This study investigates the sociological and cultural integration of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) within the United States during the 1970s. Francine Jeanne Daner, an anthropologist, utilizes ethnographic fieldwork to document the daily lives, belief systems, and organizational structures of American converts. The work evaluates how these individuals reconcile the movement's Vedic roots with the prevailing social norms and values of contemporary American society.

Scholars of new religious movements frequently cite this work as a foundational ethnographic account of the Hare Krishna movement's initial American expansion. Readers often note the objective, clinical tone Daner maintains while documenting the internal dynamics of the group.