Tuesday, June 2, 2020

My Conversations With Black: 13 People, 1 Body by Bill Puett, Ph.D.


I recently read Conversations With Black: 13 People, 1 Body by Bill Puett, Ph.D. This is a work of nonfiction which explores concepts such as multiple systems, the nature of consciousness, personhood, the mechanics of hypnosis, past lives, and more.

I ended up reading Conversations With Black: 13 People, 1 Body by Bill Puett, Ph.D. because Bill Puett was one of my college professors back in the day. In fact, he was one of my favorite professors in college. I took 2 (or maybe 3??) of his philosophy courses during college and at one point thought I wanted to major in philosophy. But I ended up sticking with my original major (BA in Russian language) instead. 

I'm glad I read Conversations With Black: 13 People, 1 Body by Bill Puett, Ph.D. This book is not a lengthy book as it is under 200 pages, but it isn't a light read in the slightest.

Conversations With Black: 13 People, 1 Body by Bill Puett, Ph.D. is epistolary in nature as it is written mainly as a series of emails between the author and various persons that inhabit a single body... think 13 different people inhabiting one body verses one person with 13 different personalities. 

This book covers what it is like for one specific 'body' that lives with dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) and their journey. This book goes a lot deeper than exploring what it's like to live with 13 individuals in one body and it's more than simply a biography. The author largely communicates with Black, who is one individual that lives in this multiple system. Bill and Black delve into some deep philosophical discussions that are a lot to intake and absorb at times about topics like consciousness, past lives, and the mechanics of hypnosis. Additionally, there are some new to me concepts/terminology/vocabulary that I'm still trying to fully grasp, so I will need to do another pass through of Conversations With Black: 13 People, 1 Body.

Below is the summary for Conversations With Black: 13 People, 1 Body by Bill Puett, Ph.D. from Amazon:
For more than 18 years, I have had many conversations with Black and the thirteen people of a multiple system who share the same physical body. I have been for some their closest friend and for all a counselor and life coach. They are a wonderful and extraordinary group whose lives have touched me deeply. Here is a book about multiplicity, consciousness, personhood, souls, past lives, ethics, and friendships over lifetimes, written through the lens of our deep friendship and concern for each other.
I'm giving Conversations With Black: 13 People, 1 Body by Bill Puett, Ph.D. a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

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