Contesting: The Name it and Claim it Game (Book Review)

Contesting: The Name It and Claim It Game : Wineuvers for Wishcraft by Helen Hadsell, published by Top of the Mountain Publishing. I saw this book super-hyped in a couple of different places on the internet, and then I went to the Amazon link given here, and nearly fell out of my chair when I saw that it was selling used (it appears to be out of print) for around $100. That piqued my interest, so I put in a request to my library for an interlibrary loan to see if I could find out what the hype was all about. About 3 weeks later, I got a notice that it was in, so I spent the next two nights reading it.

What a disappointment! The whole thesis of the book is that if you wish hard enough, you’ll win contests. There are a few practical suggestions, such as “don’t spend more on postage than the value of the least prize”, and “always follow all of the instructions exactly”.  The meat of the  book can be summed up in two sentences. Which I just did. The rest of the book is a classic study in logical fallacies. When I looked up the publisher (link above), I saw that they specialize in rubbish such as Astrology and Psychokinesis, which is fitting, I guess.

I would recommend that if you really want to read this book, use interlibrary loan through your local public library. That way you’ll save about $100, and only waste the hour or so it takes to wade through this trash.

You’re welcome.