Jack Coulehan, writing for the
New York University of Medicine, said "This book provides a good introduction to the work of Ian Stevenson, a man who qualifies for this database because he has devoted his professional life to the study of narrative. Stevenson's methodology involves listening to stories, comparing and contrasting variants of stories, and constructing long, detailed narratives that attempt to 'capture' the complex experience of his informants, who claim to remember incidents from past lives. In this sense Stevenson's work is similar to that of ethnographers, cultural anthropologists, and folklorists". More critically, the philosopher and skeptic
Robert Todd Carroll wrote that "
Old Souls is an interesting read but the author is not very critical in his observations. He takes a lot at face value and seems not to understand the dangers of
confirmation bias."
Old Souls received considerable media attention following publication, in the
Los Angeles Times,
Chicago Tribune, and other sources. ==See also==