Having done the Master Cleanse four times now, once with only Stanley Burroughs's book (25 days), and three times after reading Peter Glickman's expansion of Burroughs's work (10 days each), I have to say that it's much easier to do the Master Cleanse (MC) when you have both.

While Burroughs's book contains everything needed to successfully follow and complete the MC, it's a little erudite and pedantic for most readers. Glickman takes Burroughs's principles and puts them in a much more reader-friendly form, making the information a little more accessible to 21st century readers.

Having read other critiques, I want to say that yes, this is a book created from a blog, and yes, it could probably have used more extensive editing. However, I don't think that those considerations necessarily damage the book's message overall. For one thing, not everyone has access to the internet, and not everyone can access the internet whenever they want to, so creating a book from information available online is not necessarily an exercise in futility. The publication of the message board topics makes the information available to everyone, at any time. And the minimalist editing allows the varying answers from the message boards to retain their authenticity. Had Glickman edited more stringently, the book would be too sanitized; it would lose the touch of the hundreds of people who participated.

My recommendation? Get both Burroughs's book and Glickman's, and keep them handy. The MC is a great way to get your health on track. The weight-loss is a side-benefit. Burroughs will give you the basic science behind the MC, and Glickman will give you the personalized tools to successfully complete a 10-, 20- or 40-day overhaul of your eating habits. ( )