Trip: Psychedelics, Alienation, and Change

by Tao Lin

From the Publisher: While reeling from one of the most creative–but at times self-destructive–outpourings of his life, Tao Lin discovered the strange and exciting work of Terence McKenna. McKenna, the leading advocate of psychedelic drugs since Timothy Leary, became for Lin both an obsession and a revitalizing force. In Trip, Lin’s first book-length work of nonfiction, he charts his recovery from pharmaceutical drugs, his surprising and positive change in worldview, and his four-year engagement with some of the hardest questions: Why do we make art? Is the world made of language? What happens when we die? And is the imagination more real than the universe?

In exploring these ideas and detailing his experiences with psilocybin, DMT, salvia, and cannabis, Lin takes readers on a trip through nature, his own past, psychedelic culture, and the unknown.

Praise for the Book: “Trip is, if not a guide to self-help, a book about a person trying to be happier, in part by changing the kinds of drugs he uses. . .another theory of psychedelics emerges, which suggests that the most mystical revelations concern earthly themes: birth, death, and the body; family, friends, and love.” — Emily Witt, The New Yorker

“Trip is a sane book about becoming sane, and Lin’s most valuable work to date.” — The Irish Times

“[Lin does] an incredible job describing what a psychedelic experience feels like.” — The Village Voice

“An immediately significant entry in the literature of derangement and recovery.” — Vulture, “The Best Books of the Year (So Far)”

“[Lin’s] best yet. . . . His rendering of tripping is perfect–better even. . .than Aldous Huxley’s elegant and evocative passages in The Doors of Perception, because Lin’s account conveys reverence and immersion without grandiosity. And that allows humor to leak through. . . . A joy to read.” — Bookforum

“Addictive…. Strikingly vivid…. Lin coherently challenges the sense behind labeling psychedelics as controlled substances…. A kaleidoscopic fever dream of ideas, idolatry, and lots of drugs: uniquely produced and curiously intoxicating.” — Kirkus Reviews

“An introspective work…. [Lin] chronicles his experiences with various psychedelic drugs in his first nonfiction book, weaving autobiography, history, and spiritual journey together to pose existential questions.” — Publishers Weekly

About the Author: Tao Lin is the author of the novels Taipei and Richard Yates and Eeeee Eee Eeee, the novella Shoplifting from American Apparel, the story collection Bed, and the poetry collections cognitive-behavioral therapy and you are a little bit happier than i am. He was born in Virginia, has taught in Sarah Lawrence College’s MFA program, and is the founder and editor of Muumuu House.

ISBN: 1101974516    –    EAN: 9781101974513