Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom

"Even if read while sober, Andy Lechter's Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom, is a near-transcendent experience." -New York Times Book Review

Since its rediscovery only fifty years ago, the magic mushroom: a hallucinogenic fungus once shunned in the West as the most pernicious of poisons, has inspired a plethora of folktales and urban legends. In this timely and definitive study, Andy Letcher chronicles the history of the magic mushroom--from its use by the Aztecs of Central America and the tribes of Siberia through to the present day--stripping away the myths and taking a critical and humorous look at the drug's more recent manifestations.

Informative, lively, and impeccably researched, Shroom is a unique and engaging exploration of this most extraordinary of psychedelics.

Author: Andy Letcher
Publisher: Ecco Press
Published: 02/19/2008
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.74lbs
Size: 8.05h x 5.78w x 0.96d
ISBN: 9780060828295

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 04/06/2008 pg. 24

About the Author
Letcher, Andy: -

Andy Letcher is a freelance writer, lecturer, and musician with a doctorate in ecology from Oxford University, and a second in religious/cultural studies from King Alfred's College, Winchester. He lives in Oxford, England, and sings and plays the mandolin and English bagpipes in his own acid folk group, Telling the Bees.