Sorcerer’s Apprentice : My Life With Carlos Castenada

Sorcerer‰_s Apprentice opens with Amy Wallace‰_s first meeting with Carlos Castaneda, the infamous anthropologist-turned-shaman, whose books described meetings with Yaqui Indian spiritual teacher don Juan. Castaneda‰_s rise was meteoric in the late 1960s as he wrote massive bestsellers, inspired many to experiment with psychedelics, and was dubbed ‰ÛÏthe Godfather of the New Age.‰_ The possibility that Castaneda‰_s experiences may have been fabricated did little to compromise his legend.As the daughter of best-selling novelist Irving Wallace, Amy was rarely shy around famous people. When her father insisted she meet Castaneda, she at first demurred. Little did she know that a delightful first meeting would begin a 20-year friendship, followed by her descent into the dramatic and deeply troubled affair chronicled in this book. Sorcerer‰_s Apprentice unblinkingly reveals the inner workings of the ‰ÛÏCult of Carlos,‰_ run by a charismatic authoritarian in his sixties who controlled his young female followers through emotional abuse, mind games, bizarre rituals, dubious teachings, and sexual excess. Wallace‰_s story is both specific and universal, a captivating cautionary tale about the dangers of giving up one‰_s power to a tyrant‰ÛÒand about surviving assaults on body and spirit.