Wish Fulfillment

Download or read book Wish Fulfillment written by James Press and published by Dog Ear Publishing. This book was released on 2009-09 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Press is an author and Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Statistics at the University of California at Riverside. He has published 17 books and monographs on statistics and related topics, and 75 articles in refereed scholarly journals. He has presented professional talks in most scientifically developed countries of the world. He has held professorial positions at The University of Chicago, Stanford University, Yale University, University College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of California at Los Angeles and at San Diego, the University of British Columbia, and at the University of California at Riverside. He has also worked professionally at the Bureau of the Census. He consulted at The Rand Corporation for some 30 years, worked at Brookhaven National Laboratories, Northrop Aircraft Corp., McDonald Douglas Corp., and is currently President of Statistical Analysis Inc., a statistical consulting company. This book, "Wish Fulfillment: A Tale of Dreams," by James Press, appears in two volumes. It is a novel about ten Americans who knew each other in High School and formed a clique. In Volume 1 they attend a twenty year reunion where they are entertained by an African woman who has supernatural powers. They invite her to join their own party the next night, and they instruct her to use her supernatural powers. The woman gives each member of the clique the opportunity to dream and to adopt the persona of the person they would like to try being for a while, and perhaps forever. In Volume 2 it is ten years later. The clique wants to repeat the game of Wish Fulfillment but can't contact the woman. Several of them go to Africa to seek out the woman with the supernatural powers, and they find her. They bring her back for a repeat performance. The clique members are told that they might wake up and become that person forever, or not. They may meet people they know while in their dream state. In Vol. 1, two people become younger and more extroverted; another White woman becomes a Black woman; another man becomes a woman; a woman becomes a man; a woman who is overtly heterosexual becomes bisexual. In Vol.2, one of them does research on Alzheimers Disease; another becomes the long lost granddaughter of Albert Einstein and works to find a new element; another becomes an astronaut and travels to Jupiter; another is nominated for an "Oscar" for his acting ability; another travels to Papua, New Guinea; another becomes Assistant Secretary of State for Indian Affairs. In each volume, after they all wake up, we see how having their wishes fulfilled affects the dreamers' real lives.