Outrageous Betrayal

Outrageous Betrayal
Front cover
Author(s)	Steven Pressman
Cover artist	Richard Oriolo, design
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject(s)	Erhard Seminars Training, Werner Erhard
Genre(s)	Applied psychology
Publisher	St. Martin's Press
Publication date	September 1993
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	289
ISBN	0-312-09296-2
OCLC Number	27897209
Dewey Decimal	158 B 20
LC Classification	RC489.E7 P74 1993

Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile was written by freelance journalist Steven Pressman and first published in 1993 by St. Martin's Press. The book gives an account of Werner H. Erhard's early life as Jack Rosenberg, his exploration of various forms of self-improvement techniques, and his foundation of Erhard Seminars Training "est" and later of Werner Erhard and Associates and of the Est successor course, "The Forum". Pressman details the rapid financial success Erhard had with these companies, as well as controversies relating to litigation involving former participants in his courses. The work concludes by going over the impact of a March 3, 1991 60 Minutes broadcast on CBS where members of Erhard's family made allegations against him, and Erhard's decision to leave the United States.

Representatives of Werner Erhard and of Landmark Education, the successor company to The Forum, regarded to the book as being "defamatory". There are no references or citations provided in the book.

Author

Steven Pressman (2008)

Pressman worked as a journalist after graduating from college in 1977.^[1] He worked as a journalist for Orange City News, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, California Lawyer magazine, and Congressional Quarterly's Weekly Report. During his time performing research for and writing Outrageous Betrayal, Pressman published articles for the Legal Times newspaper and wrote articles and served as a senior editor for California Republic.^[1] In 1993, Pressman worked as a San Francisco-based legal journalist for California Lawyer.^[2]

Research

In the "Acknowledgments" section of Outrageous Betrayal, Pressman wrote that he relied upon both named and unnamed sources for information in the book, in addition to "previously published accounts, court transcripts, depositions, and other documents in which various individuals have recounted earlier conversations".^[3] In an article on fair use for Columbia Journalism Review, Pressman noted that he "gathered reams of written materials -- some of it private and confidential -- that were helpful in drawing a comprehensive portrait of my subject".^[4] the Daily Journal,^[5] Pressman wrote that legal counsel for the book's publisher insisted on numerous changes to the book "in order to reduce, if not eliminate, the possibility of a successful suit for copyright infringement".^[4]

By 1993, Pressman and St. Martin's Press had received approximately two dozen letters from Erhard's attorney Walter Maksym, though Erhard's representatives had yet to see the book itself.^[2] Maksym told the San Francisco Daily Journal in March 1993 that he wanted to "fact check the book", because he believed that "this is a first-time unknown author who apparently has interviewed only people who have negative things to say", and stated "We have cautioned the publisher that they are responsible for the accuracy of the book."^[2] Charlie Spicer, a senior editor at St. Martin's Press, described the actions of Erhard's representatives with regard to the book as "a desperate campaign by someone with something to hide".^[2] The author himself made specific reference to his legal support, mentioning "the potential legal rapids that confront authors writing these days about controversial subjects".^[3]:278

Contents

In Outrageous Betrayal, Steven Pressman gives a chronological account of Erhard's life and businesses, from high-school years through his formation of companies that delivered awareness training and the later controversies surrounding his business and family life. The book goes into detail regarding his early life as Jack Rosenberg and his name-change to Werner Erhard, his move to California, and the initial inspirations behind the training that would become "est". Pressman writes that Erhard took inspiration from the self-help course Mind Dynamics, cybernetics, from the books Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, and from Scientology and the writings of L. Ron Hubbard. He also notes how an attorney skilled in tax law helped Erhard in forming his first awareness-training company, Erhard Seminars Training.^[6][7][8]

Pressman notes how Erhard and his businesses became successful within two years of foundation, and writes that his awareness-training programs trained over half a million people in his courses and brought in tens of millions of dollars in revenue. The book then describes controversies relating to both Erhard's businesses and his reported treatment of his family. Pressman details some of the lawsuits that hurt his business, as well as some of his conflicts with the Internal Revenue Service. The end of the book describes the impact and aftermath of a March 3, 1991 60 Minutes investigation on CBS News, where one of Erhard's daughters accused him of sexual abuse. Pressman also describes the successor company to Est, Werner Erhard and Associates, and Erhard's decision to sell the "technology" of his course The Forum to his employees and to leave the United States. The book's epilogue includes a firsthand account of a Landmark Forum seminar led by the former Est-trainer Laurel Scheaf in 1992.^{[9][6][7][8][10]}

Reception

St. Martin's Press first published Outrageous Betrayal in 1993,^[3] and Random House published a second edition of the text in 1995.^[3]

An analysis in Kirkus Reviews, noting the choice of title by the author, asserted that Pressman: "makes no pretense to objectivity here."^[10] Kirkus Reviews criticized the book, saying "What the author dramatically fails to provide by bearing down on the negative (to the extent that nearly all his informants denounce est and its founder) is any real understanding of est's teachings--and of why they appealed so deeply to so many." ^[10] Paul S. Boyer, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, reviewed the book in The Washington Post.^[11] Boyer wrote that the book "nicely recounts the bizarre tale" of Werner Erhard, saying "Pressman tells his fascinating story well."^[11] However he also commented that the book gives "only the sketchiest historical context" of est and its roots in societal experiences.^[11]

The book was reviewed by Library Journal, in which Mark Annichiarico described it as "a compelling account of the 1980s guru who rose from selling used cars to peddling personal transformation".^[7] Annichiarico recommended that public libraries place it next to Wendy Kaminer's I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional.^[7] A review by Mary Carroll published in the American Library Association's Booklist noted that the controversy surrounding Erhard was not new, but she wrote that "Pressman pulls the details together effectively."^[8] Carroll went on to comment: "Outrageous Betrayal is a disturbing but fascinating object lesson in the power of charisma divorced from conscience."^[8]

Frances Halpern of the Los Angeles Times called the book a "damning biography".^[12] Publishers Weekly also reviewed the work, and briefly described Pressman's assessment of Erhard. The review noted: "Pressman here cuts into him with surgical precision."^[6] Steve Jackson of Westword characterized Outrageous Betrayal as "the most damning critique of Erhard", and noted "Pressman details Erhard's past, including allegations of manipulation and tales of egomania."^[13]

Psychologist Margaret Singer recommended the book to a client as a reference for jargon used in the Est training.^[14] Books on subjects related to psychology,^[15][16][17] and books on cults and new religious movements,^[18][19][20] have later referenced Outrageous Betrayal for background on Erhard and the Est training, including Janja Lalich's Bounded Choice,^[18] and Irvin Yalom's The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy.^[21]

In 1995, Outrageous Betrayal was cited in a report on the United States Department of Transportation by the United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations in a case unrelated to Erhard or Est.^[22] This was in reference to a Congressional investigation of Gregory May and controversial trainings given by his company Gregory May Associates (GMA) to the Federal Aviation Administration.^[22] The testimony given stated that, according to Outrageous Betrayal, a member of GMA's board had been influenced by Erhard Seminars Training and the Church of Scientology.^[22]

See also

	Books portal
	Psychology portal

• Human Potential Movement
• Journalism sourcing
• Large Group Awareness Training

Notes

References

• Bader, Barbara (Editor) (July 15, 1976). "Getting It". Kirkus Reviews 44 (Part II, Section No. 14): 821 
• Berzins, Zane (February 6, 1977). "Getting It". The New York Times Book Review (The New York Times Company) 82: 25 
• Boyer, Paul (December 9, 1993). "Book World - Erhard, From est to Worst". The Washington Post (The Washington Post Company): p. D2 
• Carroll, Mary (September 1, 1993). "Pressman, Steven. Outrageous Betrayal". Booklist (American Library Association) 90 (1): 7: Adult Books, Non-fiction, General Works, Philosophy & Psychology 
• Denison, Charles Wayne (June 1995). "The children of EST: A study of the experience and perceived effects of a large group awareness training". Dissertation Abstracts International (Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International) 55 (12-B): 5564. ISSN 0419-4217 
• Fisher, Jeffrey D.; Cohen Silver, Roxane; Chinsky, Jack M.; Goff, Barry; Klar, Yechiel (1990). Evaluating a Large Group Awareness Training. New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-97320-6 
• Hukill, Tracy (July 9, 1998). "The est of Friends: Werner Erhard's protégés and siblings carry the torch for a '90s incarnation of the '70s 'training' that some of us just didn't get". Metro Silicon Valley (Metro Newspapers). http://www.metroactive.com/landmark/landmark1-9827.html. Retrieved 2008-04-11 
• Kirkus Reviews staff (August 1, 1993). "Outrageous Betrayal. (Book Review)". Kirkus Reviews (Kirkus Associates, LP., Nielsen Company) 61: 986. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0312092962. Retrieved 2007-11-20 
• McGurk, William S. (June 1977). "Was Ist est?". Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books 22 (6): 459–460 
• Pressman, Steven (January/February 1994). "Fouling Up Fair Use". Columbia Journalism Review. http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/94/1/fair.asp. Retrieved 2008-10-02 
• Publishers Weekly staff (August 9, 1993). "Outrageous Betrayal, review". Publishers Weekly 240 (32): 446. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0312092962. Retrieved 2007-11-20 
• Ross, A.S. (April 6, 1993). "Libel Suit Threat by Est Founder Erhard a New Biography Fires Up Hostility Against Publisher". San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco Examiner Inc): p. B5 

• United States Congress (1995). Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1996. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.. p. 834. ISBN 0-16-047352-7. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Outrageous_Betrayal_by_Steven_Pressman_cited_in_testimony_before_United_States_House_of_Representatives?oldid=454606 

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