Canetti draws on the troubled period following the death of his wife and the publication of his masterwork of social theory, Crowds and Power. An ambivalent interest in spiritualism also characterizes the collection: Canetti's conversations with Jesuits and Indian gurus and his readings of Greek, Hebrew, and primitive myths give a kaleidoscopic view of the uses and abuses of religions. Wide-ranging in form and content, the book is suffused with Canetti's uncommon intelligence, his rage at the defects of the spirit, and an unquenchable thirst for elusive truths.