Like a lovely psychedelic sophist, Thomas McKenna recounts his adventures with pyschoactive plants in the Amazon Basin. Either a profoundly psychotic episode or a galvanizing glimpse into the true nature of time and mind, McKenna is a spellbinding storyteller, providing plenty of down-to-earth reaso...

Like a lovely psychedelic sophist, Thomas McKenna recounts his adventures with pyschoactive plants in the Amazon Basin. Either a profoundly psychotic episode or a galvanizing glimpse into the true nature of time and mind, McKenna is a spellbinding storyteller, providing plenty of down-to-earth reasons for preserving the planet.

This mesmerizing, surreal account of the bizarre adventures of Terence McKenna, his brother Dennis, and a small band of their friends, is a wild ride of exotic experience and scientific inquiry. Exploring the Amazon Basin in search of mythical shamanic hallucinogens, they encounter a host of unusual characters -- including a mushroom, a flying saucer, pirate Mantids from outer space, an appearance by James and Nora Joyce in the guise of poultry, and translinguistic matter -- and discover the missing link in the development of human consciousness and language.