Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley by Lawrence SutinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think this is something like the third biography of "The Beast" I have read. Certainly complex, eccentric figure whose colorful life could be a basis for even contradictory opinions. This work is very detailed in research, including even conflicting accounts of key events, such as Crowley's final hours. How different is Crowley's imagined Thelema from "inspired" religions and texts of the remote past? Maybe there is a chance to study the origin and evolution of a religion, except that the taking up of Crowleys' New Aeon fared so poorly it hardly seems like a successful enough case for study. Also, his heroin addiction, ceremonialized of homosexuality, and flirtation with Hitler, etc. all make it easier to hand a sign of "decadent" than "divine" on this neck. If anything, for the lifelong scrapping by on the long con of getting money and resources from lovers and disciples makes for him as being, at least, the most successful charlatan of certainly recent times. So, maybe more than a religion founder, this may turn out more like a Faust and could possibly leave a similar impact on the future: more fantasy than fact.
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