Jonathan Lieberson, writing for "The New York Review of Books", described the book as "attractively written, never shrill or unduly proselytizing, careful to avoid the hysteria and tribalism that usually characterize the early years of movements like est", but considered Bartley to have "fallen" for Erhard. Given Bartley's previous work, Lieberson stated, he might have made an ideal interpreter of Erhard, but he found this expectation "disappointed the book is nevertheless instructive". A review of "Werner Erhard" in "Kirkus Reviews" similarly concluded, "Too entranced to be truly objective, Bartley is nonetheless an insightfully partial observer." "Booklist" stated that Bartley, as an est student, had made the "mistake of being too close to his subject to be objective or critical."