Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice
Written by Mark J. Plotkin
Narrated by Mark J. Plotkin
4/5
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About this audiobook
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice has been called one of the greatest adventure stories ever told.
As then-chief ethnobotanist for Conservation International, Mark Plotkin spent almost 15 years tracking the shamans of the northeast Amazon. Their knowledge of healing plants may hold the cure to some of today's most devastating diseases. This audiobook is the thrilling account of his apprenticeship to these powerful wise men, a gripping journey into a wild and wonderful world seldom glimpsed by outsiders.
Mark J. Plotkin
Mark J. Plotkin, Ph.D., is an ethnobotanist and president of the Amazon Conservation Team, an environmental organization whose express goal is to conserve biodiversity, health, and culture in tropical America by working in partnership with the indigenous peoples there. He studied at Harvard and Yale and earned his Ph.D. from Tufts University. He received the San Diego Zoo Gold Medal for Conservation (1993) and in 2001 TIME magazine named him an Environmental Hero for the Planet.” In 2004 he was awarded the Roy Chapman Andrews Distinguished Explorer Award and in 2005 Smithsonian magazine hailed him as one of “35 Who Made a Difference.” He is the author of several books including Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice and Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature’s Healing Secrets.
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Reviews for Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice
118 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Absolutely recommend the book if you are looking for insight or adventure! I was captured from start to finish!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Heard the author speak and then read the book for non-fiction readers' group. Good read, good discussion.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As someone who works in the plant industry, and who is into the metaphysical and occult, I thought this book would be an interesting listen, not reading too much of the description. To be frank, the "Shaman" part in the title grabbed me.
And as I began to listen, I was instantly hooked! I felt like I was there on the river, in the jungle, with a pipe up my nose and down into the abyss of the drug. I felt like I was in the hut meeting the chiefs and witch doctors and seeing the little men in the forest on a trip. This book activated all my senses and intuitions and the conservationist in me also delighted to be on the journey.
I want to listen again and then get the book and read it! I rarely write reviews, but christ almighty this book was good! And I felt it was a sneer in the face of the shameful missionaries who believe Christianity is meant to heal and liberate and instead offers shackles and takes away the good in their ancient practices that outdate many others. I liked the stick-it-to-the-Man of it all.
What an excellent book and I'm excited to continue to follow all conservation efforts and do my part as a nursery stock grower! - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very interesting. An enjoyable story of how the author took multiple trips to south america around the 70's & 80's to find native tribes untouched by western culture to learn about their plant knowledge for medicinal uses and altered states.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A fascinating look into South American native traditions of sorcery, hallucinogenics, and mystery. Plotkin creates an ethos for doing research while promoting local cultures and allowing them to reap the benefits of western consumption.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great read that will probably lead to numerous other books about the region/subject. Interesting travel mixed w/ ethnobotany and conservation make for a book that is hard not to like.