just heard about this book (when I saw a review for another book by Tim Guest) and thought it would be of interest here. I;ve copied the info from Powells.com,and plan to order the book as soon asI get paid this month (which should be next few days, good thing I keep lots of dry bans and grains iglassjarslike every former teen back to the lander and Berkeley organic-o.)
the communities that saw children as an impediment to whatever the adults were doing "spiritually" or"forgrowth" always seemed like the scariest tome, I guess because I know we were,duh,all children once.I mean,woe to the children whose parents move somewhere where vasectomy is mandated...Synanon, Rajneshpuram, etc...
will check out the book next week and report back!
Judith
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru
by Tim Guest
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru Cover
About This Book
* Synopses & Reviews
* Read an Excerpt
* Reading Group Guide
* Comment on this title and you could win free books!
* More Books by Tim Guest
ISBN13: 9780156031066
ISBN10: 015603106x
Condition: Standard
All Product Details
Only 2 left in stock at $4.50!
Available at:
Montgomery Warehouse
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
At the age of six, Tim Guest was taken by his mother to a commune modeled on the teachings of the notorious Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Bhagwan preached an eclectic doctrine of Eastern mysticism, chaotic therapy, and sexual freedom, and enjoyed inhaling laughing gas, preaching from a dentist's chair, and collecting Rolls Royces.
Tim and his mother were given Sanskrit names, dressed entirely in orange, and encouraged to surrender themselves into their new family. While his mother worked tirelessly for the cause, Tim-or Yogesh, as he was now called-lived a life of well-meaning but woefully misguided neglect in various communes in England, Oregon, India, and Germany.
In 1985 the movement collapsed amid allegations of mass poisonings, attempted murder, and tax evasion, and Yogesh was once again Tim. In this extraordinary memoir, Tim Guest chronicles the heartbreaking experience of being left alone on earth while his mother hunted heaven.
Review:
"London journalist Guest (the Guardian; the Daily Telegraph) shares the bittersweet story of his nomadic childhood as a member of the sannyasin, a group of people who swathed themselves in orange and lived in the various communes of the infamous Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. In 1979, when Guest was six, he was brought into the group by his mother, a lapsed Catholic who 'surrendered herself to the world without a second thought,' moving to England, Germany, India and Oregon to work for the cause of Bhagwan's Eastern mysticism (which involved, among other things, engaging in sexual freedom and inhaling laughing gas). Guest played with the ragtag children of the hippie adults working in these ashrams, sometimes going for long periods of time without his mother's love or guidance. He systematically observes the daily lives of the sannyasin and their master, refusing to trash the devotees or their spiritual beliefs, instead targeting the manipulations of Bhagwan, whom he depicts as a power-mad holy man who taught restraint, poverty and obedience yet collected Rolls-Royces and told jokes 'cribbed from Playboy.' Guest forgives his neglectful mother as he records Bhagwan's fall from grace through American tax evasion, lawsuits and denials of admittance from country to country until his empire crumbled. Honest and vivid, this is an absorbing book about survival and good intentions gone awry. Agent, Denise Shannon. (Feb.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Book News Annotation:
the communities that saw children as an impediment to whatever the adults were doing "spiritually" or"forgrowth" always seemed like the scariest tome, I guess because I know we were,duh,all children once.I mean,woe to the children whose parents move somewhere where vasectomy is mandated...Synanon, Rajneshpuram, etc...
will check out the book next week and report back!
Judith
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru
by Tim Guest
My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru Cover
About This Book
* Synopses & Reviews
* Read an Excerpt
* Reading Group Guide
* Comment on this title and you could win free books!
* More Books by Tim Guest
ISBN13: 9780156031066
ISBN10: 015603106x
Condition: Standard
All Product Details
Only 2 left in stock at $4.50!
Available at:
Montgomery Warehouse
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
At the age of six, Tim Guest was taken by his mother to a commune modeled on the teachings of the notorious Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Bhagwan preached an eclectic doctrine of Eastern mysticism, chaotic therapy, and sexual freedom, and enjoyed inhaling laughing gas, preaching from a dentist's chair, and collecting Rolls Royces.
Tim and his mother were given Sanskrit names, dressed entirely in orange, and encouraged to surrender themselves into their new family. While his mother worked tirelessly for the cause, Tim-or Yogesh, as he was now called-lived a life of well-meaning but woefully misguided neglect in various communes in England, Oregon, India, and Germany.
In 1985 the movement collapsed amid allegations of mass poisonings, attempted murder, and tax evasion, and Yogesh was once again Tim. In this extraordinary memoir, Tim Guest chronicles the heartbreaking experience of being left alone on earth while his mother hunted heaven.
Review:
"London journalist Guest (the Guardian; the Daily Telegraph) shares the bittersweet story of his nomadic childhood as a member of the sannyasin, a group of people who swathed themselves in orange and lived in the various communes of the infamous Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. In 1979, when Guest was six, he was brought into the group by his mother, a lapsed Catholic who 'surrendered herself to the world without a second thought,' moving to England, Germany, India and Oregon to work for the cause of Bhagwan's Eastern mysticism (which involved, among other things, engaging in sexual freedom and inhaling laughing gas). Guest played with the ragtag children of the hippie adults working in these ashrams, sometimes going for long periods of time without his mother's love or guidance. He systematically observes the daily lives of the sannyasin and their master, refusing to trash the devotees or their spiritual beliefs, instead targeting the manipulations of Bhagwan, whom he depicts as a power-mad holy man who taught restraint, poverty and obedience yet collected Rolls-Royces and told jokes 'cribbed from Playboy.' Guest forgives his neglectful mother as he records Bhagwan's fall from grace through American tax evasion, lawsuits and denials of admittance from country to country until his empire crumbled. Honest and vivid, this is an absorbing book about survival and good intentions gone awry. Agent, Denise Shannon. (Feb.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Book News Annotation:
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