Psychedelic Summer Reads
Summer is here, and with it the promise of a long awaited vacation. A chronic overbooker myself, I deeply enjoy those wide open slots of time during summer. What better time to catch up on some reading? Here are a few recommendations for a psychedelic beach read that are sure to leave you both entertained and informed. Enjoy!
LSD My Problem Child - Albert Hofmann
Written by a man that needs no introduction, LSD my problem child tells the story of how the molecule that changed the world was first discovered, as told by the man who was there to experience it. We follow Dr. Hofmann into the lab at Sandoz, as he seemingly by chance decides to give this mysterious substance LSD-25 another go. As he works with the substance he somehow ingests a miniscule amount, experiencing a slight tingeling that he right away connects with the substance. The following day, the 19th of April, 1943, he decided to measure up to a dose of 250 micrograms, an amount so small that it could hardly have any effect. In a courageous act of self experimentation, he takes it all, and the rest is history. Essayistic in its style, Hofmann’s book gives an intimate look at the man behind the molecule. Written in 1979, Hofmann still has a lot to tell us. A free PDF version is available on MAPS website!
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe
Another classic of psychedelic literature, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, tells the story of the first psychedelic wave. A strange saga of what happened as LSD started sneaking out of the labs and psychiatrists office and slowly came to nurture the soft underbelly of west coast counter culture. Written like a novel, with Wolfe’s own brand of participatory observation called new journalism, he takes his readers on a wild ride through the growing hippie movement. It’s a testament to his abilities as a writer that he’s able to render with such precision the early motifs and values of the first hippies, not to mention the thousand hues of the psychedelic experience, while he himself allegedly remained a sober conservative throughout the whole experience. Both empathic and clear sighted, The Acid Test is a great place to start for anyone curious about how the first psychedelic wave got rolling
Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: CIA, Sixties and Beyond - Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain
A rather ambitious title for what remains a journalistic work, Acid Dreams is essentially two books. The first part is a passionate account of some of the lesser known sides of early psychedelic research, culminating in the horrifying MK ULTRA, a set of clandestine experiments using psychedelics on unknowing subjects led by the CIA. This rather sordid story is followed by a narrative exploration of the 60’s counterculture movements, giving an overview of the character’s who brought it all together, and some might argue, caused it all to fall apart. This more general perspective provides a strong compliment to the more zoomed in story of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
Reading Acid Dreams can be summed up as a continuous experience of I don’t think it can get any crazier now followed by a quick realisation that Oh yes it can!
There you go! I hope these books leave you inspired to continue to learn more about psychedelic science.
