The Last Guru does not abound with subtle characterization; most of the novel's figures are stereotypes who speak and act predictably. "How's my son going to grow up properly, and pay attention in school, and make something of himself, when he's got umpteen million dollars on his mind?"

says Harold's father. The line is funny because it plays with the stereotype of the suburban American father with his middle-class concerns. It also shows that he lacks the vision Harold has for how money should most fitly be used.

Pinkwater's use of stereotypes here paradoxically gives heft and bite to his satire: his characters have made themselves stereotypes by witlessly acting out the roles society has fitted on them. One major reason people desperately seek out spiritual gurus and hunger after "designer" or faddish religions is that they have allowed themselves to become mere hollow...