Tracing the McKenna brothers’ childhood in western Colorado during the 1950s and ’60s, Dennis chronicles their adolescent adventures and formative encounters with mind-altering substances, along with the people and ideas that shaped them both. Dennis, now world-renowned for this ethnobotanical work, describes his early interests in cosmology and astrology, his sometimes rocky relationship with his older brother, how their paths diverged later in life, and his mother’s and Terence’s battles with cancer. In his account of what has become known as “The Experiment at La Chorrera”—which Terence documented in his own 1989 book, True Hallucinations—

Dennis describes visions of merging mushroom and human DNA, the brothers’ predictions for the future, and their evolving ideas about society and consciousness. In this updated edition, Dennis also reflects on scientific revelations, climate change, and the social and political crises of our time.