White Rabbit: A Psychedelic Reader [Paperback]

John Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

This mind-expanding volume examines the literature on drugs and drug users in a comprehensive anthology that allows adventurous readers to experience the full range of both medicinal and recreational pharmacopoeia, from opium to ecstasy, as captured by some of the world's most imaginative writers. Unique and provocative, it makes for an addictive read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Long before the '60s drug revolution introduced psychedelics to the general public, they were indulged in by writers, artists and visionaries looking for entry into mystical worlds these drugs promised. While most of the 38 entries were penned by such famous drug "advocates" as William Burroughs, Timothy Leary and Hunter S. Thompson, a surprising number are culled from myth or such unlikely sources as Florence Nightingale, who used opium to ease her back pain. Philip K. Dick's excerpted "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich" alludes to a mysterious Can-D, while Sigmund Freud's scientific investigation "Coca" concludes that the leaves from which cocaine is derived offer a number of safe medicinal uses. Miles Davis's ribald tale of cocaine paranoia refutes many of Freud's claims, but it also proves as entertaining and unlikely a story as Dick's science fiction. Charles Dickens's classic "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" is juxtaposed against the work of contemporary writers Laurie Colwin and Terry Southern. Miller and Koral's brave and irreverent juxtapositions create a skewed universe in which Coleridge's Xanadu neighbors Lewis Carroll's Wonderland, both interesting places to visit indeed.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Printing edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811806669
• ISBN-13: 978-0811806664
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,242,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great anthology of the drug cultures best, August 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: White Rabbit: A Psychedelic Reader (Paperback)

A great anthology of stories, one of the most complete piles of drug culture writers around, giving one a brief look into a plethora of great writing that will lead to further investigation of their works by teasing them with this fine book. Packed with writers from all over the spectrum and many genres, old and new alike. A Must have for those deeply in love with the drug culture. This book gives the reader a taste of many great writers out there, all with mounds of their own material that needs to be read, this book can prove as a lead in to these readings and makes for an excellent leisurely taste of what is out there for those who desire it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enter another reality, June 9, 2002

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: White Rabbit: A Psychedelic Reader (Paperback)

The wide variety of writing here examines the vast amount of literature about drugs with the emphasis on drug users. White Rabbit is a comprehensive anthology that permits the reader to contemplate the complete range of substances, from absinthe, eboga and ecstasy to yage and opium to moonshine, as narrated by some of the world's most imaginative writers.

Authors and sources include William Burroughs (The Yage Letters), Nelson Algren (The Man with the Golden Arm), Florence Nightingale, Jean Cocteau (Opium), Arthur Conan Doyle, Philip K. Dick, Miles Davis (Miles: The Autobiography), Aldous Huxley (The Doors of Perception), Charles Baudelaire (The Double Room), Terence McKenna (True Hallucinations), Lewis Carroll, Hunter S. Thompson (The Great Shark Hunt), Amos Tutuola (The Palm-Wine Drinkard), Paul Bowles (Without Stopping), Arthur Rimbaud, Marie Corelli (Wormwood), Tom Wolfe (The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test), Timothy Leary (The Psychedelic Experience), Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sigmund Freud (Coca) and The Rig Veda (Soma).

Whether in ecstasy or hung over, addicted or recovering, the writers in White Rabbit examines the drug experience from every angle. Their always fascinating and often eloquent narratives provide a colorful read, amply rewarding the reader with its variety of experiences. Some pieces are way too short, though, like Florence Nightingale's one little sentence, Paul Gauguin's two short paragraphs and Rimbaud's brief poem. Elizabeth Barrett Browning's little ode to opium is also quite skimpy.

White Rabbit provides great insight as it brings together so many interesting perspectives and writing styles. As the authors put it so well: "Drugs are inherently subversive, sometimes dangerous, occasionally great fun. They 'clear away the past and enhance the present,' they can inspire great art and greater experience, or they can unleash the monster lurking within." The book concludes with nine pages of brief biographies of the authors, providing some background to the pieces collected here.

Similar works that might be of interest include Phantastica by Louis Lewin, Animals and Psychedelics by Giorgio Samorini, Supernatural by Graham Hancock and DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant compilation of brilliant writers, August 19, 2004

By 

Susannah Raulino (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: White Rabbit: A Psychedelic Reader (Paperback)

An extraordinary sampling of some of the best authors of our time. Mind bending story after mind bending story engrosses the reader in worlds where thought has been invaded by one or another substance until the reader's mind is warped by the words on the page. I also learned a great deal about the authors and their writing that I hadn't known before. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in human thought.