Est: Playing the Game

est: Playing the Game the New Way

Book cover
Author	Carl Frederick
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Erhard Seminars Training
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	Delacorte Press
Publication date	1976
Pages	228
ISBN	9780615547008

est: Playing the Game the New Way is a non-fiction book by Carl Frederick, first published in 1976, by Delacorte Press, New York. The book describes in words the basic message of Werner Erhard's Erhard Seminars Training (est) theatrical experience. Erhard/est sued in federal court in the United States to stop the book from publication, but the suit failed. The book takes a 'trainer's' approach to the est experience, in that it essentially duplicates the est training, citing examples and using jargon from the actual experience.

The title became a New York Times #2 best-seller, with more than a million copies in print, but overall critical reception was negative. The New York Times Book Review called it "a semi-literate rehash of Erhard-speak",^[1] and Library Journal noted, "The est disdain for critical thought and its fondness for its own jargon are painfully obvious in this book".^[2]