Psychedelic Press UK
Literary Reviews: 1945-1970
Literary Review: ‘Alice in Acidland – Lewis Carroll Revisited’ by Thomas Fensch
Originally published in 1970 ‘Alice in Acidland – Lewis Carroll Revisited’ was written by the photographer and author Thomas Fensch. Thomas Fensch opens Alice in Acidland (1970) by postulating what the response to Lewis Carroll’s original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) would have been had the book been published in 1970. Aside from the obvious … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘The Peyote Dance’ by Antonin Artaud
Originally published in France under the title ‘Les Tarahumaras’ (1947), ‘The Peyote Dance’ by Antonin Artaud describes the author’s experiences with Peyote and the Tarahumara in Mexico, in 1936. Written over twelve years and covering Artaud’s stay at a psychiatric hospital in Rodez, the book is an important work of drug literature, so far as … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘Opium and the Romantic Imagination’ by Alethea Hayter
The following review of Alethea Hayter’s ‘Opium and the Romantic Imagination’ (1968) has been written by Mark Bromberg, and was originally published in Bellemeade Books. The review is republished on the Psychedelic Press UK by kind permission of the author. One of the most obvious effects of opium addiction on a writer’s powers is that … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘The Discovery of Love’ by Malden Grange Bishop
Originally published in 1963 ‘The Discovery of Love – A Psychedelic Experience with LSD-25’ written by Malden Grange Bishop, is typical, though with its own idiosyncrasies, of the LSD psychotherapy literature that was published in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As the title suggests, the context of Bishop’s single experience was in Psychedelic Therapy … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘The Private Sea – LSD and the Search for God’ by William Braden
Originally published in 1967 ‘The Private Sea – LSD and the Search for God’ by William Braden is, broadly speaking, an attempt to contextualise spiritual and religious readings of the psychedelic experience in regard to other apparently contingent social movements of the time. William Braden was a journalist who, in writing the book, applied several … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘My Self and I’ by Constance A. Newland
Originally published in 1962 ‘My Self and I’, by American Thelma Moss, was released pseudonymously under the name Constance A. Newland. One of a number of books that came out of the psychotherapeutic application of LSD in the 1950s and also, in part, as a reaction to Aldous Huxley’s ‘The Doors of Perception and Heaven … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘A Drug-Taker’s Notes’ by Richard Heron Ward
Originally published in Britain, in 1957, ‘A Drug-Taker’s Notes’ by Richard Heron Ward describes 6 LSD sessions the author undertook between 1954-55, under the supervision of a medical psychiatrist only identified as Dr. X. The doctor was studying the effects both on herself and mentally ill patients, which corresponds to what LSD manufacturers Sandoz deemed … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross’ by John M. Allegro
Originally published in 1970 ‘The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross’ by John M. Allegro was recently republished in 2009, by the Allegro Estate and Gnostic Media. This edition contains all notes and indices and it is from this latest, 40th anniversary edition that this review has been written, with thanks to Gnostic Media for providing a review … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘Miserable Miracle’ By Henri Michaux
Originally published in France in 1956 ‘Miserable Miracle’ by Henri Michaux explores the author/artist’s experiences with mescaline; an hallucinogenic drug originally derived from the Peyote cactus. Translated into English in 1963 by Louise Varèse, this review has been written from the 2002 New York Review of Books edition and contains an introduction by Octavio Paz … Continue reading
Literary Review: ‘Exploring Inner Space’ by Jane Dunlap (Adelle Davis)
Originally published in 1961 by Hardcourt, Brace & World ‘Exploring Inner Space: Personal experiences under LSD-25’ by Jane Dunlap is one of the earliest examples of both entheogenic literature and of a woman writing on the psychedelic experience. This beautifully crafted text explores her experiences over the course of 5 LSD sessions under Dr. Oscar … Continue reading
