GET YOUR COPY
Buy from a bookstore near you! Signed copies can be bought from Diesel Books.
Or listen on these platforms
READ REVIEWS
Scroll down to read reviews, and check out media and events.
“A wise and emotionally generous account of a period of transformational growth by an author who is well-equipped to carry the dialectic truth that even an imperfect environment can give birth to a life-changing experience. Written with admirable self-awareness and deep compassion, Blair held me captivated on her journey from the naivety of her early adulthood through to her own unique version of spiritual enlightenment."
–Oliver Radclyffe, author Frighten the Horses
“Blair Glaser’s intimate, breathtaking memoir is about her spiritual entanglements with Siddha Yoga, a practice of meditation, servitude, and inner reflection that she undertook with the ashram of Guru Gurumayi.
The prose is honest and empathetic. The dissonance Glaser experienced between gratitude and critique of the ashram is used to showcase its captivating world. There, she unpacked the traumas of her past and experienced deep longing, drawing her closer to Guru Gurumayi. In treating the scandals around Gurumayi, which involved abuse and power struggles, the text is nuanced and layered. It conveys Glaser’s own, often positive experiences at the ashram, too, from her transformative improvements in self-worth to the everyday minutiae of consuming rich chai and biryani in its food halls. Her generous depictions extend to the most important people in her life, as well: her family, who gave her a flawed but loving upbringing; her closest friend, Gabby, who introduced her to Siddha Yoga and Guru Gurumayi; her mentor and therapist, Kate, who was unyielding in her honesty; and the many swamis and fellow devotees at the ashram.
This Incredible Longing is a memoir about multiple comings-of-age, coming to terms with oneself, and finding a personal rhythm and inner peace.."
–Natalie Wollenzien, The Foreword (Click image for full review)
“Glaser writes with a raw and tender intimacy; she lays bare her vulnerability, her doubts, her shame, her hope for equanimity. Her words reflect an unflinching self-inquiry and hard won insights. There’s never a moment when I doubted her sincerity or wasn’t moved by that ache that gave rise to her longing, to her commitment to self-knowledge, and to her desire to be her best self …
This Incredible Longing demonstrates that a reader needn’t share the author’s spiritual longing in order to see the beauty and peace it brings her and others. And while the desire for a spiritual transformation may not resonate with me, I certainly relate to the author’s search for belonging and her desires to be loved, to experience inner peace, to live with purpose and intention. As excellent memoirists do, she’s uncovered the familiar in the foreign — the universal truths beneath all of our stories."
–B.K. Jackson, Hippocampus (Click image for full review)
“It's easy to write about the harmful aspects of having submitted to life in a religious cult. In This Incredible Longing, Blair Glaser pulls off a more difficult and nuanced trick, unsentimentally excavating the twentysomething of herself and the tendencies that made her vulnerable, while also acknowledging what good she took away from the experience. This memoir will resonate strongly with anyone who had a quarter-life crisis that led them to make questionable choices as young adults; anyone who rejected the faith they were programmed to grow up in, in order to find their true spiritual nature; and anyone who ever longed to feel as if they belonged, which is everyone."
–Sari Botton, Oldster Magazine editor and author And You May Find Yourself
“Glaser's writing is evocative, relatable, and humorous. It's a relief to read a book that does not take a hard line for or against a place, but rather explores the greater longing in human beings, and how places and institutions can both serve and exploit at once. Nothing is easy -- Glaser demonstrates this in her heartfelt examination and tender exploration."
— Anna Rollings, author Famished: On Food, Sex, and Growing Up as a Good Girl
“What draws us to spiritual communities, and where is the line between devotion and delusion? This Incredible Longing chronicles Blair Glaser's search for transcendence within an organization that promises enlightenment but unravels in scandal. With wit and candor, Glaser reveals the tensions between belonging and autonomy, leaving seekers of all kinds with a nuanced take on faith, power, and personal transformation.”
- Jeffrey Davis, author Tracking Wonder
“For anyone who has gotten lured into something you are not quite sure about, but you felt the need to follow your impulse to explore it. Blair Glaser’s This Incredible Longing takes us inside the relatable journey of getting drawn into a cult (or something like it) with the wisdom and self-awareness of a tale brilliantly told 30 years after it happened. If you are a searcher with longings of your own, you will love this book."
— Sasha Cagen, Author of Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics
“This Incredible Longing is Blair Glaser’s memoir of how a smart, skeptical New Yorker got pulled into the glow of a near-cult—and why she’s still grateful for what she found there. Equal parts funny, heartbreaking, and uncomfortably familiar, it’s the story of how longing can make us vulnerable, how gurus thrive on our hunger, and how you can walk away carrying both scars and gifts.
— Daniella Mestyanek Young, Author of Uncultured and The Culting of America
“For anyone who’s ever questioned their path, their faith, or themselves, This Incredible Longing is a companion for the in-between. This isn’t a story about finding the light. It’s about walking through the dark and learning how to see.”
– Kaitlyn Herman, ICF Certified Life Coach / Wellness Influencer