Trip: Psychedelics, Alienation, and Change

Novelist Lin (Taipei, Shoplifting from American Apparel, etc.) chronicles his experiences with various psychedelic drugs in his first nonfiction book, weaving autobiography, history, and spiritual journey together to pose existential questions. Drawn to psychedelics by the life and work of Terence McKenna, an advocate for psychedelic drugs, Lin begins documenting individual trips on substances like psilocybin and salvia as well as the history of each substance. In detailing his own history of drug use, Lin separates addictive, mood-changing drugs like cocaine and caffeine from mind-altering psychedelics, which he credits with providing the imaginative, profound experiences that have reshaped his lonely, empty worldview into one more routinely populated by awe and magic. The psychedelics Lin zeroes in on are all naturally occurring, and he is best at examining and questioning the illegality and societal suppression of substances that he contends allow him to safely explore topics like time and consciousness. A lengthy epilogue, in which he switches to a third-person narrative, follows Lin to San Francisco on a visit with Kathleen Harrison, McKenna’s ex-wife and a strong proponent of psychedelics herself. It’s here that Lin’s tendency to rattle off precise measurements and scientific terms in quick succession starts to feel a bit long-winded. He eventually steers the epilogue toward a level of personal clarity that perfectly punctuates an introspective work of this depth and caliber. (May)