I Was Carlos Castaneda: The Afterlife Dialogues

By Martin Goodman

Book Overview

?A marvelous book with rich teachings that particularly touch the heart of death -- and, thus, life itself.?--Thom Hartmann, author of The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight Carlos Castaneda comes back from the dead in a true-life spiritual adventure story set in the French Pyrenees, Machu Picchu, the Peruvian Amazon, and the American Southwest. Four months after his death, the world-renowned writer, anthropologist, and mystic Carlos Castaneda turns up in the French Pyrenees. He meets with writer Martin Goodman. His purpose? To lead Martin beyond the fear of death and the confusions of mortality, and to offer a clearer understanding of the ultimate wisdom -- the wisdom to live the rest of our days in full and conscious harmony with the living earth. Martin Goodman is a gifted storyteller who has infused I Was Carlos Castaneda with literary verve and humor. When, at their first encounter, an incredulous Goodman confronts Castaneda with reports of his recent death, Castaneda replies wryly, ?Details. . . mere details.? And so the story begins.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609807633
• ISBN13: 9780609807637
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Castaneda as I knew him

I am surprised at the grudges some readers here hold ... maybe envy? I knew Carlos Castaneda from two weekends of his teachings and from studying all his books and am very pleased to have this addition. It speaks to my life, and my dreams, in the way he has always done. More than ever perhaps. The teachings continue. Why does everybody have to deny everything Castaneda has ever done? Please do not deny yourselves a chance to read the lessons he has brought back to us from the other side of death.

A true Castaneda book!

I keep a few books above my bed ... don't loan them, don't give them away, just have them there to dip into now and again. Castaneda's TALES OF POWER is one ... I've read all his books, some a few times. I've tried others in the Toltec school too ... some OK but none grabbed me. I WAS CARLOS CASTANEDA really did. It's like Castaneda for the 21st century, not some tired rehash of what he's already done. This Goodman's a great writer (better than Castaneda in my mind but then he had Castaneda as an example and teacher) ... yes Castaneda is different, but then I wouldn't trust him if her weren't for then the whole journey through the afterlife and back would have been for nothing. Real lessons here. Real counsel too. The book's a celebration of life here on this planet. I found I even dropped my fear of Central Park and have really gotten to appreciate the place as some rare slice of nature in the wake of this book. Definitely for my KEEPS shelf!

A Book to be Treasured

A truly superb book. One that has the energy and power of one of the greats.I come at this from a funny angle. I sense that on the left wing environmentalist front it is seeking to preach largely to the converted and give them teachings to assist in their own development.I am far from left leaning and do not have the same spiritual take on things as Martin but felt very able to connect with the power of the experiences recounted in this book.I also have the pleasure of having visited this area of France. The description is accurate and really sends the mind shooting back to my time there.I think that anyone who can accept this book on its own terms and accept the journey recounted regardless of any cynicism they may hold as to its reality will enjoy the book.Attacking the book as a marketing ploy is very crude and unhealthy. Its not Castaneda, its not a biography. It does not attempt to sell as such and has something of its own to offer the world.Matthew

A JOYRIDE!!!

No hangups on this one man ... I thought hey who's pulling what here, then gave up and just went with it ... you don't write a thing like this on ayahuasca but it sure smacks of those teachings, those visions, those wild rides ... all the clues to reading this book are deep inside it ... the everything true at once game but only 20% is really true, that's big ... whoever this Castaneda guy is he can dance into my life, he can dance on my grave if he wants, he's wild and crazy and out there and my kind of guy ... if this one doesn't change you then you're pinched and closed and there's no hope for you or you're already out there, surfing the cosmos!!!

Well it moved me!

...This book is so beautifully written it conjured other worlds for me ... I came out of it feeling cleansed somehow of lots that is false in my life. Hard to say quite how ... I'm going to take the journey again ... it's taken me back years, set me dreaming of when I was six and had so many hopes for life. I'm not sure about shamanism ... never trod that path ... but this is a fairly balanced if wild view of it and it has given me lots to ponder about other religions ... I was brought up a Christian Scientist so you can see I've got lots to think through! This book deals with death to my way of looking at it by showing how precious a thing life is, what a glancingly brief period we have on this jewel of a planet. Maybe what really changed me most was the evidence this book gives of the degree to which I am a part of nature ... I had to read the part about the gifts of giant beetles and bees in the jungle a couple of times to really take the lesson to heart. I don't know the Castaneda of the other books ... didn't even know the name before reading the introduction to this one ... but the Castaneda I met here is a fabulous, dear, wise creation wherever he came from. if he's any good this book serves a purpose by introducing me to him ... I'll try him out. And I'll buy and read anything Martin Goodman writes ... he was new to me too, but as a writer myself I really appreciate the lessons in writing this book contains. You'll gather I'm really thankful for this book (this is my first review but I felt I had to do it)- I read books to be changed, and this book cheers me on to keep on living and writing and trying.