Rating: 
Summary: Spiritual Plane/Plain
Review: Amy Wallace's account of the daily goings-on in her relationship with Carlos Castaneda is both enlightening and tragic. For those that read his teachings, myself included, and believed, either with or without caution, Sorcerer's Apprentice delivers an eye opening account of Castaneda's strengths and weaknesses. She writes with the passion of a young woman fully devoted to loving this man, a passion that dwells only within the few brief years of girlish youth; the darkness of formative years lit by the fiery desire to find truth. But it is her mature honesty, looking back with a cooler emotional eye, harkening without judgment, that strikes the heart like a million volt lightning bolt. Miss Wallace points no fingers, casts no blame. A lesser talent might be quick to do such, but she is infinitely kinder than that. She leaves it up to us, the readers, to decide for ourselves if Castaneda is to be idolized or toppled. Shaman or sham? Sorcerer or sore loser? A statue with solid foundation or feet of clay? Anyone who has ever felt the need to seek out a role-model/mentor, and I suspect that is all humankind, will find Sorcerer's Apprentice an essential signpost for the journey to spiritual tranquility through the teachings of others.
Rating:
Summary: About the Singer, not the Song
Review: Amy Wallace's book is about Carlos Castaneda, the man, and those around him - the "inner circle". Having been close to them, she does a superb job of describing the way Carlos and the group lived, and apparently they behaved just like any other cult. She has written an invaluable book for any Castaneda fan. Not for the narrow-minded, though.I believe Don Juan's teachings as described by Castaneda are great, no matter where they came from. That doesn't mean Castaneda could not be just another human being like any of us. In fact that is how he is pictured in most of his books: Don Juan keeps saying Carlos is stupid and slow to learn. Amy Wallace shows us Carlos, the man - full of human feelings and emotions, not necessarily positive. This is a book about the singer, not the song. If Castaneda's work means anything to you, you may be curious about the way Carlos actually lived, how he died, and what happened to those who remained. If you are, then this book is definitely for you. Amy Wallace is a known writer and I hope you will find her work as exciting (and surprising) as I did. ===
About the reviewer - I started reading Castaneda's books in the 80's and read each of them at least 3 times, including Florinda's and Taisha's. Like many others, I tried to follow Don Juan's teachings for some years - can't say that I succeeded. I never met Castaneda, any of his inner circle followers or, for that matter, Amy Wallace. I am not associated with Amy, her editor, publisher, etc. I wrote this review after seeing many anonymous reviews here that are absolutely unfair to Amy's work. To one who is familiar with Castaneda's teachings and has read Amy's book, those reviews look like a specific task that was given to Castaneda's remaining closest followers, with the intent of keeping hidden the "secrets" Amy brings to light.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely good book from a bitter Ex lover
Review: In Order to make an In-depth Analysis on this book you have to do 1 of 2 things
Read anything that involves Castaneda, Good And Bad, or Have a talk with the Author himself, Fortunately i was given the opportunity to share a Conversation with Amy Wallace at a Book Signing Last year, During our 2 hour long conversation it was basically an interview, we discussed her Relationship with Carlos and his "Witches" and what she thought about his teachings in a whole, I've Notice that she Resents Castaneda for what he "alleged don to her a lot, instead of beng intelligent and sophisticated about it, she played innocent a lot, talking with her , make s it seem as if she has bottled up anger and jealousy in her, though she will never admit to it, but aside from Castaneda Personal Life when the topic of don juan Emerged which she claims was a fictional combinations of professors he has idolised throat the past years, ive presented my own research n it, I've told her ive interacted with many indians in the area of Sonora, a place where Carlos said Don Juan resided in, Many have stated that they never met a Yaqui Indian by the Name of Don Juan Matus, but have heard tales of a curer who resided there long ago by a different name, at first she thought i was joking or hoaxing her, but i showed her my note book of research ive done on it and the thesis im creating for college, after commenting it was well put together, she said there's a giant possibility of a curer to be in sonora, their are shamans all over mexico,, i turned the question around from don juan to the art of Sorcery so to speak, i told her my connections between some of Carlos teachings to Eastern taoism and eastern Curers and a comparison between eastern shamans and the often Mystical toltec indians, at this point i got the feeling she was quite uncomfortable and stopped, she talked a lot about what Carlos did 2 her and i retorted that indeed carlos was a cruel person but if you look at his anylisis of Don Juan so was he, at this point she began to stress that she loved the man and that's he was a victim, i simply told her perhaps your problem is your fantasising about him since you were sixteen and Carlos was cruel to you and you hated him for it to this day, she denied the allegations and got up to leave, i quickly apologised to her and said it was only a comment, she state that the memoirs where indeed true and left scornfully, the way she reacted was rather odd to me, but not so odd, i always agreed Carlos was a Cruel and intolerable man, but hr writing off the teachings as fictions is her own personal way of getting back at him in my opinion, Nothings worse then a Lovers Scorn
when i mentioned My theory on Castaneda's disappearance she was rather silent, i claimed that he faked his own death so his adopted daughter was able to attain his estate, I've Emailed her many times but she doesn't return my messages, im currently in the works of locating Florinda Donner-grau for her retaliation on Amy's Claim, I Am not Defending Castaneda,simply stating what ive learn from his teachings and others , but when it comes to a Person a Scorned Lover is not the best place to look for information
the book is a good read, but iw ould not take it too literally, Amy is portray's herself as a victim, Don't be fooled
Rating:
Summary: About the Singer, not the Song
Review: Amy Wallace's book is about Carlos Castaneda, the man, and those around him - the "inner circle". Having been close to them, she does a superb job of describing the way Carlos and the group lived, and apparently they behaved just like any other cult. She has written an invaluable book for any Castaneda fan. Not for the narrow-minded, though. I believe Don Juan's teachings as described by Castaneda are great, no matter where they came from. That doesn't mean Castaneda could not be just another human being like any of us. In fact that is how he is pictured in most of his books: Don Juan keeps saying Carlos is stupid and slow to learn. Amy Wallace shows us Carlos, the man - full of human feelings and emotions, not necessarily positive. This is a book about the singer, not the song. If Castaneda's work means anything to you, you may be curious about the way Carlos actually lived, how he died, and what happened to those who remained. If you are, then this book is definitely for you. Amy Wallace is a known writer and I hope you will find her work as exciting (and surprising) as I did. ===
About the reviewer - I started reading Castaneda's books in the 80's and read each of them at least 3 times, including Florinda's and Taisha's. Like many others, I tried to follow Don Juan's teachings for some years - can't say that I succeeded. I never met Castaneda, any of his inner circle followers or, for that matter, Amy Wallace. I am not associated with Amy, her editor, publisher, etc. I wrote this review after seeing many anonymous reviews here that are absolutely unfair to Amy's work. To one who is familiar with Castaneda's teachings and has read Amy's book, those reviews look like a specific task that was given to Castaneda's remaining closest followers, with the intent of keeping hidden the "secrets" Amy brings to light.
Rating: 
Summary: The Jury is Still Out!
Review: Having read everything Carlos has written and everything else about him I could get my hands on, I think the jury is still out. Throughout the entire book I had the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that Amy was probably "out of the loop" on what really went on with Castaneda. After getting no sleep the night after I finished this, I came to the above conclusion and also that Don Juan himself might seem to most to have an equally toxic personality. I also wondered if he only interacted with Amy because of the promise he made to her father. On the other hand, it is disappointing to hear a first hand account of his downright nastiness. His teachings certainly would not validate the kind of nastiness he seemed capable of. The Don Juan persona did not project that kind of negativity and destructive personality. Bottom line, it is sad that he let his ego run rampant to that extent. However, I just do not believe that the experiences and teachings that he wrote about were fiction. I never tried to live the existence that he proposed, but his emphasis on striving to become more "detached" rather than letting your emotions drive you crazy has made me a much happier person.
Rating:
Summary: One of the many Men Castaneda lived as!!!!!!!
Review: Finally somebody has brought Don Juans teachings back to earth! This book will ground those who have been getting high off Castanedas books for years and will help new comers to castaneda take flight. A great book by a very sweet lady. Could not put it down.Peace to the Elf!?!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Window to an Insidious Mindset
Review: Anxiety, fear, distrust, co-dependency and physical manifestations of stress disorder are not terms one would associate with spiritual enlightenment. Amy Wallace, in detailing her own experiences with Carlos Castaneda, makes clear that this incongruity was always apparent to her. The paradox recalls Hamlet's remonstrance of Gertrude: "As if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on." Each chapter became an increasingly uncomfortable journey, but one I felt compelled to follow. Wallace admits in one chapter she has been asked how could such an intelligent woman submit her own concept of self to another person so totally. But, then those people were likely not in contact with the charismatic Castaneda. From an outsider's view, I can see how - eerily - simple it is to supplant one's will with the mindset of a group. The Sorcerer's Apprentice gave me a "window," an approximation of this mental transformation; that's as close as I want to get to Castaneda's allure.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm disappointed
Review: I was eagerly looking forward to reading this book and was disappointed when I finally had the opportunity. I quickly grew tired of the gossipy stories about the cult around Castaneda. I wanted to know more about the man but I finished the book with little more understanding then when I started. I was also disappointed by the author's "my parents did it to me" explanation for here relationship with the "Nagual." I found the flow of the book choppy and if I wasn't looking for interesting nuggest about Carlos, I wouldn't have bothered to finish reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Anything can be published
Review: This book is so poorly written I am amazed that it found a publisher. Self indulgent and narcisistic in tone and totally dilusional in content.
Rating:
Summary: true or false?
Review: The attitude towards of Castaneda seems to be either B or W, depending on whether one feels indignant at being fooled (or worse) by the old trickster, or whether one has swallowed his "teachings" tail and hook. Was Castaneda, during all these years, bringing us poisoned fruit? Is his work a magnificent exercise in greed, deception and cover-ups? Does Wallace's book help illuminate this enigmatic man? In any case, the book is a must read for Castaneda groupies. On the other hand, I find it a bit deceptive as it seems to subtly denigrate many key aspects of Castaneda's work which I know from personal experience to be true. Wallace's book shows a Castaneda who had retreated into the ivory tower created by the delusions of his ego, where he became an easy prey for the "flyers" and "seymours" who are ever ready to jump the shaman who has forgotten -or refused- to take his stand in the safety of the impersonal. However, Wallace is not interested in addressing Castaneda's life work (shamanism) and indeed she seems to have been kept at the arms length when it came to his practices or his inner life. Rather, this book is a tell-all concerned strictly with their relationship, such as it was. As a result, AW can never transcend the limitations imposed by her own personal wounding. I think I understand- she has been severely abused and she has now taken the chance to plant her flag into the ground.
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