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Lysergically Yours
April 16th, 1945: Dr. Albert Hoffman's work on obstetrics pharmacology at Sandoz Laboratories is unexpectedly interrupted by a "stream of fantastic pictures and extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors."[1]
The following weeks saw Dr. Hoffman and his colleagues perform a series of self-experimentations which led to the discovery of the psychotropic effects of D-lysergic acid diethylamide 25, the most potent hallucinogen yet discovered -- and better known as LSD. The doors were suddenly flung open for a new age of exploration into the human mind. Government sanctions however quickly put an end to this line of research. Lysergically Yours, the first novel from Toronto-based author Duff supposes that this research program is still going strong, but not in the places one may traditionally think to look for it.
The reader is first introduced to Johnny, a computer science student at the University of Toronto and one-time high school acid dealer. It is through the lens of Johnny that the reader meets the book's delightfully diverse cast of supporting characters. From Lyle the punk-rock chemist to Tinka the manic witch and surprisingly affable career criminal Ivan, Duff continuously delivers with characters that you almost expect to run into the next time you're on campus despite the fact that they are so eccentric as to verge on unbelievable. As a former University of Toronto student myself, I must admit that the setting of the book was also wonderfully realized. From Convocation Hall to Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories to the basement of Hart House, Lysergically Yours romps across the university and the city bringing to life each locale that it touches.
The story itself is somewhat hard to classify. The opening throws Johnny and the reader into a very tense scene in which Johnny is the prisoner of Korean and Vietnamese mobsters and the building in which he is being held is being assaulted from outside by unknown forces. From this action-movie introduction, the story flashes back and begins to relate a decidedly non-action-movie drug culture caper story wherein Lyle and Johnny attempt to fund illegal research and a hedonistic lifestyle through the synthesis and sale of LSD. By the end however, as Johnny and Lyle find themselves deeper and deeper in trouble, the plot of Lysergically Yours verges strongly on the science fictional, yet Duff manages to wrap it all up into a bundle which leaves the reader feeling both entertained and satisfied.
At times the discussion of the technical details of drug synthesis and of various less than legal money-making schemes seem unnecessarily verbose, but perhaps they will be appreciated by those who are more familiar with the fields or even looking for a few pointers. In general however, Duff's prose is poetic in its spareness and simplicity. His dialogue also is unflowery and believable, conveying a real sense of character and situation. Even the far-sweeping conclusion of the novel, suggesting a world forever and fundamentally changed by the actions of a couple of punk rockers, is presented in a crisp and unapologetic style. As a reader, I could not help but be reminded of Neal Stephenson and, to a certain extent, Philip K. Dick.
My largest complaint with Lysergically Yours is that it is too short. Weighing in at 120 pages, the book is an easy read but leaves you feeling that it could have easily been expanded to fill twice as many. Still, in a time when most books seem to be guilty of the opposite sin, I am willing to forgive Frank Duff this indiscretion.
Another thing which makes this novel worth noticing is that it is released in affiliation with No Media Kings, an organization started by Toronto-based author Jim Munroe to promote a return to grass-roots media. In accordance with this "media of the people, by the people and for the people" ethos, Frank Duff has released the novel as a free e-text under the Creative Commons Attribution/Non-Commercial/Share-Alike license. This license not only allows the text of the novel to be freely distributed in any medium, but also explicitly allows for anyone to create derivative works from the novel for any non-commercial purpose. The use of this contract follows in the footsteps of successful science fiction author Cory Doctorow. The book is available as a physical artifact at a variety of small bookstores or directly from the author via his website where the e-book and several of his other shorter works are also available for free download.
[1] Hoffman, A. (1980) "LSD: My Problem Child," New York: McGraw-Hill.
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Much more interesting, exciting and enlightening.
I wholeheartedly agree that these are great books, and I think that before anyone forms an opinion about people who use psychedelics based on those idiot kids that eat too much E and go to parties and get themselves in trouble, that they should read these books.
The portions that are available for free, while wonderful for their own reasons, pale in comparison to the first half of the books. That is the story.
These books are the "true story" (names changes etc in an attempt to avoid prosecution which worked well enough to keep the shulgins free, but not enough to save Sasha's Schedule 1 chemicals license as the opening of tihkal tells) of a chemist and psycopharmacologist.
This man has invented drugs that later hit the street. He is so well respected in the community, that his job is a consultant. The DEA often brings him in to testify as an expert witness on chemistry and drugs. He is the real deal.
More than that he is personally amazing. I saw him speak at MIT last year, and for an 80 year old man (or just about hes what 79 or so?) he is vibrant and totally with it. If I am half as with it as he is when I am 70, I will be thankful for how I ended up.
Not exactly what many people would expect from a person who has had the experiences he has.
-Steve
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
P.S. Since I advocated the use LSD or shrooms, please note: Never, ever, ever, ever take it alone and if you have never taken it, take it with some one who has. If you don't follow those rules, you will have a bad time. Guaranteed.
Well, certain psychadelic drugs allow complete ego loss. Whereas recreational use may not be the best, if a person with deep-seated emotional problems can be taken by a trusted professional (ie psychiatrist) into a state of ego-loss and therefore allow themselves to see their "problem" from a different angle, as an outsider...then this can be very useful.
Until the early 70's, LSD was used VERY succesfully in many cases in the treatment of alcoholism. "Clarity of mind" is an often overused statement, but for some people who's whole *normal* life revolved around wanting to satiate a craving for alcohol, limited and controlled LSD use could help them see what they were doing to themselves from another persons perspective.
LSD was also succesfully used (as MDMA is now beginning to be tested) as a treatment for rape victims. Temporarily dissociating the victim from the experience and the emotion of what had happened to them allowed them to asses the situation and separate the act of violence from the emotional scar.
Im not saying we should have a free-for-all, but i think its a damn shame that trained and trusted professionals are now banned in most of the world (by UN directive) from developing alreayd proven treatments for debilitating emotional disorders.