The Ultimate Game: The Rise and Fall of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Details the inner workings, strategies, and tactics that made the Rajneesh movement a major international religious phenomenon and reveals how the Bhagwan inspired thousands of sophisticated people to give their lives and possessions to him

Strelley joined the Rajneesh movement in 1976 as a girl of 15 and left it just before its highly publicized collapse in 1985. This book, which purports to be an account of the rise and fall of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, is actually the story of one unhappy girl's attempt to find peace through personal surrender. Like Hugh Milne's Bhagwan: the God that failed ( LJ 3/15/87) this tale of petty bickering, grandiose plans, and ultimate disappointment fails to explain the allure of Bhagwan or the dynamics of his movement. Moreover, flawed by a haphazard, breathless style and an episodic organization that blurs the narrative, it is more irritating than illuminating. Perhaps the essence of Bhagwan and insight into his appeal will come only from someone with an outsider's perspective. D. Stephen Rockwood, Mt. St. Mary's Coll. Lib., Emmitsburg, Md.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.