Reviews for Psi Development Systems

The average rating for Psi Development Systems based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-03-17 00:00:00 John Pacelli The book is a historical review of Edward Stratemeyer and the book syndicate he created. The Stratemeyer syndicate created Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and other popular children serial books. However this book focuses on Tom Swift and other boys mechanical adventure or science fiction adventure type of books produced by Stratemeyer. It covers the period primary from the late 1880's to the late 1930's (this book was copyrighted in 1982). There is some coverage of the later Tom Swift Jr series of the 1954-71 period. The book is one of the better overviews of Stratemeyer and his syndicate that I have read. Dizer has read most of the Stratemeyer books and provides a good analysis of their plot elements and an explanation of their period writing styles/subjects. He also provides a good explanation of why Stratemeyer syndicate books have not been very well supported by libraries or librarians in the past. The book is a great historical read of Edward Stratemeyer and Tom Swift type of books he created.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-12-23 00:00:00 Mark Doherty If someone were doing a giant research project on the Tom Swift books, this book would be invaluable. It traces the history of Tom Swift in a number of detailed ways, looking at everything from the sci-fi qualities of the character's inventions to the possible locations of his hometown. From there, though, Dizer broadens out to talk about all of the Stratemeyer Syndicate's boys books, in terms of contemporary literary critiques, political attitudes (containing a lengthy chapter on the problematic treatment of race in these books that felt a little reductive), and their literary influences and what they then turned to influence. Since I'm researching Stratemeyer's girls' books, this is not directly or strongly applicable to what I'm doing. Still, this is detailed and far-reaching enough that I'll be able to make use of it in regards to The Moving Picture Girls. It's wildly biased, by the author's own admission, but thorough enough that there's still plenty useful there, particularly for scholars of Stratemeyer's boys' series books.