About the Author

Joseph Weber was born in Newark, New Jersey, as the eldest of seven in a working-class family. He worked in newspapers and magazines for thirty-five years, ending up as chief of correspondents and Chicago bureau chief for BusinessWeek magazine. With a B.A. in English from Rutgers College and an M.S.J. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he now works as an associate professor of journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His special interest is in business and economic journalism, which he has taught in the United States and China. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Reviews

"Weber brings a journalist's eye for character and story to this engrossing account of Transcendental Meditation and the town--and lives--it transformed. Along the way he probes religious and cultural questions about tradition and change, healing, community, place, and much more. This book is a lively and eye-opening delight."--Matthew S. Hedstrom, University of Virginia

"Like many other alternative religions that burst onto the American scene in the 1960s and 1970s, Transcendental Meditation attracted thousands of followers but also a fair number of detractors. The interplay of meditators and local residents in the midwestern town of Fairfield, Iowa, where TM established its major American center, makes a fascinating case study of the impact of new religions on traditional American culture."--Timothy Miller, editor, Spiritual and Visionary Communities: Out to Save the World