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Something's There: My Adventures in the Occult
Something's there by Dan Greenburg.
- GenresOccult
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
2 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Dan Greenburg
161 books75 followersDAN GREENBURG BIO
BOOKS:
Dan's 73 books have been published in 24 countries.
His adult best-sellers include EXES, LOVE KILLS, HOW TO BE A JEWISH MOTHER, HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE, and HOW TO AVOID LOVE AND MARRIAGE. How to be a Jewish Mother sold several million copies. It and How to Make Yourself Miserable were in print for 30 years and were on Publishers Weekly’s list of all-time bestsellers.
Amazon will publish Dan’s third psychological thriller, FEAR ITSELF, in January 2014. They’ll also republish his first two thrillers, EXES and LOVE KILLS.
He’s written four series of children's books: THE ZACK FILES, SECRETS OF DRIPPING FANG, WEIRD PLANET, and MAXIMUM BOY. The Zack Files sold more than 2 million copies, was translated into 20 languages, and generated an Emmy-winning 52-episode TV series that ran on Showtime and Fox Family.
ADVENTURES:
Dan has written extensively about his adventures:
Riding with NYPD homicide detectives for two years to research thrillers FEAR ITSELF, EXES, and LOVE KILLS.
Interviewing murderers alone in their maximum security prison cells for FEAR ITSELF.
Attending autopsies in the NYC morgue for EXES.
Learning how to discipline tigers and lions on a Texas tiger ranch.
Swimming with 80,000 lb. humpback whales in the deep ocean.
Flying upside down with a stunt pilot in an open-cockpit biplane.
Participating in dangerous voodoo rites in Haiti.
Riding with NYC firemen for four months and following them into burning buildings.
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster.
Assisting exorcists in a Connecticut house attacked by poltergeists.
Acting a major character role in a Western movie filmed in Spain.
Doing stand-up comedy at the New York Improv, and on TV talk shows.
Getting screamed at by Orson Welles on the set of Catch-22 in Mexico.
MAGAZINES:
Dan’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Time, Life, Newsweek, Ms., Playboy, and have been reprinted in 44 humor anthologies in the U.S. and England.
MOVIES AND TV:
Dan has had six of his feature films produced, two of which are on Variety’s list of top grossing films.
THEATER:
Along with Jules Feiffer, John Lennon and Samuel Beckett, Dan was a contributor to Oh! Calcutta!, which ran on Broadway for 21 years. He was also a contributor to Free to be You and Me, which ran off and on Broadway for years.
MISC.:
Dan has appeared on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Larry King Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. He grew up in Chicago, got his BFA from the University of Illinois, and his MFA from UCLA. He lives in Westchester, NY and British Columbia with his author wife Judith Greenburg and many cats.
dan@dangreenburg.com
BOOKS:
Dan's 73 books have been published in 24 countries.
His adult best-sellers include EXES, LOVE KILLS, HOW TO BE A JEWISH MOTHER, HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE, and HOW TO AVOID LOVE AND MARRIAGE. How to be a Jewish Mother sold several million copies. It and How to Make Yourself Miserable were in print for 30 years and were on Publishers Weekly’s list of all-time bestsellers.
Amazon will publish Dan’s third psychological thriller, FEAR ITSELF, in January 2014. They’ll also republish his first two thrillers, EXES and LOVE KILLS.
He’s written four series of children's books: THE ZACK FILES, SECRETS OF DRIPPING FANG, WEIRD PLANET, and MAXIMUM BOY. The Zack Files sold more than 2 million copies, was translated into 20 languages, and generated an Emmy-winning 52-episode TV series that ran on Showtime and Fox Family.
ADVENTURES:
Dan has written extensively about his adventures:
Riding with NYPD homicide detectives for two years to research thrillers FEAR ITSELF, EXES, and LOVE KILLS.
Interviewing murderers alone in their maximum security prison cells for FEAR ITSELF.
Attending autopsies in the NYC morgue for EXES.
Learning how to discipline tigers and lions on a Texas tiger ranch.
Swimming with 80,000 lb. humpback whales in the deep ocean.
Flying upside down with a stunt pilot in an open-cockpit biplane.
Participating in dangerous voodoo rites in Haiti.
Riding with NYC firemen for four months and following them into burning buildings.
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster.
Assisting exorcists in a Connecticut house attacked by poltergeists.
Acting a major character role in a Western movie filmed in Spain.
Doing stand-up comedy at the New York Improv, and on TV talk shows.
Getting screamed at by Orson Welles on the set of Catch-22 in Mexico.
MAGAZINES:
Dan’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Time, Life, Newsweek, Ms., Playboy, and have been reprinted in 44 humor anthologies in the U.S. and England.
MOVIES AND TV:
Dan has had six of his feature films produced, two of which are on Variety’s list of top grossing films.
THEATER:
Along with Jules Feiffer, John Lennon and Samuel Beckett, Dan was a contributor to Oh! Calcutta!, which ran on Broadway for 21 years. He was also a contributor to Free to be You and Me, which ran off and on Broadway for years.
MISC.:
Dan has appeared on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Larry King Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. He grew up in Chicago, got his BFA from the University of Illinois, and his MFA from UCLA. He lives in Westchester, NY and British Columbia with his author wife Judith Greenburg and many cats.
dan@dangreenburg.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 19, 2018
I ordered a very used copy of "Something's There" (the only copy available) after reading Dan Greenburg's quirky "How to Be a Jewish Mother" and being reminded of frisky articles that he wrote for Playboy, Vanity Fair, and other magazines. Dan Greenburg is a cross between Hunter S. Thompson and other gonzo journalists (for his participatory journalism) and a 13-year-old girl obsessed with Ouija boards, levitation, and seances. His free-ranging book encompasses haunted places in the vicinity of Loch Ness and its monster, including the satanic-rumor infused home of Jimmy Page, tagging along with Lorraine and Ed Warren (of The Conjuring fame) as they track poltergeists (including a flying refrigerator), fun with a Ouija board, connecting with a coven of teen witches, and interviewing a group of people who created their own spirit, Phillip the Talking Table.
This is really only a 5-star book for Greenburg's kindred spirits, so I will have to plead guilty to that. I loved this stuff. His name dropping of the rich and famous (from Jimmy Page to the Warrens to talk show host Orson Bean) includes blasts from the past and surprises of recognition--the Warrens were not particularly famous when the book was written and Jimmy Page was not yet a senior statesman of rock.
If you think that you will love this book, you probably will! Long live Dan Greenburg and may his quirkiness never end.
This is really only a 5-star book for Greenburg's kindred spirits, so I will have to plead guilty to that. I loved this stuff. His name dropping of the rich and famous (from Jimmy Page to the Warrens to talk show host Orson Bean) includes blasts from the past and surprises of recognition--the Warrens were not particularly famous when the book was written and Jimmy Page was not yet a senior statesman of rock.
If you think that you will love this book, you probably will! Long live Dan Greenburg and may his quirkiness never end.
January 14, 2014
Man, has this book fallen into obscurity. 4 ratings and 0 reviews. What a shame. One of the most entertaining books I've ever read.
A great ride-along with Dan Greenburg, now a hit kids author ( Zack Files) , as he investigates first hand, various claims of occult abilities. Some that I can remember were, remote viewing*, channeling, and a very funny Ouija session. He also visits Boleskine, Aleister Crowley's home, owned by Jimmy Page, though I've forgotten why. Nothing like reading a review by someone who read the book five years ago, eh?
The great thing about this book is that he makes no attempt to bowl you over with the "evidence" for supernatural phenomena, though some things seem to have impressed him, and he also doesn't make a make a big act out of trying disprove each encounter, although he asks some good questions. Those two tacks being the main ones taken by believers and skeptics respectively, can wear a person out.
Here you can be curious without feeling harungued for it.
Read it for fun.
A great ride-along with Dan Greenburg, now a hit kids author ( Zack Files) , as he investigates first hand, various claims of occult abilities. Some that I can remember were, remote viewing*, channeling, and a very funny Ouija session. He also visits Boleskine, Aleister Crowley's home, owned by Jimmy Page, though I've forgotten why. Nothing like reading a review by someone who read the book five years ago, eh?
The great thing about this book is that he makes no attempt to bowl you over with the "evidence" for supernatural phenomena, though some things seem to have impressed him, and he also doesn't make a make a big act out of trying disprove each encounter, although he asks some good questions. Those two tacks being the main ones taken by believers and skeptics respectively, can wear a person out.
Here you can be curious without feeling harungued for it.
Read it for fun.
January 10, 2018
This is the third time I've read this book, the first time back in the 1970s shortly after its publication, twelve years ago and today. As we get older thru greater knowledge and experience we view things from a changing perspective. Hence, re-reading this book.
Dan Greenburg is a very entertaining humor writer and I first became familiar with his work in Playboy Magazine back in the 70s. His wit and humor along with fine writing come through in his decision to personally explore the occult tongue-in-cheek as an interested skeptic.
Five stars for Greenburg's humor and writing and 3 stars for content. Some of the content is very interesting and some of it drags, like the lengthy chapter on the young white woman who goes to Africa and decides to become a witch doctor. Anything dealing with 'famous' mediums is boring and a fraud as Dan Greenburg discovered. As part of his survey he looks into Wicca and again finds there's nothing there. At those times the book is about anthropology and psychology rather than the occult.
Greenburg gets tantalizing glimpses of the supernatural and has some very near misses with experiencing it directly. During his research he moves from skeptic to agnostic and concludes the book with not knowing exactly what's going on but sure that "something's there".
It's too bad he didn't publish as sequel as he hinted at in the book.
Dan Greenburg is a very entertaining humor writer and I first became familiar with his work in Playboy Magazine back in the 70s. His wit and humor along with fine writing come through in his decision to personally explore the occult tongue-in-cheek as an interested skeptic.
Five stars for Greenburg's humor and writing and 3 stars for content. Some of the content is very interesting and some of it drags, like the lengthy chapter on the young white woman who goes to Africa and decides to become a witch doctor. Anything dealing with 'famous' mediums is boring and a fraud as Dan Greenburg discovered. As part of his survey he looks into Wicca and again finds there's nothing there. At those times the book is about anthropology and psychology rather than the occult.
Greenburg gets tantalizing glimpses of the supernatural and has some very near misses with experiencing it directly. During his research he moves from skeptic to agnostic and concludes the book with not knowing exactly what's going on but sure that "something's there".
It's too bad he didn't publish as sequel as he hinted at in the book.
August 15, 2022
Among other mysteries is the report of a woman who can read newsprint with her elbow. How does she do it? Simple: she puts her elbow on the page. A fun book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews