Heaven's Gate: America's UFO Religion

I am kicking myself that i waited to read to read this, as someone who is fascinated and interested in all things cults/new religious movements and especially all things Heavens Gate. I've heard from other readers that this book was too dry, academic and unapproachable--yes it is academic and it is only dry in the sense that it doesnt sensationalize what happened within and the aftermath of the group. It really fleshes out the larger context of heavens gate in the larger culture, while also providing seeds of very fascinating inner working and dynamics and historical details of the group itself--stuff that other sources seem to gloss over in favor of the nire sensationalized stuff. I am o ly halfway throguh but i confidently and highly reccommend reading it to get a clear, humanized, dignified and truly fascinating perspective on everything to do with Heavens Gate.

I bought this book hoping to learn about the movement, its origins and practices, and the day to day life of its members. What I got was a very long technical and scientific work that would have been better placed in a sociology journal- if it was shorter! I could not finish it, and I really tried. Several times. It was extremely boring and dry. I have read other books about cults and non-mainstream religions (notably J Reitmann's book on Scientology and Raven about Jim Jones) that I thought were excellent and interesting. This book is nothing like that. I do not feel that I know much more about this movement than when I started. While it is obvious the author is very intelligent and has studied this movement in depth, I feel he cannot write in an engaging manner that will hold most readers' attention. Perhaps a reader with a Masters or PhD in sociology or psychology would find this interesting and be able to get through it, but I have doubts about that. I am used to reading articles for professional journals; that's what this book reminds me of. I'm very disappointed, and angry that I spent more than $13 on this book (kindle edition). Thank goodness I dIdn't pay for the printed edition. Wish I could get my money back.

This book is a thorough investigation of the Heaven's Gate movement. Benjamin Zeller describes how the movement came to be and explains why it ended the way it did. I heard about the group when their suicides were widely reported in the media. Unfortunately most of the coverage at that time seemed to assume that these people were crazy. Zeller provides context for the movement and shows how they actually had many correspondences with other American new religious movements and evangelical Protestants. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Heaven's Gate.

This is amazingly well researched. The arguments are tied together with a truthful insight that removes any sensationalism and gets down to the base layer of what Heaven's Gate believed and how it relates to the complex landscape of American religion. Highly recommend.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learning about the group now called “heavens gate”. It is a case study of what an happen when people cede control of their lives to one or two individuals, and shows how religions can begin and end.

This book is an excellent source for those that want some serious sociological research behind the Heaven's Gate cult. But just so you know, this is not lite reading. It's college textbook level material. If you just want the bizarre basics behind the cult then you should look elsewhere because this is serious academic research.

I actually couldn't finish this book because it was so badly edited. I was hoping for a more incisive book from an academic. This book had a couple of ideas that were repeated over and over with identical wording ("Christianity read through the lense of the New Age"). When the same phrase was used twice in one paragraph, after numerous earlier repetitions, I gave up. Janja Lalich's "Bounded Choice" was much better written and explored the same cult in a genuine spirit of academic writing.

Love this book gave it away years ago and refound it!

Very good and smart book about the religion and it's history. Just a word of warning that it is fairly academic, discussing theories specific to Heaven's Gate as well as theories of new religions in general. I don't know that it is, but it does sort of read like a dissertation or other academic study than a casual reader, but you will still be able to enjoy it. One comment, I wish there was more of a history on the group, though I'm not sure if there just isn't much to say, but I would have liked a story about their movements, people joining and leaving, stories of people involved in the group, etc. Still, a very interesting read.

This book tells the detailed story about the groups early beginnings, their beliefs and how they changed over time, and ultimately their 'exits' from this world.It was a real page turner but can be repetitive at times, but none the less a very fascinating topic.Quite an eye-opener.

Came really quickly, good condition and most importantly it was a totally fascinating read.

Not a bad book

In-depth and very readable.