An Austrailian friend of mine gave the book to me as a gift. The words might be mined for quotes, but when it is fresh, and when approached with an open mind, it's got a lot of wisdom.

In my local circle, I don't know anyone who has ever read it :-)

Someone else that seems to be similar -- J Krishtamurti. I haven't had a chance to really dive deep, but the few talks of his I have heard in pieces were all pretty awesome.