Letters to the Editor
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On Fiction vs. Non-Fiction
I don't have much tolerance for the JT Leroys of the world. And thought James Frey did in fact state at the front of his book that some things had been altered from what actually occurred, he seems to be a sham, too.
But Castaneda's use of Don Juan reminds me more of another writer in history: Plato. We don't have a clue if, and many people strongly suspect that, Socrates never said the things attributed to him. It is possible that Plato put his own philosophy into Socrates's mouth because it was safer than owning the ideas himself (and risking imprisonment and hemlock).
And, really, we can't prove there was no Don Juan, or if perhaps Don Juan is an amalgamation of people spouting various philosoophies. To use a less auspicious example than Plato, Shirley MacLaine made her various teachers into one reappearing character in Out on a Limb. In her various books, she describes out of body experiences, spiritual beings guiding and even physically aiding her, and a face-to-face encounter with her androgynous "Higher Self."
No one's calling for Plato or MacLaine to be repackaged as fiction. I really don't get why Castaneda's works should be treated differently. Exactly how seriously do people take the New Age selections that fill the "Mataphysics" shelves of their bookstores?