The Great Days [Paperback]

Eli Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Told through the eyes and experience of Brother August, The Great Days is a disturbing tale of megalomania and submission that takes place as a spiritual community in the sparse Arizona desert prepares for the great days, a period of enlightenment, to arrive. When Papa, the cult leader, takes a ten-year-old girl, Melody, as his fifth and final wife, some followers resist. But a supreme being cannot accept doubt from his disciples, and resisters are redirected into compliance.

As Papa's chief aid and spiritual interpreter, Brother August's loyalty to Papa's vision is taken for granted. But August's love for Melody and her mother jolts him from the intoxicating spell of Papa's power, and soon, August's awakening edges this fragile cult to a ferocious breaking point.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The story of a troubled young cult member, this debut novel from poet Brown is a carefully-imagined tale of delusion and disillusion. After one too many LSD trips, Berkeley student August signs up as a True Mind Heart Center initiate. Under the guidance of a man known as Papa, August grows increasingly involved, training the center's latest recruits ("NewFaces"), serving as Papa's spokesperson and understudy, and falling more deeply into the dogma's swampy logic. Though he finds refuge in Papa's authority and routine, the line between lies and "Truth" become blurry, especially after August witnesses an ominous beetle infestation, the wedding of a child bride and the abusive "redirection" of a disciple. August's ingestion of cult doctrine is convincingly detailed, as is his eventual abandonment of it; after a cataclysmic psychic break, August flees the Center and begins putting as many miles as he can between himself and True Mind Heart. Unfortunately, he finds it hard to shake the Center's tremendous hold on him. Grappling anew, August has to make sense of his own desires and chart a path back to the real world. With lyrical, confident prose, Brown makes August's dark journey a harrowing, convincing look into the heart of cult life that should linger with readers.
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Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Boaz Publishing Company; 1 edition (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893448053
• ISBN-13: 978-1893448056
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,157,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Days: a Great Read!, November 2, 2008

By 

Davon (Sonoma County, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Days (Paperback)

Bold and beautiful, harsh and haunting, The Great Days is the compelling story of August, the heir-apparent to a religious cult, as he struggles to find his own will and truth. The reader accompanies August on his poignant and painful journey towards self discovery. The stark beauty of the story's desert setting is matched by Brown's breathtaking descriptions and glimpses into moments of emotional and ethical clarity for August. With stunning imagery, a gripping pace and a powerful plot, Brown urges us all to examine the use and abuse of persuasion in our world and the integrity of our own responses in our daily lives.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding, November 11, 2008

By 

K. Faulkner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Days (Paperback)

As devastating as it is deeply moving, Eli Brown's ability to paint an unflinching portrait of the ravenous demands of cult life and the psychological vulnerabilities it preys upon, is matched only by his love and empathy for his own characters. Brown's depiction of August, the central character's, search for decency and truth, speaks to something we all know about the desire for comfort, clarity and the hope of being good enough. Elegantly structured, rich with imagery and impossible to put down.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, November 15, 2008

By 

Eric Johnson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Great Days (Paperback)

Eli Brown's "Great Days" is a compelling novel with profound undertones.
I can't imagine a better account of what it feels like to be a loyal lieutenant in a spiritual cult. Or to experience any of the other conversions into political and metaphysical hierarchy that we are plagued with. I was unable to put this book down ...so to review it in a clinical fashion seems disloyal. There is never a trace of contrivance in this narrative; it reads as if dreamed or lived at the border of dreaming. Along the way I was often struck by brilliant descriptions of the desert, of the small towns, the look of people in passing. Struck in the same way one would be if reading a poem occasionally while taking a bus through the desert. Its art in describing inner states is just as genuine and poetic. This is lean, original prose, always in service to the pressure of the main character's story, whose dilemma is powerful and archaic. A young man flattered with his closeness to the guru is suddenly aware of the lurid side of his master - and the rationale for the cult's asceticism starts to crumble. What happens to him (and the plot) never feels tinkered up to give the reader a 'lesson' about cults nor a satisfying redemption and cure.
We're observing thirty years since the Jonestown disaster and we need to know that no one associated with these kinds of events will ever completely `get over it'. "Great Days" goes deep into the allure and moral complexity of utopian fervor. But the reason I urge you to read it is that it's a work of art.