Shelf Awareness: enlightenment for readers

Plastic Shaman:
The True Story of a Deadly Self-Help Retreat and America's Misguided Quest for Wellness
by Annette McGivney

In October 2009, a group of people participated in a sham Native American sweat lodge ceremony at an expensive desert retreat led by prominent self-help guru and grifter James Arthur Ray. Three members of this group never made it back to their families. This tragedy underpins Plastic Shaman's exploration of how the wellness industry and New Age movements co-opt Indigenous practices in "one of the most extraordinary works of investigative journalism I've ever encountered," says Torrey House Press executive editor and co-executive director Will Neville-Rehbehn. McGivney uses a true-crime framework to present a necessary and clear-cut case for returning ownership of sacred lands and customs to their rightful owners in this "edge-of-your-seat reading experience." --Kristen Coates

(Torrey House Press, $32 hardcover, 9798890920515, September 15, 2026)