I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs, and Apocalypse Communism. By A. M. Gittlitz

Reviews Copyright © 2024 Association for the Academic Study of New Religions, Inc. 137 from the Royal School of Library Science in Skagen, Denmark. Consequently , this massive online collection seems to be both a work of devotion and an ongoing academic undertaking. Osho as "a bookman" is the overarching theme—the books he read, the books he dictated, the process of editing his works, the translations of his works, and so on. Rather than stop with a description, the Source BOOK contains hundreds of quoted passages from the many devotees who worked on these transcriptions, translations, and collations, each passage providing a different perspective on the complex process. Readers are given an unusually detailed glimpse into the practices of the ashram. Unfortunately for researchers, the actual texts of his books are usually just summarized or excerpted, not reproduced in full. In addition to the focus on books by, about, and read by Osho, the Source BOOK includes biography, hagiography, annotated bibliographies of Rajneesh's works, commentaries, book reviews (of Rajneesh's books as well as of books about him), inventories of audio and video recordings, jacket blurbs, accounts of sannyasins' personal experiences , ­ Rajneesh's school library book checkout lists, information on Rajneesh's childhood playmates—you name it. Anything readers might wish to know, as well as many things they would not, can be found somewhere in this collection. While ostensibly structured by the principles of library science, readers may find the organization opaque. It's a mess, in my opinion. The Source BOOK's cyber dimensions are difficult to judge, but it is clearly immense. I was lost in it for days. In keeping with Osho's rejection of consistency and conventions, Evald doesn't appear to sanitize his materials or shy away from the attacks of Rajneesh's critics. He includes everything published by or about Rajneesh that he has found. While many new religious movements have extensive archives (the Transcendental Meditation Organization and Scientology, for example), they are often hidden from followers and academics. A free public collection like this could not be made for most new and alternative religions. The OSHO Source BOOK will serve as an outstanding, if frustrating, research tool for scholars and students. One cannot help but wonder what our global civilization would be like if we had access to such exhaustive information on the founders of the world's other religions. Scott Lowe, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs, and Apocalypse Communism. By A. M. ­ Gittlitz. Pluto Press, 2020. 249 pages. £18.99 softcover; ebook available. In I Want to Believe, New York-­ based journalist A. M. Gittlitz traces the curious history of the political movement known as Posadism from its NR-27-4_Text.indd 137 NR-27-4_Text.indd 137 5/9/24 3:33 PM 5/9/24 3:33 PM Nova Religio 138 Copyright © 2024 Association for the Academic Study of New Religions, Inc. mid-­ twentieth-­ century emergence in the Trotskyist Fourth International in France to its contemporary iterations within left-­ wing online meme culture. Published by the radical publishing house Pluto Press, I Want to Believe departs from the premise that "there is something valuable" in the "confused insurgent desires" (1) of the revolutionary socialist movement centered around the Argentine militant organizer Homero Cristalli (1912–1981), a.k.a. J. Posadas. Guiding us through the maze of twentieth-­ century international communism, party politics, and factional schisms, Gittlitz explains Posadism's contemporary appeal in spite of (and partially due to) its enthusiasm regarding nuclear holocaust , UFOs, and intergalactic communism. While the book overwhelmingly deals with the historical intricacies of Marxist-­ Leninist sectarianism in Latin America and beyond, I Want to Believe also contains material of interest to the scholar and student of alternative religions. Especially in part three of the book, Gittlitz's portrayal of Posadism's associations with UFO lore, Russian Cosmism, and fringe science suggests that religious studies' approaches to the phenomenon could present fruitful avenues of research. Likewise, Gittlitz's discussion of recent "neo-­ Posadist" groups and their attempts to shape public opinion through (semi-­ )satirical actions proves relevant. Gittlitz shows how groups such as the Intergalactic Workers' League–Posadist combined "meme...