Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom
Andy Letcher, . . Ecco, $25.95 (360pp) ISBN 978-0-06-082828-8
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
Reviewed on: 12/18/2006
Genre: Nonfiction
Paperback - 384 pages - 978-0-06-082829-5
Paperback - 360 pages - 978-0-571-22771-6
Paperback - 360 pages - 978-0-571-22770-9