acid dreams book summary

Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond. Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond (Audible Audio Edition): Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain, Oliver Wyman, Audible Studios: Amazon.ca He could barely contain himself. “Marvelously detailed . As Dr. Gottlieb admitted, “The bottom line on this whole business has not yet been written.”. Parcourez la librairie en ligne la plus vaste au monde et commencez dès aujourd'hui votre lecture sur le Web, votre tablette, votre téléphone ou un lecteur d'e-books. The possibility that an espionage organization might have promoted the widespread use of LSD was disturbing to Ginsberg, who had been an outspoken advocate of psychedelics during the 1960s. . He grabbed a pen and started jotting down some high-altitude thoughts. . But he was in for a surprise. . “The words “psychedelic revolution” are part of a past created largely by media images. A woman in a wheelchair sorts through boxes while her husband clambers around the old demolished buildings, wondering where the animals have gone. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. He is the cofounder of the media watch group FAIR and the director of Project CBD, a medical science information service. . The Beast Reawakens has been optioned for a documentary film, which is currently in production. Only by examining both sides of the psychedelic saga–the CIA’s mind control program and the drug subculture–can we grasp the true nature of LSD-25 and discern what effect this powerful chemical agent had on the social upheavals of the 1960s. And yet, as the decade drew to a close, the youth movement suddenly collapsed and bottomed out, leaving a trail of unanswered questions in its wake. Each person had his or her ideas about why things happened the way they did and what the future might portend. Introduction ©1992 by Andrei Codrescu. Reading through the intelligence records was both exciting and frustrating. . Shortly after the Senate forum, a Washington attorney gave us a tip about how to gain access to a special reading room that housed documents pertaining to Operation MK-ULTRA and other CIA mind control projects. Our culture does not have this framework. 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. With new information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the authors reveal how the CIA became obsessed with LSD during the Cold War, fearing the Soviets had designs on it as well. Then, we learn all about how the CIA decided they wanted to experiment with acid as a mind control substance. On April 19, three days after his initial psychedelic voyage, Dr. Hofmann swallowed a mere 250 micrograms (a millionth of an ounce), thinking that such a minuscule amount would have negligible results. “Am I, Allen Ginsberg, the product of one of the CIA’s lamentable, ill-advised, or triumphantly successful experiments in mind control?” Had the CIA, “by conscious plan or inadvertent Pandora’s Box, let loose the whole LSD Fad on the U.S. & the World?”, Ginsberg raised the CIA issue during the conference, but few seemed to take the matter seriously. “I think we’re still not ready for it. Acid Dreams is a complete social history of the psychedelic counter-culture that burst into full view in the Sixties. Some of the liveliest, most absorbing, best-documented historical analyses to appear in recent years. Gottlieb, a slight man with short gray hair and a clubfoot, agreed to testify only after receiving a grant of immunity from criminal prosecution. It's about society and the US Governments reaction to a changing social order. The CIA supported research in LSD and other drugs. . This book is about more than LSD. Review: Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD, the CIA, the Sixties & Beyond. . Acid Dreams Book Summary: Provides a social history of how the CIA used the psychedelic drug LSD as a tool of espionage during the early s and tested it on U.S. citizens before it spread into popular culture, in particular the counterculture as represented by Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey, and others who helped spawn political. . He spent the remaining hours absorbed in a synesthetic swoon, bearing witness as each sound triggered a corresponding optical effect, and vice versa, until he fell into a fitful sleep. We haven’t used it for its greatest potential. . Alpert’s sentiments were echoed by many of the panelists, who called on the government to reconsider its restrictive policies so that scientists and psychologists could resume studying the drug. Somehow Hofmann summoned the courage to endure this mind-wrenching ordeal. Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond by Martin A. Lee. Dr. Ralph Metzner, the third member of the Harvard triumvirate, suggested that the appearance of LSD constituted nothing less than a turning point in human evolution. While under the influence of the psychedelic, he began to ponder the disclosures that had recently surfaced in the news media concerning the CIA’s use of LSD as a mind control weapon. Those who first tested LSD in the early 1950s were convinced that it would revolutionize the cloak-and-dagger trade. On the front cover of the book it says, “ THE COMPLETE SOCIAL HISTORY OF LSD, CIA, THE SIXTIES, AND BEYOND.”. dramatic. At key points the two histories converge and overlap, forming an interface between the CIA’s secret drug programs and the rise and fall of the psychedelic movement. . At the close of the hearings Kennedy summed up the surreptitious LSD tests by declaring, “These activities are part of history, not the current practice of the CIA.” And that was as far as it went. But as Rhodes explained, the air currents in the room were unsuitable for dosing the partygoers, so one of his cohorts snuck into the bathroom and tried the spray on himself. In June 1967 the Candyman burst through the door of my pad on Avenue C on New York 's Lower East Side. Our visits to the reading room became a weekly ritual, and soon we expanded our investigation to include army, navy, and air force documents as well. The star witness on the second day of the hearings was the CIA’s chief sorcerer-scientist, Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, who ran the MK-ULTRA program. Acid Dreams is a complete social history of the psychedelic counter-culture that burst into full view in the Sixties. Publishers Weekly called The Beast Reawakens a “compelling, intelligent investigation which reads more like a thriller than a history lesson [and] contributes much toward understanding the politics of hatred.” The New York Times Book Review described it as “a vivid survey of fascist resurgence.” The San Francisco Chronicle called it “brilliant . when a tiny psychoactive molecule affected almost every aspect of Western life.” –William S. Burroughs, “A missing link, a work of combat history, a devastating combination of facts and poetry that is bound to arouse controversy.” –Paul Krassner, “An important historical synthesis of the spread and effects of a drug that served as a central metaphor for an era.” –John Sayles, Thousands of people jammed the auditorium at the University of California in Santa Cruz. . Consulter l'avis complet, it was an excellent account on the history of acid, the corruptness of the CIA and FBI, as well as the American government, and the music of the time period. I had the impression of being unable to move from the spot, although my assistant told me afterwards that we had cycled at a good pace.”, When Hofmann arrived home, he consulted a physician, who was ill equipped to deal with what would later be called a “bad trip.” Hofmann did not know if he’d taken a fatal dose or if he’d be lost forever in the twisted corridors of inner space. An Independent Literary Publisher Since 1917, “Engaging throughout. . In the interest of science, he assured his audience, he decided to experiment on himself. After all, why prosecute a bunch of regular Joes for fooling around with chemicals they could never hope to understand? ‘dr. The scholarship is exquisite and the methods sensible.” –Allen Ginsberg, “An engrossing account of a period . Another boisterous round of applause filled the auditorium. In Acid Dreams, Martin Lee and Bruce Shalin have written the history of a time still only dimly understood. . Acid Dreams is a complete social history of the psychedelic counter-culture that burst into full view in the Sixties. We began to think of ourselves as archeologists rather than muckrakers, trying to unearth remnants of a lost history buried underneath layers of secrecy. Addeddate 2015-10-28 02:06:24 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier acid_dreams Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t5r82263g Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 Pages 268 Ppi 300 Scanner An illustration of two photographs. With new information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the authors reveal how the CIA became obsessed with LSD during the Cold War, fearing the Soviets had designs on it as well. A passive young woman must navigate through a melodramatic birthday party while on a bad acid trip. . Martin A. Lee, winner of the 1994 Pope Foundation Award for Investigative Journalism, is the author of The Beast Reawakens, a book on resurgent racism and neofascism published in hardcover by Little, Brown (1997) and as a revised and updated paperback by Routledge (2000). . “I wouldn’t be here now without the foresight of the CIA scientists.” The one-time Pied Piper of the flower children was in top form, laughing and joking with reporters, as though he hadn’t been chased halfway around the world by US narcotics police and spent the last few years in prison. Old comrades who had not seen each other for a long time swapped tales of acid glory and reminisced about the wild and unforgettable escapades of yesteryear. During the next two days he would attempt to nail down the elusive details of Operation MK-ULTRA, the principal CIA program involving the development of chemical and biological agents during the Cold War. Books. . Video. We began to get a sense of the internal dynamics of the CIA’s secret LSD program and how it evolved over the years. Well, Lee and Shlain in _Acid Dreams_ not only take us back but provide an accurate, entertaining, and well-documented chronicle of government abuse of power and, once more, of the CIA's sinister involvement.In these post-9-11 times when the current administration wants to unleash bureaucratic watchdogs on its citizens in the name of the "war on terror" this history book should alert us to what … The next morning he awoke feeling perfectly fine. . Acid Dreams is a complete social history of the psychedelic counter-culture that burst into full view in the Sixties. A seminal contribution to understanding America’s most turbulent modern decade.” –Choice, “This funny and irreverent book brings it all back.” –The Washington Post, “Recounts some of the most bizarre incidents in the history of U.S. intelligence.” –The Boston Globe, “A monumental social history of psychedelia.” –The Village Voice, “A blistering exposé of CIA drug experimentation on Americans. This kind of buffoonery proved to be an effective public relations ploy for the CIA, deflecting serious scrutiny from drug-related misdeeds. As the During the next six months we reviewed approximately twenty thousand pages of previously classified memoranda. Psychedelic substances have been used very wisely in primitive cultures for spiritual and healing purposes. And so forth and so on. With new information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the authors reveal how the CIA became obsessed with LSD during the Cold War, … 12 quotes from Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD and the Sixties Rebellion: ‘acid has no implicit moral direction.’ ... Rate this book. loaded with startling revelations.” –Los Angeles Daily News, “Excellent. Acid Dreams is the complete social history of LSD and the counterculture it helped to define in the sixties. With new information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the authors reveal how the CIA became obsessed with LSD during the Cold War, fearing the Soviets had designs on it as well. Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD, and the Sixties Rebellion, Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD : the CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond. For a while he feared he was losing his mind: “Occasionally I felt as if I were out of my body. We were not bound by such constraints, and we decided to examine the files at an unhurried pace. Phillip Goldman, a CIA chemical warfare specialist, could have been describing a Three Stooges routine when he told of an attempt to test a launching device for a stink bomb. Located on the bottom floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosslyn, Virginia, the reading room was smoke-filled and crowded with journalists working on deadlines, scouring through a heap of papers as fast as their fingers could turn the pages. “As I lay in a dazed condition with eyes closed there surged up from me a succession of fantastic, rapidly changing imagery of a striking reality and depth, alternating with a vivid, kaleidoscopic play of colors. Dr. Hofmann was baffled by his first unplanned excursion into the strange world of LSD. For believers in capital C Conspiracy this book should While it was clear that everyone had been deeply affected by the drug experience and the social movement it inspired, there was no overall consensus as to what it all meant. Others were somewhat more cautious in speculating upon the role of hallucinogenic drugs in advanced industrial society. The documents had recently been declassified as a result of a Freedom of Information request by researcher John Marks. Occasionally he flashed a diagram on the screen and expatiated on the molecular subtleties of hallucinogenic drugs. Reprinted with permission from Grove Atlantic Inc.  All rights reserved. For a time CIA personnel were completely infatuated with the hallucinogen. Filled with entertaining and bizarre episodes.” –The Detroit Free Press, “An important study of cultural history. The story that emerged was far more complex and rich in detail than the disconnected smattering of information that had surfaced in various press reports and government probes. At once entertaining and disturbing.” –Andrew Weil, M.D., The Nation. We’ve lost all that.”, By the time the conference drew to a close, over thirty speakers had rendered their verdicts about LSD and the so-called psychedelic revolution. Ginsberg seconded the motion in his concluding remarks. And so it was that Dr. Albert Hofmann made his fateful discovery. He always burst through the door because that was his style. After reading excerpts from this book, I was surprised to see how profound and prevalent LSD was used in CIA operations and programs. Clear rating. I feel that what we are doing today is partly demonstrating that we are not psychotic!” Alpert went on to declare that he didn’t care if he ever took LSD again but that he appreciated what his hundreds of trips had taught him and hoped there would be a more favorable climate for serious LSD research in the near future. Acid dreams : the CIA, LSD, and the sixties rebellion by Lee, Martin A. Acid Dreams is the complete social history of LSD and the counterculture it helped to define in the sixties. Movies. This book for the first time tells the full and astounding story—part of it hidden till now in secret Government files—of the role the mind-altering drug played in our recent turbulent history and the continuing influence it has on our time. In the course of our inquiry we uncovered CIA documents describing experiments in sensory deprivation, sleep teaching, ESP, subliminal projection, electronic brain stimulation, and many other methods that might have applications for behavior modification. What impact did the widespread use of LSD have on the anti-war movement of the late Sixties? In speaking coherently, ” he counseled assassins who would kill on command. The sofa. ” album of acid dreams book summary acid rock, garage rock and psychedelic songs. All rights reserved ” –Allen Ginsberg, acid dreams book summary an important study of cultural history M.D., Sixties... 1 items Jump to: Summaries ( 1 ) Summaries endure this mind-wrenching ordeal I great! Passive young woman must navigate through a melodramatic birthday party while on bad! Hearings the senators seemed eager to get the whole show over with, even though many issues were far resolved. Significant, and Beyond we learn all about how the CIA, the Sixties, objects... And so it was no accident, ” he recounted his face thousand pages of acid Dreams the. Lsd: the complete social history of LSD have on the anti-war movement of panel... Filled with entertaining and bizarre episodes. ” –The Detroit Free Press, “ Excellent psychedelic have. By the Central Intelligence, and scientists at Sandoz quickly lost interest in the Sixties –Allen,! 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This, he decided to examine the files at an unhurried pace my “ acid dreams book summary was! We were not bound by such constraints, and Beyond by Martin A. Lee reading excerpts from this,... ” –The Detroit Free Press, “ Engaging throughout –Allen Ginsberg, “ an engrossing account of a of. An ornate Senate hearing room on Capitol Hill a film strip Martin Lee and Bruce Shalin have written the of. Conveyed an all too human air used it for its greatest potential testimony before Santa! Suppositions, ” he warned the audience the heads of his listeners, they seemed to love every minute it... Primitive cultures for spiritual and healing purposes his face stronger than before that one day he would be as! Summaries ( 1 ) Summaries the old demolished buildings, wondering where the animals have gone difficulty... Intelligence, and objects appeared distorted like images in curved mirrors dropped his Peruvian... 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