Going into this book, my impressions of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (aka HPB) were a vague idea of some spiritual phenomena, occultist fervor, and probable hoaxes. After reading Lachman's book, I can't say I'm any more of a believer, but I have a better understanding of what Blavatsky and Theosophy were going for: a reaction against the extremely popular "spiritualism" movement of the late 19th century (with mediums, ectoplasm, and psychic phenomena) and a push towards Western understanding of Eastern traditions, a seeking for a primordial religion that would bring all people together into a "universal brotherhood," and an alternative to the strictly materialist science of Darwin or the dogmatism of the Christian church. There is no doubt that today's yoga practitioners, mindfulness guides, and western Buddhism owe a debt to this enigmatic Russian woman.

Blavatsky did a lot of self-mythologizing and revision of her own biography, which makes the tasks of a writer delving into her life and work rather difficult. The first half of the book is a little hard to get a grasp on as Lachman (who was also, weirdly, a founding member of the band Blondie) bounces through various versions of the HPB origin story. If I had taken a shot every time he mentioned getting ahead of himself, or that we'd hear about a certain event or person again later, I would have been too drunk to get to the second half of the book, where things gel together into more of a narrative. I was also at a disadvantage having not read anything else about HPB or the occult in general -- Lachman has written extensively on the topic which leads him to drop a lot of names I didn't know and shortcut through some of the (rather heady) topics. This is definitely not a scholarly work, although it is well researched. We get a lot of Lachman's personality and quirks in the text, which sometimes leads to compelling reading, and sometimes becomes a little irritating. For example, he has a rather irritating jokey obsession with Blavatsky's weight, bringing it up over and over and over again, often with a cutesy aside.

While I would have liked to see a little more wrestling with the race and class issues surrounding Theosophy (HPB is a pretty wealthy Russian woman, although she sometimes has a cash flow problem, who both celebrates and co-opts Indian and Tibetan culture), this is a worthwhile and entertaining read. Blavatsky's impact on the ways that the west engages with Eastern philosophy, and her direct impact on the Indian independence movement (Ghandi was a fan, with reservations) are undeniable and something I'd like to read even more about. This one takes a little patience, but pays off. ( )