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Mark J. Plotkin
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Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest Paperback – August 1, 1994

by Mark J. Plotkin (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 371 ratings
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The fascinating account of a pioneering ethnobotanist’s travels in the Amazon—at once a gripping adventure story, a passionate argument for conservationism, and an investigation into the healing power of plants, by the author of The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know

For thousands of years, healers have used plants to cure illness. Aspirin, the world's most widely used drug, is based on compounds originally extracted from the bark of a willow tree, and more than a quarter of medicines found on pharmacy shelves contain plant compounds. Now Western medicine, faced with health crises such as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, has begun to look to the healing plants used by indigenous peoples to develop powerful new medicines. Nowhere is the search more promising than in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest, home to a quarter of all botanical species on this planet—as well as hundreds of Indian tribes whose medicinal plants have never been studied by Western scientists. In Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, ethnobotanist Mark J. Plotkin recounts his travels and studies with some of the most powerful Amazonian shamans, who taught him the plant lore their tribes have spent thousands of years gleaning from the rain forest.

For more than a decade, Dr. Plotkin raced against time to harvest and record new plants before the rain forests' fragile ecosystems succumb to overdevelopment—and before the Indians abandon their own culture and learning for the seductive appeal of Western material culture. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice relates nine of the author's quests, taking the reader along on a wild odyssey as he participates in healing rituals; discovers the secret of curare, the lethal arrow poison that kills in minutes; tries the hallucinogenic snuff epena that enables the Indians to speak with their spirit world; and earns the respect and fellowship of the mysterious shamans as he proves that he shares both their endurance and their reverence for the rain forest.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    328 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    August 1, 1994
  5. Dimensions
    7.72 x 5.08 x 0.83 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    014012991X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0140129915
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A century ago, malaria was killing Washingtonians, Londoners, Parisians. Today HIV, along with various cancers, has taken its place among worldwide epidemics. Quinine, extracted from the cinchona tree of the Amazonian rainforest, quelled malaria; alkaloids taken from trees in the West African rainforest may well yield a cure for AIDS. Yet those woods, Mark Plotkin tells us, are fast disappearing, along with the native peoples who know the powers of the plants that dwell there. His account of wandering through the Amazonian jungles focuses on local knowledge about plants, whose uses range from the mundane to the magical. The rainforests of the world, Plotkin notes, are our greatest natural resource, an intercultural pharmacy that can cure woes both known and yet unvisited.

From Publishers Weekly

Ethnobotanist Plotkin details the alternative medicines he discovered during an apprenticeship to the shamans of the Amazon rainforests.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (August 1, 1994)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 014012991X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140129915
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.72 x 5.08 x 0.83 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 371 ratings

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Mark J. Plotkin

Mark J. Plotkin

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
371 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Brian Hawkinson
5.0 out of 5 stars A colorfully written and informative book...
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2006
Verified Purchase
Plotkin does an amazing job in not only describing his experience in the Amazonian forest but in also describing the many medicinal plants that were used by the native people. The story, as one would think, would seem bland and dry but Plotkin does a wonderful job in keeping his narration flowing and interesting.

I particularly liked the descriptions of what was happening to him when he personally experienced it, such as epena or the flea egg under his toe nail. In describing what happened personally it adds a lot more credence to the story he was telling. Additionally, the extra tidbits of information about his journey were fun as well, such as the large electric eel that was in the water with him.

What is most important though is Plotkin drives home the over arching theme of his book, that of protecting the Amazon and thus its medicinal powers, and not letting the years upon years of wisdom die with the few remaining shamans. A well written book by someone who knows his field very well. I would definitely recommend.

5 stars.
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GamingGal
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely opens your eyes
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2017
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Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest

I LOVE this book. To anyone who likes herbs or homeopathic remedies or science in general, you need to get this book. Yes, it's a little outdated what with it being about 2 decades old, but the reading is still there, and it's all true! It gives you a glimpse into what life was like in the deep, untouched forests back then and talks about who big pharma was already in the process of attempting to focus on their personal gain rather than supporting these shaman who knew so much about medicinal herbs and plants. I couldn't put this book down and ended up flying through it in less than a week. It's an easy read despite all the scientific plant names in it and is something I encourage all of you to look into.
13 people found this helpful
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DeeAndTee
5.0 out of 5 stars Plant Power Rules
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2007
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Mark Plotkin does a fantastic job of conveying the fantastic enthusiasm he has for rainforest plants and cultures. He shows us how important plants have been in the course of the development of civilization. As a historian, I greatly appreciated his vignettes into the origins of coffee, rubber and other life changing substances. Mark is a great story teller, and he is one of the luckiest men alive to have seen pristine rainforests and lived with these 20,000+ year old cultures before those clever capitalists and Christians wipe them all out. That's another thing I like about this book. It slams the arrogant missionaries who think they have all the right answers when in fact they are destroyers of indigenous cultures and invaluable medical knowledge. You can't help but read this book and feel that as you watch the rainforests burn, you might as well be watching the library of Alexandria burn.

But the book isn't depressing. It is empowering. Mark has a plan, and he's implementing it. Harness the greed of capitalism, and the pharmaceutical industry. Let's show the world that Science has brought us to this unprecedented point in our cognitive evolution and only Science (not praying to imaginary friends) will save us. Knowledge, not ignorance, is power.
6 people found this helpful
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Julie
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2023
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Got this book quickly, good read!
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book--ended too soon.
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2014
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Plotkin has written a lovely book here about the Northwest Amazon (Venezuela, Guyana, Surname, French Guyana, and Brazil); the least disturbed part of the great forest. Just like the field of ethnobotany, this book is interdisciplinary: anthropology, botany, medicine, linguistics, geography, ecology, and history are all featured.

Unlike his famous predecessor and mentor, Richard Evens Schultes, Plotkin visits Amazonian tribes at a time when many of them are losing their traditional ways in exchange for the convenience of the West. This adds importance to his work and urgency to his message of conservation.

As a lover of maps, my only gripe is that the map at the beginning could've done a better job of detailing his travels. Not a huge deal. I read this book with my laptop next to me so that I could look up different places, plants, and people that I was curious about.

Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice is a rare book that will not only teach you a great deal but thrill you along the way. Bravo!
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Steve M.
5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Book By An Engaging Author
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2019
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This is an interesting book by an engaging author. It is an account of an ethnobotanist who went to the Amazon Rain Forest to learn about the natives' use of plants to treat various conditions, and his efforts to preserve the knowledge of these people and the plants they use. The author got to know some of these people well, and the development of these relationships adds to this account and reminds us that people are very much the same the world over. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject.
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Brad G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting, Mind Opening, Transformational
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2018
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The author brings us to the reality of how the wisdom of indigenous peoples are the best knowledge and the wisest council in their domain, and the domain of life. It seems we often think of western cultures as being the "right" way, when in essence there are many "right" ways, and knowing and appreciating each others "right" ways shows us we only have part of the solution, not THE solution. Read and learn a significant amount about the Amazon Tropical Rainforest and its peoples, it will transform you.
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Helen E Dunn
5.0 out of 5 stars extraordinary book by an extraordinary man
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2022
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Must read if you are interested in herbs, herbal healing, ethnobotany, ecology, environmental issues, shamanic lore, the Amazon jungle and it’s peoples
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Top reviews from other countries

Simon (NZ)
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2023
Verified Purchase
One of the most interesting books I've read in ages. It is a mixture of travel adventure to seldom-visited places, Amazonian tribes, botany, strange characters, plant medicine, hallucinogens and shamanism. Not a dull page in the entire book (apart from the index at the end perhaps!)
When reading a non-fiction book I like to highlight the best bits but in this case I failed; the entire book is "the best bit".
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Amazon Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars misleading title / pleasantly surprised
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2019
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the title is a little misleading but i was pleasantly surprised by the content which was very interesting
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Persephone
5.0 out of 5 stars Ethnobotany at its greatest
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2014
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This book made me want to turn back time and go study another science, that of ethnobotany .... It also made me want to buy a ticet and jump on a plane to South America....
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archy
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2018
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Fascinating anthropological study by learned scientist.
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Rob
3.0 out of 5 stars Book condition was noted as good - but acceptable was, what I got...
Reviewed in Germany on January 21, 2016
Verified Purchase
Book arrived in time, but was in a worse condition then I thought, binding intact, but cover looked like it travelled all over South America, in a backback, strongly worn, pages corrugated and generally not more than a acceptable condition. The pages are clean, though...and an enthralling read will be guaranteed. 3 stars for the unexpected bad condition. Sorry, folks.
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Rob
3.0 out of 5 stars Book condition was noted as good - but acceptable was, what I got...
Reviewed in Germany on January 21, 2016
Book arrived in time, but was in a worse condition then I thought, binding intact, but cover looked like it travelled all over South America, in a backback, strongly worn, pages corrugated and generally not more than a acceptable condition. The pages are clean, though...and an enthralling read will be guaranteed. 3 stars for the unexpected bad condition. Sorry, folks.
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