What I'm reading next

I know this isn't how it's usually done, but my reading schedule's kinda slow, of late.

(Not good, I know. That old dictum 'never write more than you're reading', that's a pretty good rule of thumb, actually.)

Anyway: when I get to it, the next on the stack is James Randi's The Faith Healers.

There's a practical research reason for this, but I've also always had a perverse fascination with cons of all persuasions, their victims, and the human dynamics (hope, gullibility, desperation and sometimes greed on the part of the marks, self-delusion both on the part of the con and the mark, and a mix of motivations running finally to craven greed on the part of the con) that make the phenomenon possible. And in the religious sphere in particular, from Joseph Smith and L. Ron Hubbard, through Peter Popoff and Benny Hinn, there's a whole rich vein of material on the machinations of the self-described prophets and healers that play and have played in that space.

I've probably read too much on this stuff already, s'true. But what can ya do? It's a vice of mine.