A Death on Diamond Mountain: A True Story of Obsession, Madness and the Path to Enlightenment by journalist Scott Carney (The Red Market) tells the story of Ian Thorson's journey from a typical American childhood to the pursuit of transcendence through Eastern religion.
Thorson's road mirrors that of many (for Carney, too, as he is the first to admit). But incipient mental illness, coupled with the intense physical and psychological demands of the meditative practice and Thorson's exposure to some particularly dangerous teachers was a recipe for disaster.
A Death on Diamond Mountain succeeds on many levels. It is a fine piece of investigative journalism, a short history of Buddhism in the United States, a study of a particular geographical region in Arizona and the chilling account of Thorson's descent into madness and death. Carney recounts Thorson's life with empathy and discernment, adding layers of crackling tension in scenes where his family attempts an intervention and cult deprogramming. Even though the reader is already aware Thorson will die, the what-ifs raised here are pregnant with grief and lost possibilities.
While his book is first-rate entertainment, Carney also wrestles with deep questions about religious faith, the chicanery of self-styled gurus and the American capacity to appropriate complex cultural forms in a haphazard manner. Carney is brilliant at exposing the thin line between healthy religious devotion and obsessive-compulsive strain that can lead to tragedy. But when the reward is transcendence maybe seekers while always be willing to pay the price, or as Carney states, "How much is too much to risk for a chance to pierce the veil of divinity itself?" --Donald Powell, freelance writer