Promised untold wisdom and power, acclaimed the chosen heir to a spiritual kingdom, Jeffrey Masson was guided down a path of self-denial and mysticism from the age of five by a man claiming extraordinary powers of space travel, telepathy and levitation. To someone from the outside world his teacher was a charlatan; to the young Masson he was his family's closest friend, a man who knew all things, his father's guru. Affectionate and funny, but ultimately tragic, this book is a journey through youth and innocence into a critical understanding of the roots of power and powerlessness.