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Conspiracy Paranoia = Conspiranoia!

Any book with pictures of Teletubbies, a flying saucer, a cow and Bill Gates on the cover is worth reading.

And all four of those images grace the cover of the latest work from freelance writer Devon Jackson, the sometimes Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and New York Times contributor. Inside the book, Jackson outlines the connections and conspiracies that link those entities.

But what really makes the conspiracy-filled work beg to be read is its title - "Conspiranoia!"

In the book ($14.95, Plume), Jackson provides 350 pages of paranoid rants that not only feed the beliefs of followers, but are wild and entertaining enough to keep skeptics turning the pages as well.

Jackson thrives on taking the loosest of connections and conjecture and expounding them into global, far-reaching conspiracy theories.

He outlines 21 such conspiracies in his book - all of which are chock-full of wild revelations. Here's a brief sampling:

The United States government has a Nazi agenda that it has been pushing for the past 50 years.

George Bush is a member of a secret society called the Bohemian Club, a group that meets yearly in Bohemia Grove, Calif. He parades naked along with Henry Kissinger at the meetings.

Hitler was an illegitimate descendant of the Rothschild family.

The CIA uses the Mormon Church as a breeding ground for its agents.

The book also provides fresh insights on the Martin Luther King, Jr. and Kennedy assassinations.

"Conspiranoia!" is a fun read. Its format allows for a quick flow, and the book provides some actual historical and contemporary significance about how the world actually runs.

Part serious, part satire, "Conspiranoia!" can be informative as well as crazy.

Jackson details the histories of large corporations like Disney, Time Warner and U.S. Steel. He also details the formation of NATO and the European Union.

For each of the conspiracies, Jackson defines the major players and describes each of their roles in the conspiracies, index style.

The book reads less like a novel and more like an Encyclopedia of paranoia. It can be used as a reference guide to look up all the players in other possible conspiracies that might evolve as time passes.

Some conspiracies can be offensive - such as accusations that the worldwide media is controlled by Jews, that Jesus had an affair with Mary Magdalene, which spawned a secret lineage of assassins called the Merovingians, and that the Pope has helped back fascist efforts throughout time.

But Jackson doesn't spew racist or anti-religion garbage. He tries not to deny any theory admittance into his book simply because it has an objectionable point of view, but disparages theories he believes are based on bigotry.

But even in the craziest of those theories - like the assertion that the 1969 Apollo moon landing did not really take place and was simply a Hollywood-staged event - lie subtle hints that the theory might be true.

For instance, NASA was under immense political pressure to beat the Russians to the moon.

Hmmm ...

Jackson takes every theory imaginable and lays it out on the line. It's difficult to imagine that Jackson leaves any theory out of his book.

Then again, there's always the chance that Jackson was bankrolled by some super-secret organization bent on world domination that wanted him to expose every conspiracy except its own.

Phil Villarreal can be reached at prv@azstarnet.com