Adramaticandliterateintroductiontooneofthetwentiethcentury'smostinfluentialandintriguingspiritualteachers.BornintheshiftingborderbetweenTurkeyandRussiain1866,G.I.Gurdjieffisamanwhowouldcontinuallystraddleborders-betweenEastandWest,betweenmanandsomethinghigherthanman,betweentheancientteachingsofesotericschoolsandthemodernapplicationofthoseideasincontemporarylife.Inmanyrespects-fromtheconceptofgroupmeetingstothemysteriousworkingsoftheenneagramtohiscritiqueofhumanityasexistinginastateofsleep-GurdjieffpioneeredthecultureofspiritualsearchthathastakenrootintheWesttoday.WhilemanyofGurdjieff'sstudents-includingFrankLloydWright,KatharineMansfield,andP.D.Ouspensky-arewellknown,fewunderstandthisfigurepossessedofcomplexwritingsandsometimesconfoundingmethods.InGurdjieff:AnIntroductiontoHisLifeandIdeas,theacclaimednovelistJohnShirley-oneofthefoundersofthecyberpunkgenre-presentsalively,reliableexplanationofhowtoapproachthesageandhisideas.Inaccessible,dramaticproseShirleyretellsthatwhichweknowofGurdjieff'slife;hesurveystheteacher'smethodsandthelivesofhiskeystudents;andhehelpsreaderstoentertheunparalleledoriginalityofthisremarkableteacher.