Preorder Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna
- gstjohn
- Apr 15
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 16
I'm happy to announce the coming arrival of my new book Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna, to be published by MIT Press and scheduled for release on Sep 30, 2025. In the pipe for many years, with a foreword by Erik Davis, the first comprehensive biography of the 20th century’s psychedelic renaissance man is now available for preordering.
Endorsements of Strange Attractor
“A rich and resonant portrayal of the man and his mind.”
— From the foreword by Erik Davis, author of Blotter: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium
“I used to say that those wishing to truly understand Terence McKenna, and our complicated shared career, should consider my memoir The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss and Terence’s True Hallucinations as required reading. Now I am pleased to add Graham St John’s incredible book to that list. He has tracked down many of Terence’s old friends and associates and persuaded them to excavate the caverns of their own memories. The result is something like the definitive biography of Terence. Much of his account was unfamiliar to me. This biography is indispensable!”
— Dennis McKenna
“While Graham St John is our best contemporary historian of psychedelic culture, Terence McKenna was undoubtedly its most famous public intellectual. This biography is wonderful in the literal sense—a big book filled with wonders that keeps a perfect balance between historical accuracy and sympathetic engagement with the high priest of weirdness in the internet age.”
— Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam
"Terence McKenna was fond of quoting J. B. S. Haldane: “The universe is not only stranger than we suppose, it is stranger than we can suppose.” This enrapturing book about the life and ideas that made McKenna a hero of 1990s psychedelic cyberculture is stranger than you can suppose and it must be read to be experienced. It’s psychoactive in all the best ways. You don’t know McKenna until you’ve read Strange Attractor."
— R. U. Sirius, co-founder of Mondo 2000
“When Terence passed in 2000 we all thought that Humpty Dumpty had fallen and lay shattered everywhere. With painstaking diligence, St John has put him back together again for the benefit of generations to come.”
— Dr Bruce Damer, Astrobiologist and President of The Center for MINDS
“The life and work of Terence McKenna has been largely unchronicled. Until now. This hugely enjoyable book is required reading for anyone with an interest in psychedelic experiences, altered states, and countercultural thought.”
— Christopher Partridge, Professor of Religious Studies at Lancaster University
“A monumental work of epic proportions. Terence McKenna could not have found a more capable chronicler. With discernment and flair, St John deftly peels back the layers of legend to reveal the fascinating, complex human beneath. Meticulously researched and exquisitely written, this is the definitive portrait of the tryptamine elf king.”
— David Jay Brown, author of Dreaming Wide Awake and The Illustrated Field Guide to DMT Entities
“An immense accomplishment. Beautifully written, painstakingly researched, fascinating, insightful and, at times, deeply moving. I can’t imagine another author this side of the Eschaton improving upon this definitive biography of the late psychedelic bard. It is done.”
— Andrew R. Gallimore, author of Death by Astonishment: Confronting the Mystery of the World's Strangest Drug
“A deeply human examination of a figure who wandered the edge of the known and spoke to a generation seeking meaning in chaos. This is not just McKenna's story. It is the song of a life lived in reverence—to the Earth, to the ineffable, and to love.”
— William Leonard Pickard, author of The Rose of Paracelsus
"The life and lore of a countercultural icon is finally laid bare, with all of its shadows and contradictions. Dancefloor devotees who know McKenna as the “bard of hyperspace” sampled on countless electronic music anthems will especially appreciate the book’s excavation of his reluctant relationship to raving, as well as the strangely pivotal role his stash of DMT played in the creation of Goa trance—one of many such gems buried inside this brilliant biographical tome."
— Michelle Lhooq, drug journalist at Rave New World
Paperback retail: 35.00 USD
Presale orders at https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049573/strange-attractor/
If you’re interested in reviewing Strange Attractor, please contact me @ g.stjohnATwarpmail.net
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Image by Timothy Parish of Undergrowth Productions
Photo courtesy of Kathleen Harrison
Thank you
Graham St John
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