Castaneda Biographer Ru Marshall

Just added a Menu page to the site regarding Castaneda biographer Ru Marshall, author of the insightful 2007 Salon article about Castaneda, whose long awaited, thoroughly researched biography of Castaneda is due to be published by Red Hen Press in Spring 2006.

The new page includes links to Ru’s own website as well as other articles and projects they have been interviewed for or consulted on regarding Castaneda. As the publication date for Ru’s American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda draws closer, we plan to add reviews and an interview with Ru to this page.

Meanwhile, advance blurbs for the book include the following:

American Trickster is a stunning achievement. This genre-stretching biography moves fluidly between the mundane and the intellectual, the traumatic and the surreal. Marshall’s philosophical acuity, honest self-examination, and edgy style make this book a fascinating quest narrative.”

—Carol Sklenicka, author of Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life

Ru Marshall’s necessary and groundbreaking American Trickster takes us into the dark heart of Carlos Castaneda, one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant hoaxers. There are real crimes here, and real horror. Marshall paints a devastating portrait of the spiritual leader’s genuine allure, and the febrile cultural landscape of the sixties that proved such a fertile ground for his fabrications. The urgent message of this oh-so-timely book is that when the message suits the age the turning of a million minds can be as easy as the loss of one.

—Ranbir Sidhu, author of Deep Singh Blue and Good Indian Girls

When the University of California published Carlos Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan in 1968, it changed the field of anthropology. But the book was a work of fiction. Plagiarized from multiple sources, it belonged to a long tradition of misrepresenting indigenous cultures. There was never a sorcerer named Don Juan. But there was a brilliant, magpie-ish storyteller named Carlos, who later become the leader of a deadly cult. Through exhaustive research, incisive analysis, and bravura storytelling, Ru Marshall reveals the true story of one of the 20^th century’s most mysterious figures, and in so doing, reinvigorates and expands the biography genre. 

—Matthew Sharpe, author of Jamestown and The Sleeping Father

Rarely have I met a book as edifying, gripping and wise as Ru Marshall’s biography of Carlos Castaneda. Anyone who wants to understand how charisma, cults and today’s politics work should read this. It gives us the vocabulary we need to comprehend what’s going on in our divided country while showing us how vulnerable we all are to seduction. 

—Helen Benedict, author of A Map of Hope and Sorrow, and Wolf Season. 

©️ 2024 by Richard Jennings, or other author as noted, all rights reserved

Related Links:

• Biographer
• 25th Anniversary Update
• Summary of Castaneda’s Lawsuit Against Victor Sanchez
• Amy Wallace Answers Questions