" edition of Richard Bach's three great classics on flying. Readers familiar with Bach tend to think of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" (any of us in college in the 70s remember that one!) but long before Jonathan took wing, Bach had his own flying adventures, first as a military pilot during the early years of the cold war, and then, remarkably as a "barnstormer" flying an antique plane around the country. These three books recount those adventures of his earlier years.

I first discovered them when learning to fly in my early twenties. Time, circumstances, life in general took me away from my passion of flying until recently, when I again took to the air in a light weight aircraft and am just about finished with restoring a light weight replica of a P-51 Mustang. I fell back into Bach's works and discovered, yet again, all the wonderful memories, and yes, telling me as well about why, after a bit of a gut tightening moment when something doesn't feel right with the plane, I take a deep breath and behold, there is the splendor of the world below me at dawn, the beauty of circling a cloud that no one, before or ever after, will see as I now see it, and that sweet sense of being one with my plane as I slide into final approach and touch the earth again.

If you love flying, this is your book. If you love someone who loves flying (and can't figure out exactly why they do such crazy things!) buy this book, read it, get the insights, then hand it over to the pilot who will be thrilled that you now "understand."

I am delighted that Bach's three great works are back out there again in this single edition.

Bill in North Carolina
co-owner of a Loehle P-51 Mustang "Gloria Ann III" ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Algo reciclado
Me parece que trata de retomar el tema de "Puente sobre el Infinito", por lo cual resulta repetitivo y reciclado en ciertos momentos. Compré el libro con ganas de saber qué pasaba después con Leslie y Richard, pero el libro n despegó como el anterior.

Si no han leído el libro que menciono, mejor léanlo, y si ya lo leyeron, mejor busquen otro si lo que esperan es algo mejor.

Amazing Book!
It was a pleasant surprise to find this book again in spanish as I remembered to be one of my favorite books growing up and Richard Bach as one engaging writer. It teachs you about the consequences of your decisions and how one small thing can affect the rest of your life. I will truly recommend this book to anyone seeking a light yettransforming reading. ... Read more

Product Description
A half-mile up, suspended by nylon wings and the promise of good lift, life hanges on a pledge.Richard Bach made that pledge, fifty years before, to return to the frightened child he used to be and teach him everything he had learned from living.His promise went unfulfilled until one day, hovering between earth and sky, Richard encounters Dickie Bach, age nine--irrepressible challenger of every notion Richard embraces....

In this exhilarating adventure, Richard and Dickie probe the timeless questions both need answered if either is to be whole: Why does growing spiritually mean never growing up? Can we peacefully coexist with the consequences of our choices? Why is it that only by running from safety can we make our wildest dreams take flight? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Essential Reading
Life is!Richard Bach makes this his central premise.We are immortal, indestrucible, if only we can release those fears that all of us have locked inside.This has long been one of my most favourite books and my most inspirational.Don't read it on face value; on the other hand don't try to read into it either.Running From Safety is a book which looks at a simple idea:we are, we have been, and we always will be.
What more essential knowledge could there be?

Excellent read for the right mind!
Great book. It will appeal to you only if you are ready to read a book in its class. If you manage to read the whole book, you will gain alot from it. If you have acquired this book it must be meant for you. Read it!

Afraid of taking risks? Read this!
This is one of the very few books which teach how to come out of comfort zone! If one wants to take risks, he/she needs to come out of so called 'safety zone'. These lines are enough to describe this book.

Inner Child meets Grown Man
This is a dichotomy of inner child meeting up with grown man, in metaphorical terms.An autobiographical account of the author's life, although a mental stretch, will make the reader re-examine their lives and choices along the way.Made me laugh and cry.
Arlene Millman
author of BOOMERANG - A MIRACLE TRILOGY

Average Richard Bach Book
I didn't feel there was any new content in this book, it seemed to me to be a different story on what Richard has already talked about in his other books.Still the basic story was good and worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
When she was about to turn five, a little girl named Rae Hansen invited Richard Bach to her birthday party. Though deserts, storms, mountains, and a thousand miles separated them, Rae was confident that her friend would appear. There's No Such Place As Far Away chronicles the exhilarating spiritual journey that delivered Rae's anxiously awaited guest to her side on that special day--and tells of the powerful and enduring gift that would keep him forever close to her heart.

Written with the same elegant simplicity that made Jonathan Livingston Seagull a bestselling phenomenon, There's No Such Place As Far Away has touched the hearts of thousands of readers since its first publication in 1979. Richard Bach's inspiring, now-classic tale is a profound reminder that miles cannot truly separate us from friends...that those we love are always with us--every moment of the infinite celebration we call life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

A great Gift for Birthday
A very good friend gave me this book on my birthday. It touched me so much.

On the back cover these words are written:

"Can miles truly separate you from friends?
If you want to be with someone you love,
Aren't you already there?"


Read this tiny but immensely precious book to know more. A truly beautiful gift to give to your friends and loved ones on their birthday.

Was not worth it
I was told this book was GREAT!The guy who recommended it said it changed the way he looked at life.OK, either I am dense or he was high when he told me that, cause it didn't do anything for me!It was just a silly little book that I am sad I wasted my money on.

There's No Such Place as far away
Really wanted the edition with the colorful soft backed book, instead received the original hard backed edition.But no problem.

there's no such place as far away
i really loved this book, though it did take a couple of read throughs to fully grasp it.it's written like a child's book, though i doubt it's at a level most children really comprehend.i highly recommend it, especially is some one is moving or just generally far away.

excellent service
this book came quickly, gently wrapped and in perfect condition.Glad to have found it,as I believe it is out of print with the hardback and this art.Just like my first copy from 1990! ... Read more

Product Description
The author of eleven books, including such classic bestsellers as Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions, and One, Richard Bach has earned a permanent place in the hearts of readers around the world.His visionary works have shown millions of readers the amazing possibilities of imagination, mind and spirit.

An enthralling flight into the realm of possibility, Out of My Mind shows what happens when Richard Bach sets out to solve the design problems troubling his Piper Cub.He is taken on an unforgettable journey back to 1923 and the creative heyday of a British airplane manufacturer, Saunders-Vixen Aircraft Company, where problems are solved for confused aviators.There, Bach meets Derek Hawthorne, his guide through Saunders-Vixen, and a mysterious young aircraft designer named Laura Bristol who will provide the astonishing answers to his unspoken questions.This profoundly resonant tale reminds us of a powerful truth: although our dreams may lie beyond the limits of time, space, and belief, they are never beyond reach.
Amazon.com Review
Richard Bach, the writer who flew to success on the wings ofJonathan LivingstonSeagull, once again returns to flight for metaphysicalinspiration. Bach begins this journey with a quandary--how tocustomize his airplane, a small Piper Cub? For example, how can hekeep his latch door from slamming shut in midflight? How to stop hisoil cap from jiggling loose and disappearing? With each question thesolutions appear; they are apparently delivered by a vision of abenevolent woman. Before long, Bach realizes that an aircraft designerfrom an earlier time and another dimension is tutoring him. Of course,Bach takes the ultimate flight into her parallel universe where hefinds an old-fashioned aviation company that solves problems fortroubled aviators. He also meets his mysterious muse LauraBristol.

This is a brief story (101 pages) that wrestles with thelimitations of present-day technology and the grandeur of the earlydays of aviation. True to Bach's mission, it also wrestles with thechoices we make in this time and this moment, and how they can changeour life and our universe. --Gail Hudson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

the New Age was never so short
I'm not a Richard Bachoholic like a lot of the commenters here, and I knew virtually nothing about his personal life, but I happened to pick up "One" on a shelf of free community books quite a while back, read it, stashed it away on a shelf, read it again this week because I'd mostly forgotten what it was about and I was looking for something to divert my mind, and kind of enjoyed the New Agey-ness of it.I read "JLS" aeons ago but have the same problem with that:I don't remember much about it.Something about a seagull. I read his Wikipedia bio and he sounds like he's had an interesting time in this dimension, to say the least.

Anyway, this "book", which I checked out of the library out of curiosity about Richard Bach's more recent stuff, I read in two brief sessions.The first thing I noticed was that his writing skills have improved."One" was not particularly well written, IMO, although its premise was fascinating, but "Out of My Mind" is a better writing job.The second thing I noticed was, it's called a novel by the publisher.Not to quibble about labels, but this "book" would even be considered a pretty flimsy novella in most circles."Short story" is the best description, and it's written in such a provocative manner, even though I'm not particularly interested in airplane parts and recreational flying, but do enjoy pondering parallel dimensions and time travel, that I was hoping for more at the end.The mysterious-eyed lady from another dimension barely got her time on stage before it ended.

When you use yourself as the main character in a fiction story, is that really fiction?I don't know.

It's worth a read for its imaginativeness, but get it at the library.

What's the Point?
I just finished reading this book; fortunately, instead of paying money for it, I checked it out of the library. It's an okay story, I suppose. As a book, it's pretty flimsy. When I reached the last page, I though, "So what's the point?" And as far as solving those problems with the Cub? Please! As soon as I read the first problem, I'd figured out the solution; ditto the problem with the oil cap (I said aloud, "Yo, Richard! Take a look at the Nalgene wide-mouth water bottles backpackers use - the caps have a loop to keep them attached to the bottle!") And I'm not an airplane mechanic, either!

I think this story would have worked better if 1)Bach had spent more time on developing it or 2)it was included in a book of similar essays. As a stand-alone book, it doesn't work.

And what was the point of the woman in the story? A mid-life crisis on Bach's part? Apparently so, since he married a woman who is 34 years younger than he is. A consistent trait of the aging male, I guess.

So unless you want to own every book ever penned by Richard Bach, you should simply do what I did: check it out of the library, read it for free, and then decide if you want to lay out your hard-earned cash for it.

short but sweet
I picked up this book unaware of the author or what the book was really about. My college had a lot of books for sale for used books at cheap prices. I purchased this book for about 50cents. I started reading it, laughing, because I was thinking, "Is this guy going to go on forever about this airplane latch?" Next thing I know the book is going in a different direction than I had started to expect. It's a wonderfully written book, short but it made me feel good inside to read this. I recommend it to everyone. I would say more but I'm afraid I would end up spoiling the entire book. Buy this book!

Lovely introduction to Richard Bach
This was the very first Richard Bach book I've ever read. I read it without expectation, without comparing it to anything previously written by Bach, without looking for the return of previous characters from other books, without needing it to be a certain number of pages, without looking for a plot, without needing it to take me further than Bach's other books, without needing Bach to be married or divorced, without needing him to be a flawless person. I strolled quietly through this book unencumbered, and with a relaxed openness, simply listening as if with an ear cocked to the wind, listening to whatever it wanted to say to me. And so, I found it delightful, charming, evocative, sensitive, imaginative, tender, touching. Bach's heart was in this book, and that was enough. I was very grateful to have found "Out of My Mind". It makes me want to read others that Bach has written because in it I found the clear recognition of something intriguing and lingering... and an intense but gentle kindredness that continues to beckon to me. This is a very lovely and compelling introduction to Richard Bach.

Do not overlook power in simplicity.
As the character Laura Bristol says of why she suggested leather, rather than steel cable, "...It seemed the simplest solution to your problem, and likely the most practical."

I found this, my first introduction to Richard Bach's work, both a pleasant surprise and I suspect, something that will stay with me for a long time.Absolutely beautiful imagery!Not quite as plain, perhaps, as Hemingway, or as gut-wrenching, but it contains the same seed of powerful storytelling - not a word wasted.It was not surprising to see reviews both angry and defensive.Good writing pushes buttons.His work has obviously inspired and pricked.

I understand the inspiration - whether you've found a soulmate, or in search of one - this hints not of the sadness of loss, but at the joy of meeting and experiencing.I found that unbelievably wise in this day and time of trying to catagorize, label, psychoanalyze and define love in our desperate attempt to catch and possess it.And the writing, simple as it is, evokes the pure emotions of attraction, curiosity, frustration and quiet acceptance with no more fanfare than the scent of fresh-mown grass or a geranium makes when you happen across it on a summer's day.

I am not so sure I understand why the "pricking".It is a small book.Perhaps we measure value in volume?Perhaps we want tidy endings - we want a story, and a story that validates our own experiences rather than offering a different perspective?Perhaps it tugs too strongly at our own regretted and unfinished endings?I personally felt none - but then I have found my soulmate, and I live with the constant in-and-out of a relationship that is measured in the moment, only.To measure it by the future and past would be to destroy it.No tidy story.No assured future.Just the joy (and sometimes hurts) of now.

Personally I think this book captures the brief moment of experience, the quickest flash of eternity, more beautifully than I could imagine described.I recommend it on a rainy, reflective day when your soul needs a little quiet. ... Read more

Product Description
A manalone in the sky has a chance to touch the stars.But as Richard Bach, flying a lone jet acrossEurope, reaches for the eternal, he must also confrontthe fear and danger that shadow the unknown. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

A Great Flying Adventure
I really enjoy this book, that is why I bought it. I read a library copy of it about fifteen years ago, and I wanted to add it to my personal library.
If you love flying, you will love this book!

Strangers to the Ground
Only when you have flown a fast jet solo on a dark and treacherous night do you truly understand the wisdom of Bach's Strangers to the Ground. for you were forever changed.There is no more eloquent statement made by any book on such flying.You will re-read it often and through Bach you will remember such nights of your own.

BIG DOG

Not the Richard Bach you think
Yes, Richard Bach wrote "Stranger to the Ground" and "Jonathan Livingston Seagull."But the two books are almost from different authors."Stranger to the Ground" describes Bach's experiences as an Air National Guard pilot flying F-84s during the Berlin crisis in the 1960s.It was written several years before "Jonathan" and is less mystical and more (dare I say it) grounded than Bach's later work.It is also one of the best "airplane books" ever written.I read the book in junior high school and it was a major factor in my joining the Air Force.I spent 25 years flying jet fighters and I like this book even more now than I did 45 years ago.The descriptions of flying and Air Force life ring true in a way few other "airplane books" manage.Bach also brings his unique insight to the subject, getting us to see things through new eyes. If you like airplanes, if you like Bach, if you like a good tale, if you like inspiring reading - read this book.

Before the Seagull...
A wonderful reverie by an excellent writer.This is one of those flying books that should never go out of print.

A Good Read for Pilots
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1G87VAHPLA5D0 A Glint In Time Pilot?Know a pilot? Here is a great gift.See my video book review of Stranger to the Ground for more Information. ... Read more

Product Description
In this concise and accessible volume, a noted keyboard artist and Bach specialist takes a fresh look at the performance of J. S. Bach's keyboard music. Addressing the nonspecialist player, Richard Troeger presents a wide range of historical information and discusses its musical applications. The author shares accounts of the musical styles Bach employed and the instruments he knew. In direct and pragmatic terms, he clarifies the importance of notational and style details as guides to the composer's intentions, particularly emphasizing changes in notational norms between Bach's time and the present. Troeger offers core information on dynamics, articulation, tempo, rhythm, ornamentation and accompaniment. He considers controversial issues as well, establishing the importance of the clavichord in Bach's milieu and examining the link between baroque music and rhetoric - a dramatic relationship that can bring great vitality to performance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Dry, but helpful
This book summarizes many artistic elements of performing Bach, but in a very objective, matter-of-fact way. I found much useful content, but the delivery is very academic, and, in many cases, boring. A sense of humor or story-telling would ease reading, and this book has very little of either.

Directs the examination to the nonspecialist player
In Playing Bach On The Keyboard, keyboardist and Bach specialist Richard Troeger takes a new look at the Bach keyboard music available - but directs his examination to the nonspecialist player, bringing in historical background and discussions of musical applications of the styles and instruments Bach employed. From the importance of notational details in understanding the composer's intentions to changes in norms between Bach's period and modern times, Playing Bach On The Keyboard provides classical musicians with a wonderful survey of issues in Bach's music ... Read more

Product Description
From the beloved bestselling author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Scribner, 1970), comes a single-volume edition of all five novels in The Ferret Chronicles—Air Ferrets Aloft, Rescue Ferrets at Sea, Writer Ferrets Chasing the Muse, Rancher Ferrets on the Range, and The Last War. These fables, originally published by Scribner, are action-packed tales about courage, sacrifice, heroism, creativity, and finding what matters most in life. Readers of all ages will delight in the adventures of Stormy, Monty, Budgeron, Shamrock, and Jasmine as they continue seeking "to fulfill their highest right" and try their best to help us humans too. Richard Bach is the author of Messiah’s Handbook (Hampton Roads,2004) as well as multiple bestsellers including Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions (Doubleday, 1977). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

So much fun!
The most underrated of Richard Bach's books. If you think you are a Richard Bach fan, and you haven't read about the Ferret's, buy this book now! All the stories are conveniently and affordably collected together and are worth every minute you invest in reading them.

Curious Lives: Adventures from "The Ferret Chronicles
I am still reading Curious Lives, but what I have read so far I love. I have enjoyed Richard Bach Books before. Up until Curious Lives my favorite book was and still is Jonthan Livingston Seagull.

Beautiful, warm, touching
I can't speak as eloquently as the reviewers before me, but I wholeheartedly recommend this book. The gentle creatures warm your heart and give you hope for humankind. You will leave this book a better person than you were.

By Cathleen Hulbert
Brimming with true spiritual treasure, "Curious Lives" is perhaps Bach's finest achievement. These bright beings, with their mannerisms and journeys so cleverly depicted, do exactly what ferrets are good at. They get into places that are supposedly impassible and off-limits. In other words they get past our defense mechanisms, right into our hungry hearts and battered psyches. They are a highly evolved race, these ferrets. Theirs is a civilization without malice, greed or violence. With so much energy and imagination freed up for other things, they live in a world with few permanent limitations. Opportunities for adventure are everywhere: under the sea, in a museum, on planes and boats caught in stormy weather - even on a ranch where young ferrets, called kits, learn the ropes and study the stars. A former Air Force pilot and barnstormer who flies his own planes as often as possible, Bach continues to draw much from his own life in these tales. As a boy, he spent two years living on a ranch in Arizona and maintains enormous respect for the animal kingdom. Bach keeps writing books that show us how beautiful life could be if we only remembered the truth about ourselves. Somehow, he makes it easier to remember and to laugh at our own digressions.

"Ah mortals. They love to forget," says the an inner critic, portrayed as a dragon, in the story of two writer ferrets. The dragon has much more to say, of course, being a harsh critic and all. But what one ferret learns about the true nature of this entity will be deeply moving to anyone who creates with words. The dragon is given a name: Cinnamon. The writer, Budgeron Ferret, does get scorched, but he's never complete toast.

touching and sweet
This is a truly sweet and touching collection of stories about love, good conduct, trust, and living fully. One of the main themes is following your "highest right" and basing your actions on this ideal. In short, these stories are excellent entertainment and also provide good food for thought. ... Read more

Product Description
Once in a generation a book, a vision, a writer, capture the imaginationand emotions of millions. JonathanLivingston Seagull was such a book. Richard Bach's unique vision again shines forth, touching with magic the drama of life in all its limitless horizons. Once again Richard Bach has written a masterpiece to help you touch that part of your homethat is the sky. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Interesting
The book is good, ineresting, each chapter stands alone so it is easy to read a bit and return later.

Not my cup of tea.
Being a fan of Richard Bach I was surprisingly disappointed with this book.

There is so much detail about flying, I don't know if there was ANY "learning" to be had...
Maybe, if you fly planes, this might be interesting

This book bored me so bad I didn't finish it.

Bach Fantasy Flights
Richard Bach delivers an inspiring story using flight as his spiritual metaphor.A wonderful story.Not as good as Jonathan Livingston Seagull but still worth the read.I file it with my spiritual books to inspire.

Mandatory Reading for Every Pilot
When people ask why I love flying so much, I'm always tempted to give them a copy of A Gift of Wings.My father gave me this book on my 16th birthday along with vouchers for my first flying lessons.Nearly twenty years later, I value this book nearly as much as the memories I have of learning to fly.In this collection of short stories from the sixties and seventies, Richard Bach manages to capture the allure of aviation with an extremely rare talent.I have now read this book at least a dozen times and it never fails to rekindle my passion for flight.Before any student pilot is taught anything about the practicalities of flying a plane, they should first be required to read this book. If you're a pilot, you'll immeadiately love this book and if you aren't a pilot, it will make you want to become one.

a gift of wings
One of the greatest books written for people who love flying, or to inspire someone to pursue learning to fly. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Es mi libro Favorito.
Además de El Alquimista--Paulo Coelho--, me encanta como este libro invierte la dimensión espiritual a la física.Es la mejor escritura de Richard Bach, una que se instala de lo profundo del relato a una vivencia personal. ... Read more

Product Description

This is Stormy Ferret's story. Cargo pilot, captain of an Air Ferrets SkyFreighter, she had earned her name by delivering her freight on time through every weather the night could set against her. Her destiny, she thought, was her dependability. That was true until, on a run south from Seattle to Salinas, she plunges into a supernatural tempest like nothing she has ever known.

Flying north in his sleek FerrJet, Captain Strobe Ferret hits equally violent weather. As chief pilot of the giant MusTelCo, his long experience at the controls had taught him to accept whatever the sky set before him. He had adjusted to life alone in the wild pure arena of air.

The two pilots meet by chance in the most powerful twin storm ever to sweep Airway Victor 23, her voice in the night helping him survive, his voice helping her. Coincidence turns to destiny as they battle through the clouds toward an unscheduled landing and a meeting that will forever change their lives -- and the lives of thousands of others.

Air Ferrets Aloft is a tale of skill and commitment, of powerful coincidence set in motion by unseen forces from another dimension, of the life-changing consequences when like souls meet, of love discovered after all hope for it had passed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Air Ferrets Aloft
My husband and I listened to this on a long trip recently. We enjoyed it enough for me to order Rescue Ferrets at Sea and Writer Ferrets. They all seem to drag a little in the middle but they come to great conclusions and we enjoyed them very much. Had sent them on to my kids.

Angel ferrets watching over me
In a sequel to his Rescue Ferrets at Sea, Bach introduces a new cast of mustelid characters, including some who aren't quite alive anymore, the corps of "angel ferret fairies," former mortals who, piloting miniature helicopters, invisibly watch over the aviators of the ferret culture.Stormy Ferret is a female "freight dog," a pilot specializing in heavy freight such as ferret food, toys, blankets and hammocks, and since most ferret fliers fly at night, it can be a nerve-wracking job if a storm comes up.She loves her work, but it doesn't leave much time for a social life, and she's still unmated.But her guardian angel knows that she should be, and who to: Strobe Ferret, the friend and private pilot of a mustelid media mogul."If they meet...[they will] change the world for a lot of animals.But this is the last chance, on our timeline, to make it happen," says Taminder, the chief of the angel ferret fairies, and he assigns a crew led by the recent addition Baxter to carry out the mission.Baxter, as it turns out, has a connection to Stormy: his grieving grandkit Willow, whom he's been unable to reach mentally to assure her he still exists, is from the same family as she is.

Bach is a devoted amateur flier himself, and there's a fair amount of aviation technicalese in this volume, but the fairies and the developing relationship between Stormy and Strobe (yes, they do meet!) balances it out.The storm in which the two pilots are struggling to reach their destinations is vividly described, and there's a good leaven of suspense in the first 70-odd pages as they battle with the forces of nature.The author also begins to inject some more background about his Universe into the story (did you know that 80% of the music recorded by humans features ferret studio musicians?).

Love all the ferret boks
I truly loved all the ferret series, the reason I bought the first one is I do have pet ferrets, but after reading one i bought the whole series, the books seem simple but have a lot of thought and caring--who knows, if the world lived by the ferret principles of being nice, it would be a better place

Inspiration
Another tremendous book by Bach.As a Bach fan for years and a ferret lover too, I find these stories inspiring and touching.

Perfect for both ferret lovers and pilots.
I have been a keen ferret lover and my father is a pilot, so this book gives something for both.While the pilot vocabulary can be difficult for those with little experience in flying, the story is simple and enjoyable.I like to think of Baxter as the true hero, I named my own ferret after him.And the spritual transcendence of Bach's books like Jonathan Livingston Seagull are again reflected, which seem to parallel with concepts of the afterlife and how our departed loved ones are much closer to us than we think.A wonderful read with a very heartwarming narrative for both children and adults, and for those who simply love ferrets and flying.Thank you, Richard Bach. ... Read more