The Ego Trip

di Kimon de Greef (Autore)

White Rabbit, 2026

Burning Man, 2013. Deep in the Nevada desert, a Mexican doctor named Octavio Rettig takes the stage under a vast geodesic dome to share the gospel of his 'ultimate experience': how he overcame addiction to crack cocaine with the help of a powerful psychedelic substance produced by the Sonoran Desert toad. According to Rettig, he had gone on to share his 'toad medicine' with a tribal community in northern Mexico, helping them to escape the grip of a methamphetamine crisis. This was a man who seemed to have solved one of the most pressing social issues of our time. But as he became a psychedelic superstar, whispers of reckless facilitation grew. Rumours spread of Rettig's unapologetically maximalist approach of administering toad medicine - to the mentally unstable, physically infirm and even to children - as a growing number of patients died in his care. In The Ego Trip, leading journalist Kimon de Greef tells the story of Rettig's meteoric rise and fall while interrogating the most important questions facing the resurgent field of psychedelics today. Situating the 'toad doctor' within the tradition of messianic psychedelic figures like Timothy Leary, de Greef provides a perilous glimpse into how the most powerful mind-altering molecules on the planet are reshaping our world - from their potential for modern psychiatry, to the appropriation of Indigenous cultures, to their shift from underground sub-culture toward a business driven by cartels and venture capital firms. All the while, The Ego Trip asks - who, in our contemporary moment of secular decay and influencer culture, gets to be a guru?

• Autore: Kimon de Greef
• Anno edizione: 2026
• Editore: White Rabbit
• Compatibilità: Tutti i dispositivi (eccetto Kindle)
• Layout: Other
• EAN: 9781399617970

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