Raj Patel: write a book, become a god
I thought I had heard everything by now, but the frenzy over Raj Patel, the academic and author of "The Value of Nothing," has me flummoxed. Patel apparently been tabbed by some followers of a New Age religious group as their Messiah.
The group, Share International, hasn't yet given Patel a Messiah ID card. But hints dropped by the group's leader point to the economist, who has writtten extensively about problems in global markets and food distribution.
As for Patel, who's a visiting scholar at the University of California Berkeley? He considers his quirky fame "bogus."
Comments
Wait....I'm confused (but ec always left me feeling this way...) Is Patel a member of this group or has he been drafted. (And, wouldn't that be sort of scary?)
Posted by: Eve | March 16, 2010 4:17 PM
Eve, by all accounts, Patel is not a member of the group, and is simply an innocent bystander who has had greatness thrust upon him.
With your name, I'm surprised you haven't been annointed by a group believing in reinacrnation.
Posted by: Dave | March 16, 2010 4:21 PM
Just to be clear about the origins of this rumor - it did not come from Share International. Share International in no way is saying or hinting that Raj Patel is "their Messiah".
Posted by: Casey | March 17, 2010 9:33 AM
I love writing and reading books. I love the notion that people can make things up in their mind and then make them real on a page, for the pleasure or utility of someone else. One of my favorite mentor on learning how to write a book is Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Posted by: whiteshark0121 | March 29, 2010 10:45 AM