Ebook: Psychedelic New York: A History of LSD in the City

An original perspective on American psychedelic history.

1. SUBJECTS – maximum of two:

a. New York

b. LSD and psychedelics

2. TAGLINE – maximum of 20 words.

A ground-breaking tour of the city’s psychedelic landscapes.

3. BOOK DESCRIPTION

As LSD moves back into the medical arena, acid continues to evoke powerful memories of the psychedelic Sixties on the American west coast. But in this lively account of a criminally neglected site, Chris Elcock reveals a much deeper history of psychedelics spanning across the postwar period and beyond. As a major hub for the production, distribution, investigation and consumption of these drugs, New York City gave birth to a unique psychedelic culture that was a fitting reflection of this global metropolis.

Based on years of archival research, interviews with former acid heads and a wide range of cultural artefacts, Psychedelic New York sheds light on decades of psychedelic science, the inception of psychedelic art, the rise and fall of the counter-culture, drug-infused spirituality and competing drug subcultures. It tells the stories of less-known New Yorkers like Holocaust survivor Nina Graboi, artist Isaac Abrams and real estate agent Bernard Friedman, whose lives were dramatically altered by the psychedelic experience, while offering new insights into Timothy Leary’s involvement in the city.

Psychedelic New York is a long-overdue history of LSD and urban psychedelia. With its quirky anecdotes, engaging prose and thoughtful analysis, this comprehensive focus on the psychedelic experience it is likely to appeal to academic and general audiences alike.

4. AUTHOR BIO – one sentence.

Chris Elcock is an award-wining independent historian of LSD and psychedelics.

from mif:
In the 1960s, a growing number of Americans began experimenƟng with psychedelic drugs such as LSD and other plant‐derived extracts that altered percepƟon, mood, and cogniƟon. The early history of psychedelic culture in the US is oŌen told through anecdotes about San Francisco’s Haight‐Ashbury district and the west coast adventures of the Merry Prankster. Chris Elcock argues that this focus has drawn aƩenƟon away from another major centre of early acid use and psychedelic acƟvity: New York City. This book is about the history of psychedelic New York, which was home to a significant LDS producƟon centre, a diverse and recepƟve drug‐taking populaƟon, and a vibrant art, music, and culture scene that welcomed psychedelic inspiraƟon. Chapter 1 offers an overview of the city’s relaƟonship with psychoacƟve drugs from the late 19th century to the early 1960s; it introduces Greenwich Village and its disƟncƟve brand of bohemianism. Chapter 2 describes how Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary disseminated psilocybin among the New York wealthy and the avant‐garde. Chapter 3 focuses on early research groups and how the city’s psychoanalyƟc circles became interested in psychedelic‐based therapy. Chapter 4 shows how LSD began to trickle out to the laboratories to reach the streets. Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the psychedelic careers and personal odysseys of Nina Graboi, who became the director of the Center for the League for Spiritual Discovery, and of Isaac Abrams, an influenƟal psychedelic arƟst and curator. Chapter 7 discusses the backlash that occurred in the city as a result of increased drug consumpƟon. Chapter 8 looks at acid use in Central Park in the early 1970s, at new drug scenes in downtown ManhaƩan, and at the conƟnued presence of psychedelics despite the growing use of heroin and cocaine in the 1980s.