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The Book of Formation

3.6/5 ( ratings)

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.

Pages: 256

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Melville House Publishing

Release: November 14, 2017

ISBN: 1612196683

ISBN 13: 9781612196688

The Book of Formation

3.6/5 ( ratings)

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.

Pages: 256

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Melville House Publishing

Release: November 14, 2017

ISBN: 1612196683

ISBN 13: 9781612196688

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