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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.

Reviews

In his first book, freelance writer, lecturer, and musician Letcher, who holds doctorates in both religious studies and ecology, examines the history and use of hallucinogenic-or "magic"-mushrooms since ancient times. Letcher's passion for his subject clearly comes through; his writing style is highly accessible and amusing, and the material he presents is thought-provoking. Extensively researched and engaging though it is, however, his book at times reads more like an advocacy piece than a scientific treatise, and countless descriptions of psychedelic experiences can become a bit tiresome. Appropriate for anthropology and public health collections in academic libraries but optional for public libraries.-Mary Grace Flaherty, Sidney Memorial P.L., NY Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Letcher, an eco-protestor who once lived in a tree house, wrote this exhaustive history in order to debunk the folklore in which mushroom munchers have rooted their appreciation of the hallucinogen. The "bemushroomed," he says, proselytize that the fungus inspired humans to construct Stonehenge, found Western philosophy and even think up Santa Claus. To demonstrate that the real story is "less fanciful and far more interesting," Letcher draws on biological and archeological studies, social history and even his own diaries to chronicle phenomena like Algerian cave drawings that look suspiciously like mushrooms and the plight of Siberian shamans. But he often buries his best material. It's startling, for example, to learn that a New York City banker helped kick-start the psychedelic '60s with a Life magazine article about Mexican mushrooms. But Letcher digresses for 18 pages before finally delivering the kicker: financier Gordon Wasson engaged in a grave deception to gain access to the goods and declared himself blameless as hippie hordes destroyed the ancient community Huautla. Major figures like Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg appear, but are also subsumed by Letcher's colorless, academic style. Readers expecting a druggie classic in the style of Aldous Huxley or Carlos Castaneda will be disappointed. (Feb. 27) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

"Elegant and authoritative"--The Independent on Sunday