Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I do not see how any one can fail to be touched,changed and inspired with hope and direction after reading this book. One can almost hear and feel some of the insight that was not written. It would be a dream come true to meet the author
Rating:
Summary: Unnecessary controversy- Learn to love, not fight
Review: There is a lot of controversy over this book. I can understand why. It is a book that promotes love and unity, a book that asks us to take care of ourselves and the planet, a book that us not to live life in search of more money and more things but to accept and use what we are given in life, concepts that us mutants (westerners)don't fully understand. This book is beautiful. It is the tale of a journey that one woman was invited to undertake. What amazed us about the book, was not just the journey, but that this aboriginal tribe practiced and believed in truths that are found in ancient texts of other cultures as well. This tribe does not just love the world, but is a pure embodiment of love. This book teaches us to value the important things in life...to take care of ourselves, our health, to take care of the planet, to see the divine in everything. Some of the things that this tribe can do may seem like fiction and fantasy or just plain new agey, but these are techniques that are found in other parts of the world as well where people live their lives as love. Unfortunatly there is a lot of controversy over this book by other aboriginal organizations stating that this book represents misinformation about the aborigines. The author only portayed these people as beautiful misunderstood and wrongfully persecuted people. Further more, in the book, it is clearly stated that not all aboriginal tribes are like this one she encounters. This book is about one tribe...NOT ALL Aboriginies. There is a lot of controversy because some people feel that this book is hurting aboriginal australians because they are trying to establish their identity. They are afraid that people will read this book and judge all aborigines in this way so they feel it is necessary to discredit the book. Aboriginal people will suffer from maintaining an identity with or without this book...that is part of life. Each ethnic group, each race, each nation, each religion, each tribe, each village, each family, each individual person struggles to maintain an identity throughout life. To discredit an author and prevent her from telling her side and her beliefs is not going to solve the problem. Not only that, but she wrote it as fiction, so if you don't want to believe that it is true, so be it, no one is forcing you to believe that this encounter was real, not even the author. what saddens us most about this controversy is that they missed the whole point of the book...petty little differences don't matter. look at the bigger pictures in life. Love eachother, we are all one. It is unfortunate that we need to create controversy over a fictious book that promotes nothing but love and being good to one another. The book is written as fiction so take it as fiction if you would like and don't believe that the author had these experiences and is mispresenting THIS tribe (NOT ALL ABORIGINIES). That is fine. Just learn from what this book is telling us: that we are all one and that if we as a race and as a world are going to survive, we need to wake up. We need to realize that what we do to eachother and what we do to the earth affects us all because we are all connected. Instead of fighting and feeding into controversy and worrying over whether the statements in a fictious book are true or not (seems like an unnecessary argument), learn to live your life in peace, love and in consideration of the earth and eachother.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe I read the whole thing
Review: This is a fictionalized redo of Shakti Gawain's "Creative Visualization" (which you are better off reading, - at least you will get your New Age information straight on), stilted and artificially done. The best that can be said about it is it's short and easily read.
Rating:
Summary: Hideous Hoax
Review: [This Book] is nothing more than a graceless rip-off, a conglomeration of new age nattering and patronizing egocentrism. It is as dishonest as it is poorly written. You'd be better off looking for life-changing philosophy on the greeting card racks at K-Mart. I just wish amazon.com allowed a "no-stars" choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Good message despite the controversy
Review: Mutant Message Down Under is a book of many facets. Regardless of how much is true, (and which, by the way, I feel is not the point of the book) the message has a universal approach and one that should be read with an open mind.Author Marlo Morgan's story of her journey across the Australian Outback seems unbelievable at first. Why would a tribe of Aborigines specifically select Ms. Morgan for this journey? What makes her so special? Also, it is hard to imagine a woman from a large U.S. city, dressed to the nines and getting excited for what she thinks is an award presentation for her civic work with half-breed Aborigines, then realizing her "award" is a 4-month long walkabout with The Real People -- and accepting this fate so readily!! Eating bugs and tadpoles seems second nature to Marlo Morgan -- Survivor contestants would have nothing on her! But Mutant Message is more than just this outrageous walk across the desert. The Real People have something to say, and they have chosen Marlo Morgan as their vehicle to spread the word. While I'm not sure if I agree with everything these Aborigines have said, there are several things that make good sense, regardless of how much into the controversy a person is. Living life simply, but honestly; not putting too much importance into material things; harboring bad feelings or grudges instead of just closing the circle and moving on -- these are all wonderful life lessons that would make us all better people if only we could do them. In my opinion, Mutant Message is not a full-on masterpiece; the writing mostly reads like a National Geographic article. However, peel away the scientificness and controversy, as well as all the things that seems unreal or fiction, and what you would have left is this beautiful message about life, all living things, and how we are all one people. Certainly this message needs to be heard.
Rating:
Summary: I wasn't uplifted by this at all.
Review: This book was chosen as the November selection for my book club. I hope the woman who picked it isn't there because I'm going to have some not very nice things to say about her choice. 1. The book is poorly written. It sounds "hack-y". It is in bad need of editing, both for style and content. There are some really really bald metaphors in there, as well as misuse of some words. I knew I was reading a self-published book, and not for good reasons. 2. I don't know if all editions have this, but the one I'm reading has the translations from Ooota in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. Most annoying to read. Painful on the eyes. But this is a minor criticism. 3. The edition I have is presented as if it is semi-autobiographical. Please. There are these totally unbelievable statements made, with no back-up, no real explanation, just "we are to accept this" - for example, a compound leg fracture is instantaneously healed so the patient can walk on it. People communicate telepathically, not only with other people, but with dolphins. A supposedly-intelligent woman gets into a Jeep with a strange man without even verifying that he is the person sent to pick her up... If you're gonna write fantasy, make it clear it's fantasy. Don't try to convince us that you have written an autobiography and then put in all this totally unbelievable stuff. 4. The whole idea that Westerners are "mutants" and that the native peoples have the only right idea of how to live. OK, now, I appreciate taking care of the environment and all, but I remain unconvinced that we should all strip down and go live in the woods, away from antibiotics, air conditioning, and water-purification plants. I didn't feel uplifted by the book at all. 5. The sheer EGOTISM of the writer - the implication that she was something so special for starting a Junior Acheivement program for the mixed-race folks (I should've been suspicious there, don't the true Aboriginals have nothing to do with the people who are part European?) that this tribe would take her on one of their religious rituals, make stuff for her, massage her feet, etc? Sounds like a really harsh "spa" experience to me. In fact, if I wanted people to alternatively push me to my physical limit and then build me up as being so great, I'd go to a spa instead... For gosh sakes, if you want some better environmentalism, read John Muir. Read Aldo Leopold. Read Thoreau, even.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm a Fan, not a Fanatic
Review: There is much to be said for a book that you just can't put down'regardless if it is true or not. Mutant Message is an entertaining and captivating read that has been a great conversation piece amongst fellow readers. It's not necessary to be Shirley MacLaine to enjoy it. My only suggestion is to come to this book with an open mind. You may find yourself exploring your own understanding of humanity's connection (or disconnection) with nature.
Rating:
Summary: bunk? i think not
Review: When I read this book I was initially skeptical. But after a time, I found it very uplifting and enlightening. Then I read of the controversy surrounding it. After doing some research on the web, I found many sites claiming this book to be a "hoax." That is what fascinated me. Why would a book about a white woman traveling with traditional Aborigines be so controversial? The author even allows you to either take her story as fiction or not....But then why are so many groups so critical of her story?? So ready to discount it?? If it is just a work of fiction, why the absolute denigration of her story?? I ask, how could a health care worker from the Mid West concoct a tale with so much depth and insight? If she wanted to just make money, as some claim, why not write about encounters with aliens, or a 'how to get rich quick scheme in real estate' (which seems to sell so well). I question those who dismiss this book as fiction...how can a story so rich in detail and emotion be so easily dismissed? Who are those critics and what do they have to hide?? Please read this book. So very few books these days are uplifting to the soul and spirit. It is a another step into that journey of understanding that we all seek. And those that dismiss this story as a hoax have many more miles to travel before they are able to see what this book means to their own soul and to the souls of all of us, forever intertwined,and always as One.
Rating:
Summary: Did you ever get the feeling you've been ripped off?
Review: I read the book yesterday and while I found it mildly entertaining, I had a very uneasy feeling that it was all made up. It's published as "fiction," but the author obviously wants us to believe that it all really happened. After reading the book I did some reading online and had my suspicions confirmed: the author is a New Age fanatic who wrote a completely fictional book attributing her own New Age beliefs on Australian Aborigines. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Unexpected pleasure
Review: I really don't enjoy "lesson" books. I didn't expect this one would be an exception. It was. Mutant Messsage Down Under was the story of a woman taken on a several month walk through the Australian outback. The lessons she learns during her walk were profound, and the author pulls the reader into the lessons, through anecdotes. While listed as fiction, this book has a clear, undeniably real message to anyone who reads it. Enjoy!
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