G. I. Gurdjieff dominated early twentieth-century esoteric thought with his unsettling system of psychological development known as the Fourth Way. Much less is known about his brilliant follower, P.D. Ouspensky who disseminated Gurdjieff's ideas and greatly influenced the European avant garde. Most writers present him, in Gurdjieff's own words, as a weak man, unable to grasp his Master's teachings. Gary Lachman effectively undercuts this bias, interweaving biography with excerpts from Ouspensky's other writings to show that he had a strong mystical vision of his own, in stark contrast to Gurdjieff's concept as man as a machine.
