My expectation, when selecting this book, was that I would be reading another account of the life of a drugged out hippy. This is very far from what it contains.
Its a little oddly laid out, with two parallel stories in the first half, Leary as a troublemaker in the army and his joining Harvard as a psychologist. The second half covers his exploration of drugs and the trouble it lands him in. Throughout there are little biographies of people important to the ongoing story, and the social circle he moved in during the 50s and 60s was made of an impressive list of famous names.
There are a lot of nice details, but most importantly you get the feeling that its written by a lucid and vibrant scientist, someone who values understanding, and sharing of the results he has understood for the benefit of society, higher than any regard for the powers that be.
His enthusiasm for the vision he has felt when taking LSD is nearly unstoppable, its the same story I’ve heard a hundred times from people trying to pursuade me that taking drugs is a good thing to do. Its the same story, but its told so much better. Somehow it makes more sense when its not being slurred out by someone for whom the only thing that matters is where next hit is coming from.
In some ways this book has reinforced my view that drugs have a place in modern society – not a place in my life, but in society as a whole – and that with appropriate social and legal structures around them they would significantly enhance life for a large number of people.
One thing that became clear while reading his descriptions of some of his trips is that there is some kind of transcendance state in our minds, which LSD unlocks, but which is available through other means too, its a kind of flow state, where the thoughts are coming thick and fast, theres nothing to stop you, you can take over the world. Maybe there is a way to unlock that door without having to take perception altering drugs – the things you find beyond will be far more useful if you can take advantage of them with all faculties intact.
There is also a reasonable overlap between this and “Brainwash“, which gives at least some credence to that book.
Who should read this book? Everyone. Especially people who are in some sense ‘anti-drug’.