The divine supermarket

In The Divine Supermarket, Malise Ruthven recounts a personal and investigative journey through diverse religious scenes in the United States during the 1980s.

The book surveys mainstream and fringe movements, offering portraits of practitioners and leaders while reflecting on modern spiritual searching.

Ruthven mixes reportage with irony and cultural critique, highlighting how religious markets and consumer culture shape belief.

The book considers the social and psychological drivers that lead people to adopt new spiritual identities and practices.

It functions as both travelogue and social study of late-20th-century American religiosity.