McKenna was crazy at times, but always crazy awesome. This was the birth of the modern entheogen movement.

An eye-popping history of mind-altering plants.
McKenna eloquently advocates a new type of relationship with psychedelics: one of wonder, mystery and discovery. I was profoundly inspired and changed by this book. ( )

Just why are cattle so important to humans worldwide? Is it really all about mushrooms? ( )

Terrence McKenna weaves a new kind of story about the human adventure, out of a collection of facts that he has gleaned from his prodigious research into the hidden history of human psychedelic use. He makes a strong case that psychedelic use played a role in the evolution of spiritual consciousness as well as perhaps even human language. He also argues persuasively about the roles that various kinds of drugs and foods have played within societies of the past and present, correlating the chemicals we ingest and have ingested, with apparent changes in our individual and collective consciousness. ( )