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From Publishers Weekly
Open City editor Pinchbeck's book debut is a polemic that picks up the threads that Huxley's The Doors of Perception, Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and counterculture idealism left in the culture. Charting his gradual transformation from a cynical New York litterateur to psychedelic acolyte, Pinchbeck uses elements of travelogue, memoir, "entheobotany" ("the study of god-containing plants") and historical research to ask why these "doorways of the mind" have been unceremoniously sealed, sharing Walter Benjamin's melancholy about the exasperating nature of consumerism: "We live in a culture where everything tastes good but nothing satisfies." Pinchbeck travels the earth in search of spiritual awakening through tripping, from Gabon to the Nevada desert. At happenings like the Burning Man festival or a plant conference in the Ecuadorean jungle, Pinchbeck meets "modern shamans" and tells their stories as they intersect with his. In his reporting, he manages to walk a difficult tonal tightrope, balancing his skepticism with a desire to be transformed. He thoughtfully surveys the literature about psychedelic drugs, but the most exhilarating and illuminating sections are the descriptions of drug taking: he calls this visiting the "spirit world," which is "like a cosmic bureaucracy employing its own PR department, its own off-kilter sense of dream-logic and humor... constantly playing with human limitations, dangling possibilities before our puny grasps at knowledge." There's little new drug lore here, but Pinchbeck's earnest, engaged and winning manner carry the book.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
In this firsthand account of the world of psychedelic substances today, Village Voice and Rolling Stone writer Pinchbeck weaves elements of his personal life, including vivid descriptions of his reactions to the substances he takes, with larger topics, such as the history of psychedelic substances in the modern world and the foundations of shamanism. To aid his inquiry, he participates in visionary rituals around the world, e.g., taking iboga as part of a tribal initiation in Gabon. He also discusses key figures such as Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and Terence McKenna. Pinchbeck repeatedly decries the rationalism and destructiveness of Western culture and the shortsightedness of completely outlawing psychedelic substances. The book is not an extended diatribe, however. The author offers various viewpoints on how certain drugs should be used and on whether a modern, Western shamanism is possible. Pinchbeck posits a universe that may be difficult to accept, but his book will be of interest for public and academic libraries.
Stephen Joseph, Butler Cty. Community Coll. Lib., PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Stephen Joseph, Butler Cty. Community Coll. Lib., PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
"The Bwiti believe that before the ceremony, the neophyte is nothing," Daniel Lieberman told me on my first morning in Gabon, as we took a cab from the Libreville airport. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
"The Bwiti believe that before the ceremony, the neophyte is nothing," Daniel Lieberman told me on my first morning in Gabon, as we took a cab from the Libreville airport. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining but deeply flawed,
By
This review is from: Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism (Paperback)
The book begins fairly well with often hilarious (and as another reviewer pointed out, sometimes unintentionally so) accounts of the author's various psychedelic dabbling with modern-day 'shamans' and other, more dubious purveyors of mind-altering drugs. But it fairly quickly slides downward into Pinchbeck's narcissism and drug-induced paranoia. The early portions of the book exude a kind of youthful optimism and well-meaning if naive interest in mind-altering drugs and what they, and cultures that have used them for thousands of years, might have to teach us. But Pinchbeck seems to find fault (quite justifiably, it seems) in all of his 'shamanic teachers' while at the same time advocating that a return to some kind of shamanic usage is the best path. He also blasts Timothy Leary for promoting open-access for these drugs for everyone, while it is almost certain that Pinchbeck himself would never have encountered these drugs had it not been for Leary's proselytizing. By the end of the book Pinchbeck is convinced that a psychedelic substance has released a 'poltergeist' in his New York apartment, and that a friend he met at the Palenque conference had developed telekinetic (or something) power over the weather... where did the questing spirit of critical inquiry go amiss??? Somewhere between ibogaine, heroin, ayahuasca, and blow, apparently.
Certainly entertaining, but ultimately kind of vacuous and disappointing.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Have,
This review is from: Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism (Paperback)
This book is an absolute must have for anyone interested in shamanism, psychedelia, or anything of the sort. Pinchbeck walks the reader through a winding trail of spiritual enlightenment that will lead you across the globe.
2.0 out of 5 stars
interesting but not well written,
By gcon (colorado) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism (Paperback)
definately an interesting subject, however, i didn't enjoy it much. the author, a self described neurotic, seems to be empty and searching for something, and the book seems to be more of a justification for him doing psychotropic drugs than a look at the role of the drugs in modern shamanism. the book is quite well researched but is sluggish and at times overbearing or pretentious. at one point he turns into a green peace rain forest advocate, which i don't see as having anything to do with shaman practice. if the subject is of interest to you, and this isn't the first book you have on the subject, there probably isn't anything new here for you. if you want to hear about his personal experiences, then buy the book.
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