“If one of us could pharmacologically redesign our neurocellular chemistry, there might indeed be strange new realms of perception and understanding to be explored, brave new worlds of the imagination based on new ratios of neurotransmitters in the still-evolving brains of human beings. I thought, ‘Who am I to judge?’”
Signed first printing of McKenna’s engrossing account of he and his brother Dennis’ mushroom-soaked sojourn in the jungles of South America in 1971. The McKennas originally journeyed to Colombia, accompanied by a small group of friends, in the hopes of experimenting with ayahuasca, but found themselves waylaid instead in the small village of La Chorrera after discovering a field of psilocybin mushrooms. Thus proceeded a series of “experiments” during which Dennis underwent a sort of transpersonal psychotic break and became convinced he had discovered a proto-linguistic ability capable of manipulating time and space. McKenna vividly recounts this epochal episode in the brothers’ lives, while outlining Dennis’ increasingly complex theories in his unique and meticulously lucid prose. A gripping ethnobotanic tale by one of the 20th century’s most beloved psychonauts, and a book with few peers as a feat of gonzo, polymathic pseudo-theory.
NY: Harper Collins, 1993. First edition. SIGNED by McKenna on the front free endpaper. Octavo (5.75 x 9.5 in.); xii, 237pp.; green papered boards backed with black quarter-cloth; bronze spine lettering; light green topstain; in dust jacket. Softened spine ends, else fine in a very near fine, unclipped jacket with some crumpling at spine ends.
