Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006, Page 98
very nervous and wonders what is going on. Things get out of control when Ken, an ex-
member of the cult, arrives and demands to see Verena. Ken is in love with her, and she
has feelings for him, too. McMann sees Ken as a threat to the newest developments in the
group, thus potentially messing up his project. McMann gets a rifle, fires a shot into the
ceiling, and threatens to shoot Ken if he does not leave. Ken later brings the police.
I will not give away the rest of the plot, but I will say that Lurie bends the story from this
point on beyond anything that happened in the Festinger study. She entertains us with a
wonderfully funny foray into the slippery edges between devotion and mental illness. I can
understand why some professors of sociology still recommend this book to their students as
required reading. I would.
Joseph Szimhart
very nervous and wonders what is going on. Things get out of control when Ken, an ex-
member of the cult, arrives and demands to see Verena. Ken is in love with her, and she
has feelings for him, too. McMann sees Ken as a threat to the newest developments in the
group, thus potentially messing up his project. McMann gets a rifle, fires a shot into the
ceiling, and threatens to shoot Ken if he does not leave. Ken later brings the police.
I will not give away the rest of the plot, but I will say that Lurie bends the story from this
point on beyond anything that happened in the Festinger study. She entertains us with a
wonderfully funny foray into the slippery edges between devotion and mental illness. I can
understand why some professors of sociology still recommend this book to their students as
required reading. I would.
Joseph Szimhart
