Mike Jay has written extensively on scientific and medical history. His books on the history of drugs include High Society: Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture and The Atmosphere of Heaven.
“Mike Jay’s history of mescaline use is a bit of a mind-altering
experience itself.”—The Economist
“Refreshing. . . . No gnostic detective, Jay isn’t searching for
ungraspable truth. He’s a biographer tout court.”—Philip Alcabes,
Los Angeles Review of Books
“What Mike Jay’s history of mescaline illustrates is that although
we may not grasp how, the context of a trip determines its
destination.”— Kate Womersley, Times Literary Supplement
“Thoroughly researched book is strong on drug’s social
significance.”—Katherine Waters, Arts Desk
“Jay, as with his many other works, expertly places the important
details in these larger trends, and the result is a wonderfully
engaging narrative; informative and entertaining.”—Robert Dickins,
Psychedelic Press
“Jay takes his readers on a journey through history, beginning with
the medicinal and ceremonial use of mescaline-containing plants by
the indigenous peoples of Mexico thousands of years ago, and the
adoption of peyote by some Native American peoples.”—Zoe Hackett,
Chemistry World
“Mike Jay has written a highly detailed but very readable and
fascinating history of the use of mescaline throughout the
ages.”—Peter Carpenter, British Society for the History of
Medicine
“Mescaline has a lively style, and it is written intelligently. . .
. The author skillfully shuttles back and forth in time, describing
what is known about the indigenous culture around the plants before
the better documented era that begins in the late nineteenth
century.”—Nicolas Rasmussen, Metascience
“In classic Mike Jay fashion, this book elegantly presents the
history of the first psychedelic . . . [Mescaline] takes readers
beyond debates about supplies and user profiles to examine how
mescaline inspired discussions about philosophy, art, chemistry,
healing, Christianity, Indigenous sovereignty, and even the
counterculture.”—Erika Dyck, History of Pharmacy and
Pharmaceuticals
“This is a terrific account of mescaline, the first psychedelic.
Mike Jay has nailed it.”—Michael Pollan, author of How to Change
Your Mind
“Mike Jay is the Neil Armstrong of today’s psychonauts. In
Mescaline an incredible amount of scholarly and personal research
is beautifully presented and ordered in a sensible chronology that
really works to channel potentially disruptive and mad matter into
a fascinating cultural history. I just loved the last chapter which
brought everything back to its proper place in a careful Native
American ritual. It made the most emotionally satisfying ending to
an extraordinary trip.”—Nicholas Rankin, author of Telegram from
Guernica
“Mike Jay is one of the most wise, well-informed, clever and funny
voices on drugs in the world. Everyone should read everything he
writes—it is consistently brilliant.”—Johann Hari, author of
Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections
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