• Acid Dreams

  • The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond
  • By: Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain
  • Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
  • Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (599 ratings)

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Acid Dreams  By  cover art

Acid Dreams

By: Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain
Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
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Publisher's summary

Few events have had a more profound impact on the social and cultural upheavals of the Sixties than the psychedelic revolution spawned by the spread of LSD. This audiobook for the first time tells the full and astounding story - part of it hidden till now in secret Government files - of the role the mind-altering drug played in our recent turbulent history and the continuing influence it has on our time. And what a story it is, beginning with LSD’s discovery in 1943 as the most potent drug known to science until it spilled into public view some 20 years later to set the stage for one of the great ideological wars of the decade. In the intervening years the CIA had launched a massive covert research program in the hope that LSD would serve as an espionage weapon, psychiatric pioneers came to believe that acid would shed light on the perplexing problems of mental illness, and a new generation of writers and artists had given birth to the LSD sub-culture. Acid Dreams is a complete social history of the psychedelic counter-culture that burst into full view in the Sixties. With new information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the authors reveal how the CIA became obsessed with LSD during the Cold War, fearing the Soviets had designs on it as well. What follows is one of the more bizarre episodes in the covert history of U.S. intelligence as the search for a "truth drug” began to resemble a James Bond scenario in which agents spied on drug-addicted prostitutes through two-way mirrors and countless unwitting citizens received acid with sometimes tragic results.

©1985 Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain. Introduction ©1992 by Andrei Codrescu. Afterword ©1992 by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable but unstructured

I really enjoyed this book - so much so that I want listen to it again, and soon. Having said that, it didn't deliver what I expected, especially given that I understand it's primarily regarded as a textbook. I thought it would focus on the development and dissemination of LSD, and it certainly started that way, but somewhere after the first third of the book, it became more and more an account of some key events of the late 60s and early 70s and a (selective) look at some of the personalities of that time. (I know it describes itself as a 'social history', but I still expected there to be a greater focus on the drug itself.) I liked the narrative turn, but unfortunately it felt pretty unstructured from this point: another reviewer described it as 'kaleidoscopic' - it certainly could be dis-orienting at times, as the authors focussed on one social movement or one personality, then circled back (in time) to follow another, rather than showing how these events and individuals interacted or influenced one another. I also hoped for more of a discussion about the development of the drug itself as manufacturing expanded, and the experience of users: it is clear that there is a wealth of evidence from the (then-legal) use of the drug in therapy, in government and defence contexts, and in personal journals, but the authors barely touch on this area.

Also, was it my imagination, or did the narrator change suddenly, towards the end (and then the original narrator returned)?! The narrator/s were good. The treatment of footnotes was a little odd: the footnotes seemed to be read at exactly the point they appeared in the original text, resulting in some strange diversions in already complex narratives! It would have been better to have treated them as endnotes, or at least to finish the sentence to which they related before reading the footnote in!

These negatives aside, if you are prepared to approach this book as more of a historical (though not linear) narrative of the 1960s and early 70s, albeit with a selective focus, constructed around the thread of LSD - rather than a concentrated consideration of the drug itself - then I am sure you will find plenty to keep your interest.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Mind. Blown.

You may THINK you know all about the CIA and its LSD experiments on soldiers and civilians— but you don’t know the half of it.

Thought the hippies came up with the phrase “trip?” No— it was the military. The CIA was OBSESSED in the Cold War idea of a truth serum, convinced the Soviets had their own, but their experiments went way further. Their perversion will astound you: force-fed acid trips, doses there was no way to come back from, secrets and lies.

"Acid Dreams" is a thorough and serious book, but it’s full of juicy details and the kind of improbable stories that turn history into entertainment.

There have been other books about LSD after this, but nothing has surpassed this gem. It should have been on audio long ago. Tune in and turn on!

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15 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Narrator

I've never heard a narrator do such accurate impersonation. His Leary, RFK, Hunter Thompson, and Mario Savio voices are surprisingly accurate.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Ultra Interesting

Acid Dreams is two books in one, both of them interesting, at least to those (like me) who remain fascinated by the 1960s. That is one strand followed closely by Lee and Shlain -- the history of the 1960s as seen through the prism of one of its primary catalysts, the drug that fuelled a generation that altered the course of American politics and society.

The other thread may prove to be topical even to readers who have no explicit interest in the 60s or in LSD -- the CIA's involvement in experimenting with this and other drugs as tactical tools during the Cold War, and possibly in illegal domestic efforts as agents provocateurs to discredit political dissidence, and maybe even (if you're into diehard conspiracy theory) to enrich themselves at the expense of the general welfare via the drug trade.

The book begins, after quickly reviewing the discovery of LSD, with the CIA's MK Ultra program, undertaken during the 1950s, centering around acid as a biological weapon, and going so far as to test the potent hallucinogen on unsuspecting Americans riding the New York subway system, released in aerosol form in a subway car. Crazy stuff, extremely disturbing. The book concludes with a look at the elusive Ron Stark, drug dealer supreme and formentor of revolution in the U.S. and beyond while likely working for the CIA.

There is an incredible cast of characters here, from the well-known -- Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsburg, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, Charlie Manson, the Beatles -- to others who exemplify the aphorism that truth is often stranger than fiction -- the Diggers, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, Captain Al Hubbard, Billy Mellon Hitchcok, Owsley Stanley, the aforementioned superspy Ron Stark, and assorted figures of pure evil working for the CIA, epitomized by George White, his subway test only the most outrageous of his systematic dosing of unsuspecting people.

My only quibble with the book is that it cannot really be a "complete social history" without a closer look at the cultural aspects of psychedelia. There is no escaping the music, with the Beatles getting their due attention, but there was more to it than that, and the influence on cinema and art is ignored altogether -- which is a shame, because one of the biggest names to emerge from the psychedelic cinema of the 1960s, Jack Nicholson, is never mentioned in this book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator should stop trying to do foreign accents

What made the experience of listening to Acid Dreams the most enjoyable?

This was an interesting history of a fascinating subject. You'll be horrified at the stupidity of the government agencies responsible for suppression of the promising medical research done in the '50s and 60's.

Did Oliver Wyman do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Mr Wyman should stop trying to do foreign accents.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating and insightful.

This was an incredible listen. A thorough overview of the wild history of LSD in the US, and the counterculture that it helped stoke. I found it absolutely fascinating, and learned so much about the 60's and 70's in the process. Especially given the trajectory of our current drug reform, this topic feels very relevant.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A history of substance and cloture

While the second half of the book does tend to dull over some small sections; overall this was a fantastic history of the substance. The authors did a great job of weaving in the counterculture in a way that shone light on the ideals and morals without making an overall judgment. I have already recommended this book, with the caveat that at times it only appealed to the scholar in me, and left part of me longing for more classic historical context.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Educational

If you could sum up Acid Dreams in three words, what would they be?

Surprising, eye opening

What did you like best about this story?

Details of the pre-sixties government involvement.

Which character – as performed by Oliver Wyman – was your favorite?

na

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Extreme interest.

Any additional comments?

Such a powerful part of my youth hitherto not understood. I have generally found LSD to be a taboo subject. Perhaps because the "experienced" fear a social stigma. Perhaps they are left with many questions and uncertainties better left undisturbed. Yet it remains one of the most powerful experiences of many lives.

This history of acid provided me with perspective. The authors illustrate amply the many conflicting points of view; the positive and negatives of the psychedelic experience. And, most importantly, it provides an opportunity for discussion.

Many thanks to the authors.

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Well researched material and good narration

It was easy to crush out this one. The material was well researched and interesting. The narration was on point.

Side note: that Jolly West sure seems like an interesting character. He’s is all these books, but just a little bit. Read Chaos by Tom O’Neill and that’s where I learned of him first. Wonder what his deal is…

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really good story and narration performance

I loved learning about the 60s, acid, and the book managed to stay interesting throughout. One of my favorite books I've read recently.

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