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Newspaper Reviews: New
York Times SF Weekly New
York Times The Oklahoman
Newspaper Miami Herald Northside San Francisco San Francisco Chronicle It was enough to lead Richard Nixon to label Leary "the
most dangerous man in America." But, as Don Lattin reminds us in
this informative and highly entertaining book, Leary was once considered
a rising star in mainstream psychology and worked with the imprimatur
of no place other than Harvard University. It was at Harvard where Leary
met another researcher named Richard Alpert, who was later to become
a guru named Ram Dass. San Jose Mercury News, Oakland
Tribune and Contra Costa Times
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Advance
Praise for With care and considerable humor, Don Lattin shows us
how the interwoven relationships of four charismatic visionaries contributed
to the expansion of mind that changed American culture forever. The way
we eat, pray, and love have all been conditioned by their lives and teachings. It’s hard for folks who didn’t live through
the 1960s to imagine what it was like to live in a drug and sex-soaked
culture, one where traditional values were drowned in a rush of hedonism
and hippiedom...In this beautifully constructed study, Lattin brings
together four of the most memorable figures from that period. Each comes
across as a flawed genius and irrepressible fanatic... This is a fast-moving,
dispassionate recounting of a seminal period in our history, and all
in all, a wonderful book. Will we ever really understand
that state of mind and decade we call “the sixties”? It
left pernanent marks on our society including changes in psychology,
politics, the food we eat, how we think about mental and physical health,
and much more. Lattin has crafted a riveting account of four of the
personalities who deeply influenced those cultural shifts...for good
or for ill. A skillfully woven group biography it is thoroughly researched,
wonderfully readable and sparkles with keen insights. Tim Leary, Richard
Alpert (Ram Dass), Andrew Weil and Huston Smith all come alive, both
as fascinating personalities and in their inrtricate relationships
with each other. This is not just a book about magic mushrooms or LSD.
It is the story of a turning point we are still living with. The Harvard Psychedelic Club is not
only a great read, it's also an unforgettable head trip. Don
Lattin weaves a masterful tale of 1960s-style spirituality, professional
jealousy, and out-of-body experiences. Lattin has done his homework
and it shows. Read this book and expand your mind. No hallucinogenics
required. I thoroughly enjoyed Don Lattin's
revealing account of four iconic personalities who helped define
an era, sowed seeds of I suspect I’m not the only person who thought the
psychedelics-at-Harvard story had been pretty well settled, but Don Lattin’s
work has widened my perspective considerably. By focusing on Huston Smith
and Andrew Weil as well as Leary and Alpert, he’s created a stimulating
and thoroughly engrossing read. This book is a real trip, as we used to say, and it will
probably give you flashbacks whether you were there or not. Don Lattin
does a grand job of telling us the wildly improbable story of psychedelic
drugs in America, and the jump start of the “new age” spiritual
movement. A very far-out read!
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This book is the story of how three brilliant scholars and one ambitious freshman crossed paths in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the winter of 1960-61, and how their experiences in a psychedelic drug research project transformed their lives and much of American culture in the 1960s and 1970s. They came together in a time of upheaval and experimentation,
and they set the stage for the social, spiritual, sexual, and psychological
revolution of the 1960s. Huston Smith would be the teacher, practicing
every world religion and educating three generations of Americans to
adopt a more tolerant, inclusive attitude toward other culture’s
religions. Richard Alpert would be the seeker, traveling to India, returning
to America as “Ram Dass” and reborn as a spiritual leader
with his “Be Here Now” mantra, inspiring a restless army
of spiritual pilgrims. Andrew Weil would be the healer, becoming the
undisputed leader of alternative medicine, devoting his life to the holistic
reformation of the American health care system. And Timothy Leary would
play the rebellious trickster, the premier proponent of the therapeutic
and spiritual benefits of LSD, advising a generation to “turn on,
tune in, and drop out.” |
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Aldous Huxley was a major inspiration for the four men
Don Lattin profiles in this lively retelling of the start of America's
romance with hallucinogenic drugs. In its day, Huxley's The Doors of
Perception (1954) served as the premier guide for experimenting with
and studying the effects of mind-altering chemicals on human consciousness.
Huxley was also a connector. No sooner had M.I.T. religion scholar Huston
Smith (The World's Religions) mentioned to Huxley in 1960 that he had
never had a mystical experience than Huxley gave him Timothy Leary's
telephone number at Harvard as a source of a drug that would do the trick. Booklist Magazine Review: This would be a terrific social history of
a fascinating historical period even if it didn’t star some of
the most important influences on today’s culture. But Andrew Weil
remains a guru of alternative medicine and nutrition, and Huston Smith’s
books on world religion are required reading at almost every college,
while Timothy Leary and Ram Dass are icons of consciousness exploration
through drugs and Eastern religions, respectively. So this energetic
study of the time all four were together at Harvard tells much about
today’s culture. Lattin’s quasifictional techniques (most
notably, reconstructed dialog) bring to life the antics of trickster
Leary, who once said that he’d turned seven million people on and
only 100,000 ever thanked him, and seeker Ram Dass (originally Richard
Alpert), who helped bring awareness of meditation and other Indian religious
techniques to the West. Smith, son of Christian missionaries in China
and early on a fellow traveler with Leary and Alpert, determined that
drugs constituted but a shortcut to the religious ecstasy he sought,
while Weil’s opposition was instrumental in ending Leary’s |
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