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==Acid Dreams==
+
{{Document
'''The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, The Sixties, and Beyond'''
+
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_Dreams_(book)
 +
|title=Acid Dreams
 +
|image=Acid Dreams.jpg
 +
|type=EBook
 +
|subtitle=The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, The Sixties, and Beyond
 +
|authors=Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain
 +
|publication_date=1985
 +
|publishers=Grove Press
 +
|ISBN=0-802-13062-3
 +
|note=“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.” —Old Talmudic saying
 +
|subjects=LSD
 +
}}
  
Authors: Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain
+
==Introduction: Whose Worlds Are These?==
 +
By [[Andrei Codrescu]]
  
Publisher: Grove Press
+
In June 1967 the Candyman burst through the door of my pad on Avenue C on [[New York]]'s Lower East Side. He always burst through the door because that was his style. He could barely contain himself. He dropped his mirrored Peruvian bag on the kitchen table and exclaimed: "Just for you! Czech acid!" The Candyman always had
Date: 1985 ISBN: 0-802-13062-3
+
some new kind of acid. That month I had already sampled Window Pane and Sunshine. I didn't know if my system could handle another extended flight to the far
:“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.” —Old Talmudic saying
+
reaches. But this Czech acid was different. For one thing, it revealed to me that the entire molecular and submolecular structure of the universe was in fact composed of tiny sickles and hammers. Billions and billions of tiny sickles and hammers shimmered in the beauteous symmetry of the material world. I always thought of this particular "commie trip" as a rather private experience brought about by my having been born and raised in [[Communist]] [[Romania]], where sickles and hammers were ubiquitous and unavoidable. I did not doubt what I had seen, but I did doubt whether there was such a thing as Czech acid for the simple reason that [[Czechoslovakia]], like Romania, was a monochromatic world. It seemed clear that if acid had existed in Eastern Europe it would have brought about the collapse of communism there, just as it was bringing about the downfall of a certain kind of dour-faced, simple-minded America. And at that time it didn't look like communism was anywhere near collapse. Well, I was wrong. Reading this extraordinary, superbly researched, suspenseful history of LSD, I find, on page 115, that: "In September 1965 [[Michael Hollingshead]] returned to his native London armed with hundreds of copies of the updated Book of the Dead and five thousand doses of LSD (which he procured from Czech government laboratories in Prague)." And communism did collapse, though not right then, and acid did have quite a bit to do with it. [[Charter 77]], the Czech human rights organization, was founded by [[Vaclav Havel]] in defense of the Plastic People of the Universe, a psychedelic band inspired by the Velvet Underground. Havel himself was in New York in 1968, listening to the Velvets and dreaming, no doubt, of a way out of [[Cold War]] ideology.
  
==Introduction: Whose Worlds Are These?==
+
This tiny revelation is but a parenthetical remark in a story full of surprises, many of which are profoundly unsettling. The drug that connected so many of us to the organic mystery of a vastly alive universe turns out to have been, at least in the beginning, a secret [[CIA]] project to find a truth serum. It's frightening to think that CIA spooks have used LSD with [[electroshock]] and [[torture]] to get information out of prisoners. It's even more frightening that they have used it themselves to little positive effect. Or perhaps not. It's ironic and still scary to think that the CIA tried to control the LSD experiment even though hundreds of thousands were turning on in the heyday of the sixties. Neither the ironies nor the chilling implications stop here. The authors have plowed through thousands of pages of declassified intelligence material to reveal a complex tissue of connections between secret government agencies and the academic world on the one hand, and between the Utopian hopes of a generation and the machinations of those same agencies on the other. It's a riveting story that makes the most paranoid and outlandish theories of the sixties seem insufficiently paranoid.
By Andrei Codrescu
 
  
In June 1967 the Candyman burst through the door of my pad on Avenue C on New
+
At the same time, in a most persuasive and closely argued way, this sharply documented chronicle tells the story of the fantastic characters of acid: Captain [[Al Hubbard]], [[Aldous Huxley]], [[Timothy Leary]], [[Owsley]], [[Art Kleps]], [[Ken Kesey]], and many, many more. One is quickly immersed in the vibrant collective aura of the times, which, in spite of the CIA and army intelligence, managed to change America forever. The undeniably metaphysical window that LSD opened for so many of us may have unwittingly been opened by those whose interests lay in keeping it shut. It may well be that, seeing their mistake, they have been endeavoring to close it ever since. But the fact is that the brilliant glimpse of a living cosmos did pour through for a while, and it resulted in an unprecedented vision of a different world. One could debate forever the question of how much of what the drug did for us was contingent on the peculiar conditions of that time. The opening, however, was real. The usefulness of ''Acid Dreams'' goes beyond nostalgia. In researching the effect of LSD on the psychology, sociology, and politics of the sixties, the authors have given a context to the mythos and poetry that now permeate almost every aspect of high and low American culture. For believers in capital C Conspiracy this book should prove a rich mine for reflection. For those, like myself, who believe that conspiracy and control are games that vanish once one ceases to believe in them, this book stands as a much-needed corrective. To history buffs, this is fascinating history. Best of all, this is a thriller about the great mystery of how we of a certain generation got to be who we are.
York's Lower East Side. He always burst through the door because that was his style.
 
He could barely contain himself. He dropped his mirrored Peruvian bag on the
 
kitchen table and exclaimed: "Just for you! Czech acid!" The Candyman always had
 
some new kind of acid. That month I had already sampled Window Pane and
 
Sunshine. I didn't know if my system could handle another extended flight to the far
 
reaches. But this Czech acid was different. For one thing, it revealed to me that the
 
entire molecular and submolecular structure of the universe was in fact composed of
 
tiny sickles and hammers. Billions and billions of tiny sickles and hammers
 
shimmered in the beauteous symmetry of the material world. I always thought of
 
this particular "commie trip" as a rather private experience brought about by my
 
having been born and raised in Communist Romania, where sickles and hammers
 
were ubiquitous and unavoidable.
 
I did not doubt what I had seen, but I did doubt whether there was such a thing as
 
Czech acid for the simple reason that Czechoslovakia, like Romania, was a
 
monochromatic world. It seemed clear that if acid had existed in Eastern Europe it
 
would have brought about the collapse of communism there, just as it was bringing
 
about the downfall of a certain kind of dour-faced, simple-minded America. And at
 
that time it didn't look like communism was anywhere near collapse. Well, I was
 
wrong. Reading this extraordinary, superbly researched, suspenseful history of LSD,
 
I find, on page 115, that: "In September 1965 Michael Hollingshead returned to his
 
native London armed with hundreds of copies of the updated Book of the Dead and
 
five thousand doses of LSD (which he procured from Czech government laboratories
 
in Prague)." And communism did collapse, though not right then, and acid did have
 
quite a bit to do with it. Charter 77, the Czech human rights organization, was
 
founded by Vaclav Havel in defense of the Plastic People of the Universe, a
 
psychedelic band inspired by the Velvet Underground. Havel himself was in New York
 
in 1968, listening to the Velvets and dreaming, no doubt, of a way out of Cold War
 
ideology.
 
This tiny revelation is but a parenthetical remark in a story full of surprises, many of
 
which are profoundly unsettling. The drug that connected so many of us to the
 
organic mystery of a vastly alive universe turns out to have been, at least in the
 
beginning, a secret CIA project to find a truth serum. It's frightening to think that
 
CIA spooks have used LSD with electroshock and torture to get information out of
 
prisoners. It's even more frightening that they have used it themselves to little
 
positive effect. Or perhaps not. It's ironic and still scary to think that the CIA tried to
 
control the LSD experiment even though hundreds of thousands were turning on in
 
the heyday of the sixties. Neither the ironies nor the chilling implications stop here.
 
The authors have plowed through thousands of pages of declassified intelligence
 
material to reveal a complex tissue of connections between secret government
 
agencies and the academic world on the one hand, and between the Utopian hopes
 
of a generation and the machinations of those same agencies on the other. It's a
 
riveting story that makes the most paranoid and outlandish theories of the sixties
 
seem insufficiently paranoid.
 
 
 
At the same time, in a most persuasive and closely argued way, this sharply
 
documented chronicle tells the story of the fantastic characters of acid: Captain Al
 
Hubbard, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Owsley, Art Kleps, Ken Kesey, and many,
 
many more. One is quickly immersed in the vibrant collective aura of the times,
 
which, in spite of the CIA and army intelligence, managed to change America
 
forever. The undeniably metaphysical window that LSD opened for so many of us
 
may have unwittingly been opened by those whose interests lay in keeping it shut. It
 
may well be that, seeing their mistake, they have been endeavoring to close it ever
 
since. But the fact is that the brilliant glimpse of a living cosmos did pour through for
 
a while, and it resulted in an unprecedented vision of a different world. One could
 
debate forever the question of how much of what the drug did for us was contingent
 
on the peculiar conditions of that time. The opening, however, was real.
 
The usefulness of Acid Dreams goes beyond nostalgia. In researching the effect of
 
LSD on the psychology, sociology, and politics of the sixties, the authors have given
 
a context to the mythos and poetry that now permeate almost every aspect of high
 
and low American culture. For believers in capital C Conspiracy this book should
 
prove a rich mine for reflection. For those, like myself, who believe that conspiracy
 
and control are games that vanish once one ceases to believe in them, this book
 
stands as a much-needed corrective. To history buffs, this is fascinating history. Best
 
of all, this is a thriller about the great mystery of how we of a certain generation got
 
to be who we are.
 
  
 
December 4, 1991
 
December 4, 1991
 
 
[[Category:EBooks]]
 

Latest revision as of 04:56, 28 September 2016

Acid Dreams.jpg
Disclaimer (#3)Document.png EBook  by Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain dated 1985
ISBN: 0-802-13062-3

Wikipedia: Acid Dreams (book)
Subjects: LSD
Source: Unknown

“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.” —Old Talmudic saying

★ Start a Discussion about this document
Acid Dreams



Introduction: Whose Worlds Are These?

By Andrei Codrescu

In June 1967 the Candyman burst through the door of my pad on Avenue C on New York's Lower East Side. He always burst through the door because that was his style. He could barely contain himself. He dropped his mirrored Peruvian bag on the kitchen table and exclaimed: "Just for you! Czech acid!" The Candyman always had some new kind of acid. That month I had already sampled Window Pane and Sunshine. I didn't know if my system could handle another extended flight to the far reaches. But this Czech acid was different. For one thing, it revealed to me that the entire molecular and submolecular structure of the universe was in fact composed of tiny sickles and hammers. Billions and billions of tiny sickles and hammers shimmered in the beauteous symmetry of the material world. I always thought of this particular "commie trip" as a rather private experience brought about by my having been born and raised in Communist Romania, where sickles and hammers were ubiquitous and unavoidable. I did not doubt what I had seen, but I did doubt whether there was such a thing as Czech acid for the simple reason that Czechoslovakia, like Romania, was a monochromatic world. It seemed clear that if acid had existed in Eastern Europe it would have brought about the collapse of communism there, just as it was bringing about the downfall of a certain kind of dour-faced, simple-minded America. And at that time it didn't look like communism was anywhere near collapse. Well, I was wrong. Reading this extraordinary, superbly researched, suspenseful history of LSD, I find, on page 115, that: "In September 1965 Michael Hollingshead returned to his native London armed with hundreds of copies of the updated Book of the Dead and five thousand doses of LSD (which he procured from Czech government laboratories in Prague)." And communism did collapse, though not right then, and acid did have quite a bit to do with it. Charter 77, the Czech human rights organization, was founded by Vaclav Havel in defense of the Plastic People of the Universe, a psychedelic band inspired by the Velvet Underground. Havel himself was in New York in 1968, listening to the Velvets and dreaming, no doubt, of a way out of Cold War ideology.

This tiny revelation is but a parenthetical remark in a story full of surprises, many of which are profoundly unsettling. The drug that connected so many of us to the organic mystery of a vastly alive universe turns out to have been, at least in the beginning, a secret CIA project to find a truth serum. It's frightening to think that CIA spooks have used LSD with electroshock and torture to get information out of prisoners. It's even more frightening that they have used it themselves to little positive effect. Or perhaps not. It's ironic and still scary to think that the CIA tried to control the LSD experiment even though hundreds of thousands were turning on in the heyday of the sixties. Neither the ironies nor the chilling implications stop here. The authors have plowed through thousands of pages of declassified intelligence material to reveal a complex tissue of connections between secret government agencies and the academic world on the one hand, and between the Utopian hopes of a generation and the machinations of those same agencies on the other. It's a riveting story that makes the most paranoid and outlandish theories of the sixties seem insufficiently paranoid.

At the same time, in a most persuasive and closely argued way, this sharply documented chronicle tells the story of the fantastic characters of acid: Captain Al Hubbard, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Owsley, Art Kleps, Ken Kesey, and many, many more. One is quickly immersed in the vibrant collective aura of the times, which, in spite of the CIA and army intelligence, managed to change America forever. The undeniably metaphysical window that LSD opened for so many of us may have unwittingly been opened by those whose interests lay in keeping it shut. It may well be that, seeing their mistake, they have been endeavoring to close it ever since. But the fact is that the brilliant glimpse of a living cosmos did pour through for a while, and it resulted in an unprecedented vision of a different world. One could debate forever the question of how much of what the drug did for us was contingent on the peculiar conditions of that time. The opening, however, was real. The usefulness of Acid Dreams goes beyond nostalgia. In researching the effect of LSD on the psychology, sociology, and politics of the sixties, the authors have given a context to the mythos and poetry that now permeate almost every aspect of high and low American culture. For believers in capital C Conspiracy this book should prove a rich mine for reflection. For those, like myself, who believe that conspiracy and control are games that vanish once one ceases to believe in them, this book stands as a much-needed corrective. To history buffs, this is fascinating history. Best of all, this is a thriller about the great mystery of how we of a certain generation got to be who we are.

December 4, 1991

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