Prodigal Summer: A Novel

Amazon.com

There is no one in contemporary literature quite like Barbara Kingsolver. Her dialogue sparkles with sassy wit and earthy poetry; her descriptions are rooted in daily life but are also on familiar terms with the eternal. With Prodigal Summer, she returns from the Congo to a "wrinkle on the map that lies between farms and wildness." And there, in an isolated pocket of southern Appalachia, she recounts not one but three intricate stories.

Exuberant, lush, riotous--the summer of the novel is "the season of extravagant procreation" in which bullfrogs carelessly lay their jellied masses of eggs in the grass, "apparently confident that their tadpoles would be able to swim through the lawn like little sperms," and in which a woman may learn to "tell time with her skin." It is also the summer in which a family of coyotes moves into the mountains above Zebulon Valley:

The ghost of a creature long extinct was coming in on silent footprints, returning to the place it had once held in the complex anatomy of this forest like a beating heart returned to its body. This is what she believed she would see, if she watched, at this magical juncture: a restoration.

The "she" is Deanna Wolfe, a wildlife biologist observing the coyotes from her isolated aerie--isolated, that is, until the arrival of a young hunter who makes her even more aware of the truth that humans are only an infinitesimal portion in the ecological balance. This truth forms the axis around which the other two narratives revolve: the story of a city girl, entomologist, and new widow and her efforts to find a place for herself; and the story of Garnett Walker and Nannie Rawley, who seem bent on thrashing out the countless intimate lessons of biology as only an irascible traditional farmer and a devotee of organic agriculture can. As Nannie lectures Garnett, "Everything alive is connected to every other by fine, invisible threads. Things you don't see can help you plenty, and things you try to control will often rear back and bite you, and that's the moral of the story."

Structurally, that gossamer web is the story: images, phrases, and events link the narratives, and these echoes are rarely obvious, always serendipitous. Kingsolver is one of those authors for whom the terrifying elegance of nature is both aesthetic wonder and source of a fierce and abiding moral vision. She may have inherited Thoreau's mantle, but she piles up riches of her own making, blending her extravagant narrative gift with benevolent concise humor. She treads the line between the sentimental and the glorious like nobody else in American literature. --Kelly Flynn

Book Description

Barbara Kingsolver's fifth novel is a hymn to wildness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself. It weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives amid the mountains and farms of southern Appalachia. Over the course of one humid summer, this novel's intriguing protagonists face disparate predicaments but find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with which they necessarily share a place.

Customer Reviews:

A Real 'Chestnut' - Paints the Appalachian Life with a Blend of Characters.......2007-10-09

After reading the Poisonwood Bible- which I loved- I picked up this novel as the next one to read by the same great author. I was delighted by Kingsolver's description of the three inter-woven stories that blend human nature with mother nature. Kingsolver's compelling storytelling gives the southern Appalachian mountain range center stage for the characters to come to life. I could easily picture the Appalachia forest, the hollows and vales that surround the little community of Egg Creek, and it was a visual delight.

The lives of the characters intertwine with both the topography and the shared family connections that are revealed in due time as the story plays out. It took some time to unravel the many members of Lusa's family, but eventually they came together. I laughed out loud at Nannie Rawley and Garnett- the two bickering old folks who stubbornly fought each others diametric opinions only to find common ground in the end. I can still picture with great amusement of Garnett dragging himself through the muck, thinking he was having a heart attack only to be humiliated by Nanny who informs him that he has a snapping turtle clamped onto his leg as he struggles to get away, with his pride injured.

Yes, I'm sure Ms. Kingsolver had an agenda about how mankind has altered nature and upset the natural balance, but it stuck with me. It made me think just how delicate and easily the chain of wildlife could be disrupted by man's attempt to challenge the innate certainty of what his view of "order" should be. By the end of the book I felt the arch of the story had come full circle to complete the closure of the 3 interwoven stories. I finished the book feeling satisfied and contented.

Then I baked a blackberry pie and started at the beginning again.

Think organic!!!

Amazing Language and Weaving of a Story.......2007-10-04

I have been a fan of Barbara Kingsolver ever since I stumbled across her book "The Bean Trees" in the public library when I was about 15. This book is certainly as amazing as any of her other work I have read.

What I was immediately struck by was the amazing use of language that Kingsolver has. Her masterful use of words slows you down and you want to save them. There is something sexy about the way she describes nature.

Not only is the use of words wonderful, but the writing is clever. Kingsolver uses nature as a backdrop to compare and contrast the various relationships she has created; the various narrators that she uses.

I also enjoyed that we, the readers, know more about the characters than they do. She leaves the characters with their futures waiting and while I would love to know more about them, I was still satisifed with the end.

Terrific Read.

Nature at its most real and poetic.......2007-09-04

Barbara Kingsolver has a way with words, the words that describe nature, give it life, give it a personality of its own. Nature is a main character, a life force, and important lessons are learned from this novel. A lovely read.

Nature thrives in this wonderful story.......2007-08-28

Once I read Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible", I began reading all her books. The Prodigal Summer was a bit of a let down for me. It was a wonderful story, but I didn't think it was up to her standard. Normally, her characters are well-developed but in this story they just seemed to be lost in the message of organic farming and other environmental issues by the author. These are important subjects and they are told very well as only the biologist writer can do. However, these issues just came across as a bit too patronizing and relationship that I had hoped would develop with the characters just seemed to be fuzzy. Still, the book was an excellent read. There was a bit good humor, an unbelievable insight into the feelings and emotions of women and a priceless education and view of the world of nature. All this rolled up into a wonderful story that I would highly recommend to all my friends.

Another Woman's Fiction that reveals the emotions and feelings of women is Gathering of Cans by Robert L. Saunders. This refreshing story is a real stunner. In this romance with a bit of mystery story the author heralds the relationship between husband and wife. I read this warm and wonderful story and I wasn't disappointed. You will travel with Zoie Baker, the heroine, on her quest to build a swimming pool by gathering aluminum cans. She feels right down to her bones that this is her destiny. Unique cans that she stumbles on, i.e., Nehi, Mountain Dew, etc., takes the reader on a glorious journey in the life of Zoie from World War II where she meets her soon to be husband, Nat, a Marine, through the 1980's. This gripping story will keep you up to read just one more chapter. Check it out. You too won't be disappointed! Bye.

Oh my the misery!!!.......2007-08-19

This book is long, boring and way too verbose!! I read this book for my bookclub and it was torture. I would skip pages, where the author went on and on and on...way too verbose.

This one's worth skipping!!

Average customer rating:

A real eye opener!
A Bit Graphic, But Overall Compelling Story
Perfect Read for a Weekend

Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0571206484

Customer Reviews:

A real eye opener!.......2004-07-20

I took my time reading this book because it was like drinking the most intensely incredible wine I've ever tasted. Kingsolver writes with the most astounding accuracy and amazing description. I felt like I was there with Deanna on Zebulon Mountain, laying in the grass with Lusa, and picking apples with Nannie. I learned so much about the natural balance that mother nature keeps, without the "assistance" of humans. If you appreciate nature even a little bit, this book will probably make you a full-fledged nature-freak. I simply loved this book, and will take so much of it with me, forever.

A Bit Graphic, But Overall Compelling Story.......2004-06-23

I did not read this book, but listened to the unabridged audiobook read by Kingsolver. She was an excellent reader and I would eagerly look for her reading any other novel she has authored. The story itself was a bit slow moving in the begining and also a bit graphic for my tastes, but the pace picked up before too long and she drew the different story threads together perfectly before the end.

It took me a little while to get into this novel, mostly because of the 3 different plot threads that seemed to have very little to do with each other at first. About halfway through the novel it was fairly clear how all the threads were somehow related to each other, but before that it often seemed like reading bits from 3 different books.

I might sound like a bit of a prude, but I did not like the graphic descriptions of sex that were very common throughout this book. Especially at the start of the book it seemed like every other paragraph was about someone having sex and how wonderful it was. I think that after you establish that a couple are having sex very often, you don't have to explain it every time in full detail. The level of graphic description was surprising to me given the PG-rated content of Kingsolver's other novels.

The good part of the book is, of course, the wonderful story. A reader cannot help but be drawn in (eventually). As much as I might not like the style in which it is told, Kingsolver remains a master of writing and can describe nature scenes like nobody else. She also puts so much knowledge about the natural world into her books that I think she must be something of a scientist herself. And this information is woven into such an enjoyable story that it is easily absorbed. I ended up wishing the book would keep on for a whole other novel, continuing to tell the life stories of those compelling characters I had grown to know so well.

Perfect Read for a Weekend.......2004-06-16

By page 11 I was completely absorbed into the world of Zebulon Valley. Twelve Hours later I had finished the book! It reminds me a few books I read in the summer of 1996: The Joshua Tree by Robert Cabot and One Summer by James R. Osgood. If you enjoy Prodigal Summer I recommend these other books.

Prodigal Summer by Kingsolver (hardcover edition)

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Prodigal Summer

Prodigal Summer by Kingsolver (hardcover edition)
Barbara Kingsolver
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (P.S.)

ASIN: B000N45EY0

Customer Reviews:

Prodigal Summer.......2007-03-30

One of the best books I've ever read, by one of the best female authors of our time.

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Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Prodigal Summer

Manufacturer: Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel

ASIN: 0965098885

3 PBs by Barbara Kingsolver: Bean Trees, Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer

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3 PBs by Barbara Kingsolver: Bean Trees, Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000V0Y9IS

Product Description

Paperbacks

6 Titles By Kingsolver - Homeland - Animal Dreams - Pigs in Heaven - The Bean Trees- The Poisonwood Bible - Prodigal Summer

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6 Titles By Kingsolver - Homeland - Animal Dreams - Pigs in Heaven - The Bean Trees- The Poisonwood Bible - Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Product Description

6 trade sized paperback Titles By Kingsolver - Homeland - Animal Dreams - Pigs in Heaven - The Bean Trees- The Poisonwood Bible - Prodigal Summer

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Prodigal Summer

Manufacturer: Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739413872

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Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
Manufacturer: Faber and Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PF8NS6

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Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEQ2JA

Book Description

After twelve years, the headstrong Annabel McKeige is back in the frontier town of Parable, Nevada. Back to face the husband she left behind...the son she never saw grow to manhood...and the home where her heart broke when she lost a beloved daughter. But her intentioins regarding their marriage are soon clear -- even if her motives are not.

Gabe McKeige loved Annabel too fiercely to let a chance like this slip away. But the iron-willed rancher is also too proud to beg -- he didn't twelve years ago, and he won't now. So, Gabe sets out to woo Annabel the only way he knows...with passion-filled kisses and sensual touches that conjure the sweet firestorm of their marriage bed. And Annabel is finding that the man she once left is unbearably hard to resist....

Customer Reviews:

Wow!!.......2002-01-20

This bk is awesome. Really it is. It's different than other romances and contains alot of depth in the characters. I put off reading this bk for a long time b/c I didn't like the idea of a Mother leaving her child and husband for 12yrs. I could not fathom a reason why anyone would do this especially in the 1800's!! Well, I bought Anabelle's reason for leaving (I certainly did not agree with it) and I loved how she stayed true to Gabriel all those years.

It was also interesting to watch the H/H interact with a grown child as well as how he interacted with them. I would have liked to have seen more of a scene where Nicholas vented his anger to his Mother over why she left him but even without that scene the bk was great.

If your looking for something different than the usual romance this is it.

Fulfilling The Vow.......2000-07-15

"The Vow", another of Linda Lael Miller's great works. When Annabel returns to her home in Parable, Nevada, the sparks fly between Annabel and her husband, Gabe McKeige. Both are too stubborn to admit that although they lost a beloved child years before, their love for each other did not die. After unsuccessfully trying to deny their feelings, eventually the passion erupts, the fire is rekindled, and the promises made long ago are once again being fulfilled in "The Vow."

I love Ms. Miller's books and each gets better than the last. Read "The Vow" and I promise you will not be disappointed.

Dynamic Characters Stand Out.......1998-04-10

The hook of course is our heroine, Annabel, AND her entrance back into town. Knowing LLM for many years I immediately started anticipating who was the had-to-be major dynamic hero, Gabriel. I was not disappointed. All of the major characters had many different colors. Linda maintains her artistic touch to create a masterpience with lots of passionate interaction. In addition to everything, I delighted at the two suprises she saved until the very end! Last but certainly not least the town, Parable, Nevada, was where it HAD to take place.

Linda Lael Miller triumphs again with The Vow........1998-03-18

The Vow is set in Nevada, 1878.
It's main characters, Annibel and Gabe Mckeige and their son Nicholas have had an unusual and intriguing past which gives the book it's uniqueness.
Annibel, following the death of their daughter Susannah, was inconsolable and Gabe and she could not seem to comfort each other.
As with many couples facing the death of a child, they drew apart rather than closer together.

Annabel ran to her elderly aunt in Boston, fully expecting Gabe to come after her.
When it was clear he would not, she set out for England where her family was from.

The book actually begins when she returns to Parable, Nevada with a startling request for her husband (at least in those days).
That's when all the sparks and fun begin, and they don't end until the conclusion of the book.

Linda Lael Miller has written so many books that I love and will keep forever that the list would be endless here, but The Vow is now there on the shelf.
I hope you will order a copy and see for yourself how much she can make you laugh and cry and see the reality of life in this book.
I think I'll re-read it tomorrow!

Miller at her most eloquent.......1998-02-20

A dozen years have passed since Annabel Mckeige's dad died and, unable to cope with her grief, she deserted her spouse Gabe and her seven year old son Nicholas. Over the subsequent years, Annabel continued to correspond with her child. However, she has finally returned to her hometown of Parable, Nebraska.

Neither Nicholas or Gabe have any intention of falling in with her plans. Her son cannot forgive her and her spouse refuses to allow the woman he still loves leave him again. Before the battling adults can declare all out war on each other, their son gets in deep trouble with the law. They agree to put aside their differences while trying to help the boy they both love.

THE VOW is a beautiful tale of love lost and regained, while demonstrating that this is the strongest, most enduring emotion humans can hope to experience. As seen through the eyes of the three Mckeiges, the talented Linda Lael Miller provides a magical western romance that is a relationship drama that would be a masterpiece in any era.

Harriet Klausner

Average customer rating:

extremely complex and convoluted alternate history thriller

A lost opportunity for speculative fiction

Sharp Left Turn In The Middle

disjointed and unsatisfying

A world turned inside out

Darwinia: A Novel of a Very Different Twentieth Century
Robert Charles Wilson
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Alternate History | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Wilson, Robert Charles | ( W ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Blind Lake

Bios Bios

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ASIN: 0812566629

Amazon.com

In 1912, the entire European continent and all of the United Kingdom mysteriously vanished during the Miracle, replaced by an alien landscape known as Darwinia. Darwinia seems to be a slice of another Earth, one that diverged from our own millions of years ago and took a separate evolutionary path. As a 14-year-old boy, Guilford Law witnessed the Miracle as shimmering lights playing across the ocean sky. Now as a grown man, he is determined to travel to Darwinia and explore its mysteries. To that end he enlists as a photographer in the Finch expedition, which plans to steam up the Rhine (or what was once the Rhine) and penetrate the continent's hidden depths as far as possible. But Law has brought an unwanted companion with him, a mysterious twin who seems to have lived--and died--on an Earth unchanged by the Miracle. The twin first appears to Guilford in dreams, and he brings a message that Darwinia is not what it seems to be--and Guilford is not who he seems to be. --Craig Engler

Book Description

In 1912, history was changed by the Miracle, when the old world of Europe was replaced by Darwinia, a strange land of nightmarish jungle and antedeluvian monsters. To some, the Miracle is an act of divine retribution; to others, it is an opportunity to carve out a new empire.Leaving American now ruled by religious fundamentalism, young Guilford Law travels to Darwinia on a mission of discovery that will take him further than he can possibly imagine....to a shattering revelation about mankind's destiny in the universe.

Customer Reviews:

extremely complex and convoluted alternate history thriller .......2007-09-23

In 1912, war in Europe seems imminent when an alien realm Darwinia abruptly replaces Europe on planet earth. The United States is unconcerned with what has vanished; instead declares the cosmos event a Miracle and encourages colonization especially by the devout who believe this is God's work to replace evil with good. Over the next few years a few struggling colonies settled mostly by religious fanatics are formed within the extraterrestrial forests.

In 1920 American creationist scientist Preston Finch leads an expedition to chart the New World. Boston photographer Guilford Law leaves wife Caroline and daughter Lily in New London as he joins the quest. However, the journey proves dangerous as outlaws and the strange alien wildlife attack them. However, it is the dreams and odd occurrences that frighten the participants. Guilford the photographer meets Guilford the dead WW I soldier before leaving Darwinia. In New London he learns that his family thought he died so they left to grieve in Australia. The other Guilford explains to the bewildered photographer that they are expendable military fodder protecting humanity in a universal war through time against demon controlled humans. When Darwinia came to earth to protect the enigmatic Archive from the Great War; hostility came with it to this time and place.

This extremely complex and convoluted alternate history thriller is a difficult tale to follow as the story line is not always linear especially when the scope widens laterally. Guilford the photographer is a fascinating lead character as his problems with his wife that seemed monumental before the expedition now appear molehill as he begins to understand what is happening on a global scale. Fans who prefer deep thought provoking thrillers will want to read this intricate tale as Guilford learns nothing is quite what it seems, not even demons.

Harriet Klausner

A lost opportunity for speculative fiction.......2007-09-05

One could anticipate that a fully satisfying explanation for the replacement of Europe by "Darwinia" may not eventuate, and it was not for this that I read the novel. Rather, the impetus was the occurrence of such an event within an early twentieth century setting. Unfortunately the scientific, political and other ramifications of this were not adequately explored, and using the context to simply highlight that creationist beliefs are deficient represents a lost opportunity for the novel to be of greater relevance and significance (in terms of speculative fiction). However, it is the novel's progression into shallow violence and horror that are its weakest aspects, with the few passages producing "put the book down and ponder" moments belittled by juvenile accounts of humans morphing into bug-like aliens.

Sharp Left Turn In The Middle.......2007-05-28

As just about every review agrees, this starts out as Jules Verne and ends up like the Matrix, which would not be too bad, except whereas Jules Verne wrote some great novels, the Matrix was a great movie, but not a great storyline.
Perhaps here is how it happened: the author has a great idea about an adventure in a replaced Europe. They find the great lost city and most of the party is wiped out. Great, so now the author needs to start explaining what happened to Europe. (At this point I started thinking he would turn it around and explain that it wasn't Europe that disappeared, but the rest of the world.) He goes way further to explain that this is not the Earth, but a historical record of the Earth that has somehow been infiltrated by a virus which destroyed the European bit. So now the author goes back to the original storyline and starts seeding it with chapters that have no relevance to the expedition storyline, but start to give hints to the state of the world.

Too many characters that had little bearing on the plot. The aliens were too confusing - the virus manifests itself as 4 armed aliens. Too much of a disappointment in the ending - I'm still not sure what happened at the end.

In a way, similarities to Blind Lake (this is only my 3rd RCW book), in that there are too many unanswered questions leaving the reader frustrated . Spin OTOH ties everything up nicely in the end. Looking forward to more of Wilson's books.

Addendum:
A question I kept asking myself while reading the book - How well established was the theory of evolution in the United States in 1912? Was Darwin so widely accepted that the new world would have been named after him. The book suggests that there is a lot of superstition and religion dominating the USA at this time, so wouldn't the new continent be more likely named after something from the bible?

disjointed and unsatisfying.......2006-08-27

I agree with much of what other reviewers have said. First, the characters were not adequately developed. It was hard to have any interest in them or their tribulations. And just as you came to be interested in a particular character he or she would disappear from the narrative forever. I do not think this would have been too great a problem had the story been able to support them. However, the story really lacked any real continuity. It seemed as if two novels had been combined. Like most of the other reviewers the novel had my attention in the first half until it veered in a different direction. This abrupt shift was implausible and very unsatisfying. I never felt like any of the revelations were very startling or interesting or realistic. I give it three stars instead of two because I think it was innovative and pretty well written, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to a friend.

A world turned inside out.......2006-04-18

In 1912, Europe suddenly is completely 'overwritten' with a new history. Gone are the people, cities and wildlife and in their place appear a new yet ancient continent, similiar only in the lay of the land. Plant and animal life are radically different.

As people from the Americas and Asia begin to explore the new land, it becomes apparant that the changes are not over yet.

It is hard to tell much more about the plot without giving anything away. I will say that the story goes quite a while before anything other than the exploration of the new world is covered but then it introduces creative surprises and interesting twists. The explanation of how and why the world was changed takes us into a strange and inhuman place.

I didn't really fancy the ending, but it didn't really take away from the overall story.

On the positive side, I do like Wilsons writing style.

Darwinia - A Novel of a Very Different Twentieth Century

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Darwinia - A Novel of a Very Different Twentieth Century

Manufacturer: Tom Doherty Associates
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HJX0BU

Book Description

With the skill of a master storyteller and the spiritual courage of a lifelong seeker, Wallace takes us from early meetings to a romantic idyll in Mexico; she shares previously unpublished material straight from the Nagual and explores the harrowing aftermath of Castaneda’s death – including the mystery of five missing disciples who may have left Los Angeles in a suicide pact – and the shattering long term effects of his legacy. Finally, we see her ultimate, uplifting escape from the group, as she learns the danger of giving away her power to another and the consequent joy of recovering the strength of her spirit, a power each one of us possesses.

Customer Reviews:

A Painful and Troubling Revelation.......2007-06-22

A man of mystery, Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories to be biographical rather than fiction, while others left-handedly lauded him as a novelist of the first order for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions, only to turn around and accuse him of conceptual plagiarism. To me it all smacked of professional jealousy.

I'm reminded of the time back in 1977 when a girlfriend of mine offered to introduce me to a friend of hers over dinner who graduated with Castaneda from the same anthropology department Phd program at UCLA back in the 60's. We were barely into our first course when I asked her to tell me what she thought of Castaneda. "Kinda weird I guess," was all she offered. "In what way," I pressed further. "He was just very secretive," she continued, "never wanted anyone to know anything about himself, where he lived, what he was into, things like that."

Now I was really excited. All of his writings were coming true right before my eyes. "So Castaneda really did practice `becoming inaccessible' and `erasing personal history' just as don Juan had instructed him," I went on. The woman looked across the table at me like I'd just said something in ancient Aramaic. "I wouldn't know anything about all that," she replied. "Surely you remember those concepts from his books," I went on. "I never read any of his books," she stated flatly. I was crushed. Had I been able to lift my chin from the table I would have called for the check. It was the most disappointing dinner conversation of my entire life. How many more critics from the world of academia were lurking about out there that had never opened one of his books, I wondered to myself.

But then came "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," a scathing expose by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace, recounting her life as an intimate partner of Castaneda's from 1991 until his death in 1998. While her book provided little corroboration for or against the accounts in Castaneda's books, since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to have occurred, it nonetheless provides a disturbing view inside the final years of Castaneda's life, a picture of descent into sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda may have been just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.

It was enough to shake anyone's faith in a treasured icon, and I was no less vulnerable than anyone else. Over the course of the week I spent digesting her book I remembered how many people had asked me over the years why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.

For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For the next two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their response was cordial beyond anything I had ever experienced from them, and convinced me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I had completely forgotten to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.

Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually we experience a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity are no longer possible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.

Amy's revelations notwithstanding, this one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."

Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma

cold shower.......2006-12-22

somehow this story that unfolded gave me a cold shower. my image of carlos casteneda was squattered. but sometimes that is neccesary. Amy tx!

We will come back for you..........2006-09-28

We will come back for you...when you are more willingly to die. Goodbye Amy. Thanks for the book, it's been of a lot of help in ways you wouldnt imagine nor comprehend...

The good, the bad and the ugly........2006-06-04

I was drawn to this book as many others may have been by the desire to find out more about the mysterious Carlos Castaneda. I have read his books as they came out and they had an impact on how I lived and understood the world.

As I read this book, I realized that I was getting more than I realized. Certainly, I came away with a sense of the "inner circle" that surrounded Castaneda and the inconsistencies of the teachings and the life of this gifted writer and teacher. The purpose of the book was the make sure that others don't give to their teacher's their "will power" according to the author.

This is where the book went awry for me. I understand the persuasive power of teachers. I understand that we want to believe that someone has the answer to the primary questions we have about life. I also understand that I can not give away my "will power". This would mean that others can control me and my actions. Rather, I am choosing to act in a manner that gives me something that I want.

The author was excited and repulsed by the relationship. She was a woman of fame and personal wealth so Castaneda did not hold her hostage in some physical way. Rather, Ms. Wallace wanted to believe in what Castaneda was offering. Even when she became clear of the incongruities of his life and teaching, she continued on. She is no victem. She is a willing participant in the deception of Castaneda and for that she should take responsiblity. If she had the book would have been much more creditable for me.

Energy Drainning.......2006-04-21

I was very excited to receive and begin reading The Sorcerer's Apprentice as I am with all books that can further my knowledge and guide me in the realm of personal growth. I was unfortunately very disappointed in this book.
I have read all of Castaneda's books including many, many others like Ken Eagle Feather, Teun Mars, Sanchez, Ruiz, Summer Rain, Millman ect. One important feature of all these are that they have furthered my understanding of the Toltec knowledge, its applications and increased my energy level. This book however did none of those. I found it to be draining and nonproductive.
To be fair I must admit I only read half of it. I did find it well written and interesting however I found it to be very unimpeccable. Not to say that the truth shouldn't be put out there (I do believe Amy's account)however I don't need an entire book full of examples to tell me that Castaneda as Nagual was like Castaneda as the apprentice , Weak and Egotistical. I would have rather go on believing that if an idiot such as he could do it anyone could.
PS Anyone CAN but this book is unlikely to help!

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