Mescaline
A Global History of the First Psychedelic
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Mescaline
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Narrated by:
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Paul Brion
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By:
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Mike Jay
About this listen
A definitive history of mescaline that explores its mind-altering effects across cultures, from ancient America to Western modernity
Mescaline became a popular sensation in the mid-20th century through Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception, after which the word "psychedelic" was coined to describe it. Its story, however, extends deep into prehistory: The earliest Andean cultures depicted mescaline-containing cacti in their temples.
Mescaline was isolated in 1897 from the peyote cactus, first encountered by Europeans during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. During the 20th century, it was used by psychologists investigating the secrets of consciousness, spiritual seekers from Aleister Crowley to the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, artists exploring the creative process, and psychiatrists looking to cure schizophrenia. Meanwhile, peyote played a vital role in preserving and shaping Native American identity. Drawing on botany, pharmacology, ethnography, and the mind sciences and examining the mescaline experiences of figures from William James to Walter Benjamin to Hunter S. Thompson, this is an enthralling narrative of mescaline's many lives.
©2019 Mike Jay (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
what a beautiful narrative
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From the outset, the author intelligently gathers a wide range of highly relevant source material and expertly blends it together with a mix of probing cultural inquiry, contemporary influence, philosophy, law and a good measure of applicable science from a neutral standpoint.
Many books tackling this subject matter do little more than cheerlead the indulgence whilst cherry picking the evidence (and dangers) to support an agenda. However, Mike Jay has achieved something very different here, and has calmly distilled hard information, evaluated different viewpoints and drawn some interesting conclusions without ever trying to sell you on anything you should believe.
I particularly enjoyed the many references to historical figures who have played their part and conducted their own research during an era with hysteria was still in its infancy.
A thumbs-up from me. I learned something new. Several things actually. Recommended.
An authoritative study
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There's a lot of reported speech in the book, and the narrator doesn't go out of his way to make you aware of when that is happening, which is quite annoying, but you get used to it. And his pronunciation of anything French is terrible.
An astonishing book
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It may be -- I am guesstimating -- the publishers decided with Mike that there was not enough material on mescaline to justify it being the sole focus; fortunately because comparisons with e.g. LSD, psilocybin, and ayahuasca enable the audience to better appreciate the extent of (serious) psychedelia, and therefore mescaline / peyote's place.
There is nothing wrong with the performance (i.e. NOT distracting, over-emotive) but it is certainly not outstanding.
Penetrating history & never theory-heavy
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excellent addition to psychedelic literature
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This might be a good book
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