Proof of heaven : a neurosurgeon's journey into the afterlife / Eben Alexander / 196 pgs.

Dr. Eben Alexander is a highly skilled and educated Neurosurgeon.  This short book is his accounting of the events that lead to his Near Death Experience (NDE).  In 2008, Dr. Alexander contracted a rare form of bacterial meningitis which shut down his brain and he fell into a coma for seven days.  He was not expected to revive, but miraculously he woke up and continued on to a full recovery.  During his coma, Dr. Alexander describes travelling to several places and being taught many lessons. 

What I like about this book, and what separates it from other NDE type books, is that Dr. Alexander's approach to describing everything is so clinical.  He tries to tell the reader exactly what events occurred and what he felt, what his family and doctors saw; so I really felt like he did not miss any important details.  He also spends time going through the medical aspects of this condition and investigates medical theories that may have caused his NDE. 

What I didn't like, is that Dr. Alexander claims he learned "many lessons" from the spiritual beings while he was in his coma, but now he doesn't remember them.  He hopes to "recover" these lessons through meditation.  I feel this really sets him up to become yet another guru who will be publishing "spiritual lesson" books for the next decade.  When he plugged his new Nonprofit at the end of the book I was not surprised at all.  To be fair, I did check out his website, and even though you have to pay to be a member and he is now doing many paid speaking events; I still like his ideas and message and I want to see where this goes. 

Whether you believe in an afterlife or not, this is an interesting story to look at since Dr. Alexander was not a major believer before his NDE and he is able to look at his experience scientifically.