Blends a religion reporter's memoir with the compelling stories of three men - Aldous Huxley, Gerald Heard, and Bill Wilson - who transformed the landscape of Western religion and spirituality in the twentieth century. This title recounts author's own rocky personal journey from 1960s and 1970s counter-culture.
"The key figure in this 'blend of memoir and biography' is Lattin, whose narrative arc might be the strangest. He somehow balanced his religion reportage with a descent into cocaine addiction and alcoholism, and he sees this book as a crucial element in his ongoing sobriety. . . . 'One of the things I learned from AA is that many of us drink in an effort to quench a religious thirst,' he writes. 'It's how we get some temporary relief from the spiritual emptiness.'"