The book of formation
Subtitle: a novel
By: Ross Simonini
Edition: First edition.
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 239
ISBN-13: 9781612196688
Subjects: Self-realization; Cults; Fiction; Self-actualization (Psychology); Fame
Description: "This debut novel--told in interviews--spans 20 years in the rise and fall of the charismatic leader of a seductive self-help movement. In the 1990s, a talk show host leads the "personality movement," an integrative approach to radical self-transformation. Mayah, the movement's architect and celebrity advocate, adopts a curious, wild child named Masha Isle. A guinea-pig for the movement, and the key to its future, Isle is the subject of the eight interviews that comprise this book. As the interviewer's objectivity disintegrates--even as the movement's legitimacy becomes increasingly suspect--he becomes obsessed with Masha. And all of that is thrown into question when tragedy strikes. The stunning debut of a new literary talent, and a fascinating take on the cult of personality: about celebrities need to destroy and recreate themselves to stay relevant, public personalities coming to belong to everyone, and about our need to see everyone as a kind of celebrity"--