''Sorcerer's Apprentice'' is a travel book by Anglo-Afghan author,

Tahir Shah Tahir Shah (, ; ''né'' Sayyid Tahir al-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد طاهر الهاشمي); born 16 November 1966) is a British author, journalist and documentary maker of Afghan-Indian descent. Family Tahir Shah was born into the '' saadat'' ...

Synopsis

The book is Shah's account of his travels throughout India and his meeting with godmen,

sadhus ''Sadhu'' (, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female), also spelled ''saddhu'') is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternativel ...

, and street sorcerers. He had embarked on the trip to locate an Indian illusionist who he had met as a boy in rural England and from whom he had learned magic tricks. The illusionist had been assigned as a guardian to Shah's great-grandfather's tomb. On his trip, he met a variety of such characters, many of whom run

confidence trick A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irrespons ...

s and scams.

Reviews

Review of ''Sorcerer's Apprentice'' and other Shah books
on Mondo Ernesto
Review from April 15, 2001
on

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

* on All About India
Review of ''Sorcerer's Apprentice''
on Publishers Weekly

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorcerer's Apprentice (Book) 1998 non-fiction books British travel books Indian folklore Magic books Books by Tahir Shah Weidenfeld & Nicolson books English non-fiction books Books about India