Plastic Shaman Paperback
Trade Paper Original | ISBN: 9798890920454 | Nonfiction | $21.95 | 390 pp | Trim: 5.5 x 8.375" | September 2026
A spiritual quest turns into a fatal disaster in this gripping true crime investigation.
In October 2009, more than fifty people attended a $10,000-per-person wellness retreat led by a celebrity self-help guru. For these enlightenment seekers, their time in Sedona, Arizona, culminated in a fake Native American sweat lodge ceremony. Three of them would not make it out alive.
This tragedy exposes the dangerous truth about the booming two-trillion-dollar wellness sector, where promises of spiritual awakening and financial success often mask shocking practices underpinned by cultural appropriation and the commodification of nature. Journalist Annette McGivney’s investigation of the wellness industry lays bare the manipulation and greed that allow charismatic influencers to prey on vulnerable people in search of happiness and healing—no matter the cost.
Annette McGivney is an award-winning author of five nonfiction books including Pure Land, winner of the National Outdoor Book Award. She taught journalism at Northern Arizona University and is a longtime reporter for Outside, The Guardian, and Arizona Highways. She lives in Cortez, Colorado.