Self-Proclaimed Psychic Uri Geller Finds, Returns Library Book About Himself After Nearly 50 Years

When I was a kid, I got a book from a local bookstore (remember those?) that was all about some of the world's great mysteries. In addition to stories about crop circles, the Loch Ness Monster, and Stonehenge, it covered that of a self-proclaimed psychic named Uri Geller.

Geller claimed to have — and did the rounds on talk shows demonstrating — an ability to do things like make watches stop and, most famously, bend cutlery with his mind.

I don't know why cutlery, but many a drawer full of spoons has been rendered useless by Uri Geller over the years.

And speaking of Uri Geller and books, according to an article from BBC News, Geller's powers don't appear to include remembering a library book he checked out in the 1970s, even one about himself.

However, he recently was digging through a storage unit of his in his native Israel when he came across a copy, of The Geller Papers, a book written by scientists who investigated his alleged abilities that was published in 1976.

"I slash open the tape and I start pulling out the books and lo-and-behold the yellow paper is in front of my eyes," he told BBC News.

My favorite detail is that he made this discovery while digging for "the lids to two Ming Dynasty vases." I love that. It feels very on-brand. You and I don't stumble across things while searching for lids to ancient vases, but Uri Geller does. 

We stumble across things while trying to find the beach chairs or a rogue charging cable.

Self-proclaimed Uri Geller pictured with a spoon he bent simply because he can. If I could do that I'd never stop bending cutlery either. (Photo by Sara Lemel/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Uri Geller Returned The Book 47 Years Later

According to Geller, he was visiting Los Angeles in 1977 and talked to the writer Carlos Castaneda about the book, but didn't have a copy of it. So, he wandered into an LA copy and grabbed one, which is one hell of a power move.

Yeah, that book about me? I don't have it on me, but that library over there will have one.

Geller took the book with him to New York and from there completely forgot about it. That part is wild to me. I still remember checking out a School House Rock tape from the library when I was a kid. It was "Grammar Rock," and since I'm a product of the public school system, it's still the only reason I have any idea what the hell a conjunction is. 

So, if I had checked out a book about scientists studying me, I'd remember it.

But again, I'm not Uri Geller (although one time I made a watch stop, but that was because I forgot to take it off before jumping in a pool).

Upon rediscovering it, Geller wanted to return the book, which was very cool of him. So he shipped it to his daughter who lives in Los Angeles, and she returned it.

The best part? The library no longer charges late fees.

I just wish I could've seen the glazed-over look when the teenager volunteering at the front desk was handed an almost 50-year-old book about Uri Geller.

Wait, who?… He's psychic?… What's a "Tonight Show?"

I love a good overdue library book story ("The Library" is a great Seinfeld episode), and I think we're in a Golden Age of extremely overdue library books because most libraries don't charge late fees anymore.

Back in April, someone returned a library book that had been checked out 105 years ago.