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Our reading list
The Doors of Perception. Here's Aldous Huxley, one of America's most respected authors, and he writes a book about a mescaline trip. Accurate in every major respect, beautifully described.
True Hallucinations. Terence McKenna, alternately described as an unsung Newton and a raving lunatic. You'll see why. Half the time I find myself saying, "This guy is brilliant!" Half the time I find myself saying, "This guy has based his life around drugs." On the Net you can find his Alien Dreamtime.
The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy. Still the finest book to ooze forth from the demented mind of Douglas Adams, even if he has sequeled it to death. Written from a series of British radio shows in the 70's, it's got that nonlinear looniness that makes you certain he didn't have the slightest clue where the story was going. Best of all, the Earth gets blown up.
Ender's Game. One thing can be said of Orson Scott Card: he doesn't go for the wimpy issues. War, love, death, adultery, disease...he deals with all of it fearlessly, and is one of the only authors alive to be dealing with the moral issues of technology. Ender's Game and the sequels, Speaker For The Dead and Xenocide, are required reading for techno-freaks.
The Teachings of don Juan: A Yaqui Way Of Knowledge. Nowhere is a peyote experience described better. This was the cult hippie book to read in the 60's, but don't let that stand in your way. Carlos Castaneda was accused several years later of making the whole thing up, but that's only because our society has zero tolerance for the unexplained. The sequels are even better.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Don't be surprised if you pick up this innocent little book and find it to weigh 3,000 pounds. A very dense read, but worth it. Robert Pirsig's classic journeys a motorcycle trip across America with his son. He goes crazy from thinking. You will too.
Lila. The sequel to Zen; don't let the shorter name fool you. You'll be wading in ideas for the next year.
The Bible. Another light, summer-evening book. If you like Techno-Shamans In Texas, read Daniel and Revelation. Straight out of a William Burroughs novel.
The Road Less Traveled. If I were Pope, this would be tacked on to the end of the Bible. Scott Peck's classic, which currently holds the world's record for most number of weeks on The New York Times' Best Seller List, is not just a long-overdue integration of religion and psychology. It is truly, as the book cover suggests, "a spontaneous act of love."
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