The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell - Softcover

Huxley, Aldous

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060900075 ISBN 13: 9780060900076

Publisher: HarperCollins - Harper Colophon, 1990

As only he can, Aldous Huxley explores the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness. These two astounding essays are among the most profound studies of the effects of mind-expanding drugs written in this century.

Review:

Sometimes a writer has to revisit the classics, and here we find that "gonzo journalism"--gutsy first-person accounts wherein the author is part of the story--didn't originate with Hunter S. Thompson or Tom Wolfe. Aldous Huxley took some mescaline and wrote about it some 10 or 12 years earlier than those others. The book he came up with is part bemused essay and part mystical treatise--"suchness" is everywhere to be found while under the influence. This is a good example of essay writing, journal keeping, and the value of controversy--always--in one's work.

From the Inside Flap:

In 1953, Aldous Huxley took four-tenths of a gram of the drug Mescalin, sat down and waited to see what would happen. When he opened his eyes everything was transformed. He describes his experience in The Doors of Perception and its sequel Heaven and Hell.

• Publisher: HarperCollins - Harper Colophon
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0060900075
• ISBN 13: 9780060900076
• Binding: Paperback