Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom

Front Cover
Harper Collins, Feb 19, 2008 - History - 384 pages

Did mushroom tea kick-start ancient Greek philosophy?
Was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland a thinly veiled psychedelic mushroom odyssey?
Is Santa Claus really a magic mushroom in disguise?

The world of the magic mushroom is a place where shamans and hippies rub shoulders with psychiatrists, poets, and international bankers. Since its rediscovery only fifty years ago, this hallucinogenic fungus, once shunned in the West as the most pernicious of poisons, has inspired a plethora of folktales and urban legends. In this timely and definitive study, Andy Letcher chronicles the history of the magic mushroom—from its use by the Aztecs of Central America and the tribes of Siberia through to the present day—stripping away the myths and taking a critical and humorous look at the drug's more recent manifestations.

Informative, lively, and impeccably researched, Shroom is a unique and engaging exploration of this most extraordinary of psychedelics.

 

Contents

AMANITA
116
PSILoCyBE
178
High Priests
197
Ripples and Waves
211
Underground Overground
227
The ElfClowns of Hyperspace
252
Muck and Brass
276
Love on a Puffball
290
Appendix
301
References
326
Index
349
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom
Andy Letcher
No preview available - 2006
Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom
Andy Letcher
No preview available - 2007
Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom
Andy Letcher
No preview available - 2006

Common terms and phrases

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About the author (2008)

Andy Letcher is a freelance writer, lecturer, and musician with a doctorate in ecology from Oxford University, and a second in religious/cultural studies from King Alfred's College, Winchester. He lives in Oxford, England, and sings and plays the mandolin and English bagpipes in his own acid folk group, Telling the Bees.

Bibliographic information

TitleShroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom
AuthorAndy Letcher
Editionillustrated, reprint
PublisherHarper Collins, 2008
ISBN0060828293, 9780060828295
Length384 pages
Subjects › 

History / General
  
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