Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1986 Page 81
victims‘ stories as well, believably. By tracing the leaders‘ lives, she brings them down,
crudely at times, from the pedestals they have built for themselves. It appears that Webb
has drawn more on books about the Peoples Temple than those about the Moonies, Hare
Krishnas, Children of God, Divine Light Mission, or Scientology, although facets of Eastern
mysticism have filtered into the story. She also conveys the potential vulnerability of almost
anyone to the pull of charismatic leaders. There are certainly positive factors about the
book.
As a novel, however, The God Hustlers does not maintain a story line as forcefully as, for
example, The Cult, where the focus was on one group --an amalgamation of the Unification
Church and the Hare Krishnas, primarily --and on college age youths who became
enmeshed in it As a primer on cults and a tutorial on aspects of social and abnormal
psychology, The Cult was a valuable teaching tool. Webb‘s novel, especially in the early
chapters, would not ―grab‖ today‘s students as firmly as The Cult did because of its more
diffused plot and the writing style, which is flowery at times. On the other hand, once past
the first 60-70 pages, the writing becomes tighter and the story direction more evident.
Indeed, on a snowbound winter day, The God Hustlers becomes a good read.
Lita Linzer Schwartz, Ph.D., is Professor of Educational Psychology at the Pennsylvania
State University, Ogontz Campus. She is the author of numerous articles and papers on
religious cults, including, Charismatic leadership: A case in point, with Natalie Isser,
concerning the ]9th century proselytizing work of the French clergyman Theodore
Ratisbonne (Cultic Studies Journal, 3, 1986, pp. 57-77), and Parental responses to their
children‘s cult membership, in the current issue of the Cultic Studies Journal.
A book review by Lita Schwartz of The God Hustlers by Mary H. Webb. (1986). Cultic Studies Journal. 3(2), 264-267.
victims‘ stories as well, believably. By tracing the leaders‘ lives, she brings them down,
crudely at times, from the pedestals they have built for themselves. It appears that Webb
has drawn more on books about the Peoples Temple than those about the Moonies, Hare
Krishnas, Children of God, Divine Light Mission, or Scientology, although facets of Eastern
mysticism have filtered into the story. She also conveys the potential vulnerability of almost
anyone to the pull of charismatic leaders. There are certainly positive factors about the
book.
As a novel, however, The God Hustlers does not maintain a story line as forcefully as, for
example, The Cult, where the focus was on one group --an amalgamation of the Unification
Church and the Hare Krishnas, primarily --and on college age youths who became
enmeshed in it As a primer on cults and a tutorial on aspects of social and abnormal
psychology, The Cult was a valuable teaching tool. Webb‘s novel, especially in the early
chapters, would not ―grab‖ today‘s students as firmly as The Cult did because of its more
diffused plot and the writing style, which is flowery at times. On the other hand, once past
the first 60-70 pages, the writing becomes tighter and the story direction more evident.
Indeed, on a snowbound winter day, The God Hustlers becomes a good read.
Lita Linzer Schwartz, Ph.D., is Professor of Educational Psychology at the Pennsylvania
State University, Ogontz Campus. She is the author of numerous articles and papers on
religious cults, including, Charismatic leadership: A case in point, with Natalie Isser,
concerning the ]9th century proselytizing work of the French clergyman Theodore
Ratisbonne (Cultic Studies Journal, 3, 1986, pp. 57-77), and Parental responses to their
children‘s cult membership, in the current issue of the Cultic Studies Journal.
A book review by Lita Schwartz of The God Hustlers by Mary H. Webb. (1986). Cultic Studies Journal. 3(2), 264-267.
