Book excerpt: Fritz Peters became perhaps the most intimate student of his headmaster, G. I. Gurdjieff, founder of the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau, France. This enigmatic, controversial, and mercurial mystic. Gurdjieff was more than just a teacher to Fritz. This stunning memoir covers Peters' first years at the Institute as he retains a child's naive perspective while offering a photorealistic recall of Gurdjieff, the workings of his intentional community, and the eccentric characters who lived there.