The Great Oom: The Mysterious Origins of America's First Yogi

"Rollicking and well-researched...A story of scandal, financial shenanigans, bodily discipline, oversize egos and bizarre love triangles." -Wall Street Journal

More than fifteen million Americans currently practice yoga (according to Yoga Journal), but how many of them know the true story of how Downward Dog first captivated America? Resurrecting a fascinating and forgotten tale, journalist Robert Love returns to the Gilded Age, when Dr. Pierre Bernard (né Perry Baker in Iowa) revived a discipline banned in Victorian India, packaged it for Americans, and taught legions of followers, who bankrolled his luxurious Hudson River ashram- the first in the nation. Filled with Jazz Age celebrities, heiresses, spies, and outraged clergy, The Great Oom is the enthralling life story of the unlikeliest of gurus, and a stunning saga of mysticism, intrigue, and the American dream.

Author: Robert Love
Publisher: Penguin Books
Published: 04/26/2011
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780143119173

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 06/05/2011 pg. 63

About the Author
Robert Love was the managing editor of Rolling Stone and executive editor of Best Life. He is an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the New York Observer, and the Utne Reader. He lives with his wife in Nyack, New York.