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missamandamae's review
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
I rewatched Wild Wild Country on Netflix again, and it revived my interest in the Rajneeshees and that whole mess in Oregon. This is a collection of magazine articles from the time period of Rajneeshpuram, and gives some more context and information about what went on. This gives me the impression it was even darker than what Netflix had us believe. Maybe not for everyone, but certain worth looking at if you’re also interested in the topic.
crowyhead's review
3.0
This was a bit disappointing. I think I was expecting more of a coherent narrative -- I didn't realize this was essentially a collection of Oregon Magazine articles written while the events related were unfolding. This makes for interesting reading, but I think also means the book may be best as a companion to more narrative works about the cult. Because everything was written at the time of the events or shortly afterward, the articles tend to be reactive rather than reflective, and are geared toward alerting Oregonians of a potential danger in their midst, rather than giving contextual information. There are also, it seems, quite a lot of details missing, or not elucidated very well, particularly in the case of the wiretapping operation and the plot against US Attorney Charles Turner. There seems to be the assumption that people will have read about some of these events from other sources. I think I would have enjoyed this more if McCormack had taken the extra steps of synthesizing his articles with further research and crafting more of a book-length narrative.
redbecca's review
3.0
Like many others, I picked this book up after seeing the Netflix series, Wild, Wild Country. The book is a series of articles about the cult from the Oregon Magazine, published in the sequence of their original appearance during the establishment and fall of Rajneeshpuram. Given the new interest in the Rajneeshees, I hope that this book's author might consider a more narrative history. This book includes much more detail about negative aspects of the Rajneesh cult than the film does, including descriptions of rapes and beatings during 'therapy' sessions, anti-Semitic ideology, more information on the cult's history in India, as well as more information about the organization's financial activities, and commentary from a variety of experts on cults and authoritarian leadership.
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