A SLICE OF ORANGE: LOVING AND LEAVING THE OSHO/RAJNEESH CULT

Praise for A SLICE OF ORANGE

“Ranson’s memoir is one helluva ride! Revealing, but self-reflective. Chock full of gripping detail. If you want to know what it’s like to wholeheartedly trust, love, and then be betrayed by a sinister and corrupt world-famous guru (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh/Osho), this book will surely enlighten you.”

—Janja Lalich, PhD, Professor Emerita of Sociology International Authority on Cults, Author of Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships

“Nicola Ranson has written a captivating memoir of her time as a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho), rendering in poignant, heartbreaking detail her attraction to and gradual disillusion with Rajneesh and his movement. This book helps answer the lingering questions of why people were attracted to leaders like Rajneesh and what it was like to live as a disciple in his extravagant spiritual communities, including the Rajneeshpuram commune in central Oregon. A Slice of Orange is one of the most evocative, clear-eyed, and empathetic memoirs I've read from Rajneesh's disciples.”

—Russell King, author of Rajneeshpuram: Inside the Cult of Bhagwan and Its Failed American Utopia

"A Slice of Orange is a remarkably powerful memoir. Thoroughly well-researched, this book offers a fascinating and much needed perspective into Rajneeshpuram. Ranson immerses you in a captivating personal journey that spans the globe, from a childhood spent in Canada, a spiritual migration east to India, and back west to the rugged Oregon landscape.  Her experience with Osho is altogether fascinating, at times devastating and full of anguish, but nevertheless hopeful. It is a compelling read." 

—Maclain Way, director of Wild Wild Country

“A fascinating account of life as a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh; evocative, moving and funny, but also interrogative of what it means to fall for the power of a guru, and how we heal the wounds of delusion when we wake up from the dream.”

—Lily Dunn, author of Sins of My Father: a daughter, a cult, a wild unravelling, and Into Being: The radical craft of memoir and its power to transform

"Nicola Ranson's memoir, A Slice of Orange, is wonderful, absorbing, mesmerizing - a gift."

—Satya Franklin, author of The Promise of Paradise: A Woman's Intimate Story of the Perils of Life with Rajneesh"

“Nicola Ranson's A Slice of Orange is a compelling read.”

—Jenna Kumiega, author The Theatre of Jerzy Grotowski

“A Slice of Orange is engrossing for many reasons, not the least of which is its intelligence. The narrator hails from an English family in Canada which is short on showing love, and finds herself drawn to the famous Rajneesh cult. Traveling into and out of this world is a fascinating story. Ms. Ranson’s delicacy of language ensures that we go on the journey with her. We all long for a home.”

—Gay Walley, author of the novels, Magnetism and The Waw.

“Nicola’s compelling writing gives us an intimate look into an individual’s search for more. A Slice of Orange is an invaluable addition to understanding how everyday people get swept up into destructive cults”. 

—Kacey, Host of The Cult Vault Podcast

“Nicola Ranson's harrowing tale of survival and awakening answers the question, "How does an intelligent, educated person get involved in a corrupt cult?" She exposes how an idealistic hunger to help others was exploited by a corrupt guru and his followers. Ms. Ranson shows how, with courage and support, some cult survivors can find their way back.”

—Gina Simmons Schneider, Ph.D. Psychotherapist and author of Frazzlebrain: Break Free from Anxiety, Anger, and Stress Using Advanced Discoveries in Neuropsychology

“Whether or not you experienced life in a cult, you will come away with a deeper understanding of what attracts us to leaders purporting to have the big, easy answers, the work it takes to accept responsibility for our own lives and choices, and a solid dose of joy and hope for the human capacity to overcome adversity in order to thrive.”

—Tania Pryputniewicz, author of November Butterfly (Saddle Road Press, 2014) and Heart’s Compass Tarot and The Fool in the Corn (Two Fine Crows Books, 2021)

A Slice of Orange helped me recollect the amazing experience of being drawn into Bhagwan's orbit, and prompted me to re-examine its effect on my own life. As a fellow "sannyasin," I savored the well-told stories of life in the ashram in India and on the Ranch in Oregon, and the conflicting feelings of love, loss and letting go evoked in so many of us who were there. There is no "right answer" to the experience of being in a cult, but Nicola's version is intelligent and full of insight.”

—Alison St John, reporter and host for 29 years with KPBS, San Diego’s NPR station

“I was spellbound.  She describes the good, the bad and the ugly.”

—Bettina Göring‚ author of “der gute Onkel” (with Melissa Müller) Dröhmer/Knaur Verlag.

About NICOLA RANSON

Nicola Ranson is a somatic psychotherapist based in Encinitas, California, specializing in trauma and working with cult survivors. She served as adjunct faculty in National University’s Counseling Psychology program for seventeen years and worked with Survivors of Torture International, San Diego. She lives with her husband film-maker Ron Ranson with whom she co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary, “Tattooed Trucks of Nepal—Horn Please!”