Great read. The author wrote a book that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. It was easy to invest in the author's spiritual journey due to the honest writing style.

I really enjoyed reading "Four Men Shaking" but I can only give it three stars. If you're well on your way down enlightenment's path, or you think that lineage, ritual and devotion might work for you then you'll probably enjoy reading of Larry's experiences. But that's the trouble; this book is only going to be preaching to the converted. Being able to name-drop a couple of significant cultural hotshots in there, Beckett and Mailer, doesn't hurt the cause. He makes some pithy observations about them and he structures the short chapters nicely, but it's not enough to gain those extra stars I was hoping to be able to rate this book with. If you really want to understand Zen it's probably just as worthwhile to buy Ram Dass 1961 "Be Here Now". And the beauty of that book is you only have to read as far as the title, all the rest is superfluous.