I Had Too Much To Read Last Night

or, My Favourite Book On Psychedelics

‘Acid is like rock and roll or making love. When you get out there into it, and you’re really moving, you realise it’s been going on forever and that you just check out of it temporarily. And when you come back to it, it’s there, and it’s been going on all the time while you were away from it.’

According to Amazon there are over 10,000 books available on the subject of psychedelic drugs, with new ones coming out almost weekly: an embarrassment of literary riches for neophyte and veteran psychonauts alike. Each title will be someone’s favourite book on the subject for one reason or another. Because I’ve written numerous books and articles on psychedelic drugs (as well as ufology and folklore), I quite often get asked what my favourite book on the psychedelic experience is and which I would recommend above all others.

I suspect people expect me to direct them to Pihkal or Tihkal, or one of the other weightier tomes on the subject. But I don’t, and when I tell them what my favourite book …