Outrageous Betrayal

Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile is a biography of Werner Erhard written by legal journalist Steven Pressman and first published in 1993 by St. Martin's Press. The book is both a profile of Erhard and a study of his business practices.

Quotes

 * ''Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile, 1993, New York: St. Martin's Press, OCLC 27897209, ISBN 0-312-09296-2


 * Werner Hans Erhard. Nobody back in Philadelphia, he thought to himself, would ever imagine that Jack Rosenberg would change his name to Werner Hans Erhard. He had been worried ever since making his plans to leave Philadelphia that whatever name he picked, an uncle of his in the city's police department would be able to track him down. But this name was good.
 * p. 3


 * Erhard was quickly taken by Scientology - the organization, the wealth of materials that screamed out Hubbard's name at every turn, the tantalizing technology and courses that spread Hubbard gospel to his flocks that gathered under the Scientology banner.
 * p. 25


 * When a routine letter was sent in August 1969 letting him know that he had passed "Grade II" in his Scientology studies, Erhard immediately responded with his own letter claiming that he had reached Grade IV.
 * p. 26


 * Erhard always denied vehemently that est was growing into some kind of guru-centered personality cult. He insisted only that est graduates performed all the invaluable hours of free service not as a gesture of blind devotion to him but rather to carry out the principles of service to others that he maintained was a crucial part of the est culture. Undoubtedly that was true for many assistants who found themselves so caught up in the blinding light of est's appearance as a path toward human enlightenment. But Erhard and his staff also made sure that volunteers, just like the staff itself, faced constant reminders that service to est and to Erhard were synonymous.
 * p. 87

About

 * Alphabetized by author


 * a compelling account of the 1980s guru who rose from selling used cars to peddling personal transformation.


 * Pressman tells his fascinating story well.


 * Pressman pulls the details together effectively.


 * Outrageous Betrayal is a disturbing but fascinating object lesson in the power of charisma divorced from conscience.


 * the most damning critique of Erhard.


 * Pressman details Erhard's past, including allegations of manipulation and tales of egomania.


 * Art Schreiber denounced the book as defamatory, but Landmark has yet to prove any inaccuracies.


 * [Pressman] makes no pretense to objectivity here: His Werner Erhard is a charismatic but abusive con man with a genius for repackaging and marketing others' ideas.


 * Pressman here cuts into him with surgical precision.