Review of "Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped our Nation" by Mitch Horowitz

A nice, readable ramble through the undergrowth of the American mind, with lots of stuff about weird sects, cults, communities and religions. 

The author is more than a little sympathetic to the claims of alternative religious movements, and while he's critical of the worst excesses of some exploitative leaders I think he tries hard - perhaps too hard - to be fair to most of them.

There's some bonkers stuff towards the end that might be categorised as metaphysics, but it's mainly readable and enjoyable.