RU Talk:Ru Marshall and David Dixon discuss American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda

On June 3, artist/writer Ru Marshall and artist/curator David Dixon discussed Ru’s newly released biography American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda (OR Books). Twenty years in the making, American Trickster tells the story of the once world-famous pseudo anthropologist who rose to fame in the 1970s following the publication of his first book, The Teachings of Don Juan. Castaneda, a brilliant plagiarist, became one of the bestselling authors of his era by passing off novels as anthropology; among the topics to be discussed will be the problem of authenticity in writing and the visual arts, and the boundary between fact and fiction. As Castaneda’s academic career began to decline, he became the leader of a cult that held out the possibility of eternal life. After his death, five of his closest associated committed suicide in order to join him in the next dimension. Ru and David discussed the mechanisms through which cult leaders control their followers and the importance of understanding these methods in the era of Trump and MAGA.