Amy Wallace's memoir of her complex relationship with Carlos Castaneda plunges readers deep into the reality of the Castaneda cult and the psychological terrors it perpetrated. With the skill of a master storyteller, Wallace recounts early meetings with Castaneda, shares previously unpublished material straight from the Nagual, and explores the aftermath of Castaneda's death and the long term effects of his legacy. Insightful and unwaveringly honest, Sorcerer's Apprentice is simultaneously a love story, a cautionary tale about the dangers of giving one's power to another, and a joyous account of healing and self-affirmation.

Marsâ (TM) graphic and often vivid narrative can be read simply as the anecdotal memoirs of an anthropologist. The experiences he recounts are sometimes hilarious, touch occasionally on the dangerous, and are always sensitively and expertly explored. But for those who want to know more, the bookâ (TM)s expansive footnotes and references to key sources also offer a stimulating introduction to social anthropology, its theories and its methods. Mars begins by describing his childhood life in a tightly structured working class community during World War Two. He then contrasts this with an account of the hidden underlife of an entrepreneurial, crime-prone seaside resort, Blackpool, where he worked as a spieler (barker). Two yearsâ (TM) experience of National Service provides an account of the social organisation of the RAF, followed by discussion of aspects of the organisation of Cambridge University. What follows then is a lifetime spent living and working in different cultures around the world. The results are continual insights gained by comparison and contrasts that illuminate aspects not only of other cultures, but, also, of our own.