Feet of Clay: The Power and Charisma of Gurus

Okay, I've wondered off our genre once again, so if you're looking for a thriller, this is not a book for you. Written in 1996, Feet of Clay: The Power and Charisma of Gurus is the final book by a New York psychoanalyst Anthony Storr. He reported his thoughts about a number of self-proclaimed gurus or guru-like figures, some famous, some infamous. Guru is a Sanskrit word which means "heavy." Storr notes, "When applied to people, it means someone who commands respect. He covered the period of time beginning with Jesus in the beginning of the last millenium, through the 16th century and into the very recent path with stories about Jim Jones of the People's Temple and David Karesh of the Branch Davidians. 

Some of the people he wrote about were ones I had not heard of such as Gurdijieff and Rajneesh. I had heard of Rudolf Steiner, but I knew little about him. Storr also took on studies of Ignatius of Loyola, Carl Jung, and Sigmund Freud.

Narcissism was one feature that was common to all of these gurus although the narcissism was much more pathologic in some than in others. This book provided a very interesting comparison of these figures. In order to bring a sense of order to their self-perceived chaotic lives, people have been willing to submit themselves to such gurus as a means of abandoning responsibilities for their own lives. This is a well written review of such leaders.