Carlos Castaneda returns! Goodman weaves a tale that takes place in France some years after Castaneda’s death. The book contains stories from Goodman as well as some impressive “afterlife dialogues” with Castaneda, who spends his time in his new body in search of help from Goodman.

For those of you not familiar with Carlos Castaneda, he is the author of The Teachings of Don Juan, published in 1968. It is an account of Castaneda’s apprenticeship with Don Juan, a Yaqui Indian who lives in Mexico. It is one of the staples in psychedelic literature, while also being a very controversial account. Many hold Castaneda to be a God, while others view him as a charlatan. I have read all of the books that Castaneda wrote, but do not have a definite opinion of him. A master of prose and mystique, he is not the easiest character to figure out.

Goodman does a very good job in this book of channeling genuine stylings of Castaneda. I was struck by how similar his writing is to that of Castaneda’s. The flow of the story is seamless and it is a very enjoyable read. However, it didn’t seem to carry as much weight as one of Castaneda’s books. This isn’t too surprising, as Castaneda is sort of a legend in some respects. It would be too hard to live up to his greatness. I Was Carlos Castaneda is definitely worth checking out if you are a Castaneda fan.

4/5 Stars. 220 pages. Published in 2001.