The Ego Trip
Psychedelic Toads, a Trail of Deaths, and the Guru Who Peddled Transcendence
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The Ego Trip
Narrated by:
Christian Barillas
Pre-order Now for £14.90
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Narrated by:
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Christian Barillas
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By:
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Kimon de Greef
About this listen
“Entirely mesmerizing. . . . Richly reported and written with humor and flair, The Ego Trip is itself a trip—and Kimon de Greef is a major talent.” —Patrick Radden Keefe, #1 New York Times bestselling author of London Falling
In 2012, a Mexican doctor announced that he had revived a forgotten indigenous ritual: smoking the secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad, which releases a potent psychedelic substance known as “the God molecule.” The drug, which often induced states of ego death and the sensation of being directly connected with the divine, had remarkable effects on those suffering from PTSD, depression, and drug addiction. As the doctor’s fame grew, however, stories emerged of extreme dosing, abusive behavior, and even dramatic deaths.
In this gripping and deeply reported book, Kimon de Greef explores the promise and the peril of “toad medicine” and captures the defining tensions of this new era of psychedelics. As the notoriety of this powerful drug rose, psychonauts, spiritual seekers, and sufferers of innumerable conditions flocked to Sonora, giving rise to a bourgeoning economy of psychedelic tourism. Many of the Seri people, who had once lent their imprimatur to the doctor’s narrative of indigenous tradition, conspicuously avoided using the substance at all, and evidence of ancestral use appeared questionable. Impoverished toad collectors chased after the animals in drug cartel territory and risked their lives in the process. And pharmaceutical companies raced against one another to harness the therapeutic potential of the toad’s chemical wonders and develop a world-altering breakthrough in mental illness treatment—a drug that could rival Prozac in its impact on psychopharmacology.
Part true crime, part cult story, part cultural history, The Ego Trip is a chronicle of the rise and fall of a messianic figure, but it is also an investigation into a larger truth about our age of spiritual desolation. As this story forcefully demonstrates, no matter the lengths we go to in attaining a more cosmic understanding, we will always be firmly rooted in the real world, bound by our limitations and inescapably human.
Critic reviews
“Entirely mesmerizing, a tale of psychedelic tourists, shamanistic grift, chemistry, chicanery, tribal history, a chemical gold rush in the Sonoran desert and, above all, the enduring human quest for transcendence. Richly reported and written with humor and flair, The Ego Trip is itself a trip—and Kimon de Greef is a major talent.” —Patrick Radden Keefe, #1 New York Times bestselling author of London Falling
“Told with verve and built on deep reporting, The Ego Trip is strange and wonderful. De Greef is a great storyteller, and he guides the reader beautifully around this story's crazy curves.”
—Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The Orchid Thief and Joyride
“A one-of-a-kind book. I loved it. A gripping, meticulous journey through the rise and commercialization of a ferocious new psychedelic. Kimon de Greef is indefatigable. At his story's heart is a charismatic doctor from Guadalajara, who becomes an addled villain on the order of Raskolnikov or Walter White—a character for the ages.”
—William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Barbarian Days
“Elegant and electrifying, this sweeping tale of would-be shamans, corporate cowboys, and faithful acolytes of the God Molecule is one of the sharpest works of long-form journalism I’ve read in years. It somehow manages to unveil new worlds, expose frauds, and tell a throat-gripping good yarn all at once. Don't hesitate—take the trip!”
—Robert Moor, bestselling author of In Trees: An Exploration
“Told with verve and built on deep reporting, The Ego Trip is strange and wonderful. De Greef is a great storyteller, and he guides the reader beautifully around this story's crazy curves.”
—Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The Orchid Thief and Joyride
“A one-of-a-kind book. I loved it. A gripping, meticulous journey through the rise and commercialization of a ferocious new psychedelic. Kimon de Greef is indefatigable. At his story's heart is a charismatic doctor from Guadalajara, who becomes an addled villain on the order of Raskolnikov or Walter White—a character for the ages.”
—William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Barbarian Days
“Elegant and electrifying, this sweeping tale of would-be shamans, corporate cowboys, and faithful acolytes of the God Molecule is one of the sharpest works of long-form journalism I’ve read in years. It somehow manages to unveil new worlds, expose frauds, and tell a throat-gripping good yarn all at once. Don't hesitate—take the trip!”
—Robert Moor, bestselling author of In Trees: An Exploration
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