{"product_id":"the-ego-trip-psychedelic-toads-a-trail-of-deaths-and-the-guru-who-peddled-transcendence","title":"The Ego Trip: Psychedelic Toads, a Trail of Deaths, and the Guru Who Peddled Transcendence","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKIMON DE GREEF is a freelance journalist and researcher from South Africa. His work has appeared in \n\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \n\u003ci\u003eGuernica\u003c\/i\u003e, \n\u003ci\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/i\u003e, and other publications. He is the coauthor of \n\u003ci\u003ePoacher: Confessions from the Abalone Underworld\u003c\/i\u003e and has written widely on illicit trades. He has a master's degree in conservation biology from the University of Cape Town and a master's in journalism from New York University. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Entirely mesmerizing, a tale of psychedelic tourists, shamanistic grift, chemistry, chicanery, tribal history, a chemical gold rush in the Sonoran desert and, above all, the enduring human quest for transcendence. Richly reported and written with humor and flair, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Ego Trip\u003c\/i\u003e is itself a trip--and Kimon de Greef is a major talent.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Patrick Radden Keefe, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Told with verve and built on deep reporting, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Ego Trip \u003c\/i\u003eis strange and wonderful. De Greef is a great storyteller, and he guides the reader beautifully around this story's crazy curves.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Susan Orlean, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Orchid Thief\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eJoyride\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A one-of-a-kind book. I loved it. A gripping, meticulous journey through the rise and commercialization of a ferocious new psychedelic. Kimon de Greef is indefatigable. At his story's heart is a charismatic doctor from Guadalajara, who becomes an addled villain on the order of Raskolnikov or Walter White--a character for the ages.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eBarbarian Days\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Elegant and electrifying, this sweeping tale of would-be shamans, corporate cowboys, and faithful acolytes of the God Molecule is one of the sharpest works of long-form journalism I've read in years. It somehow manages to unveil new worlds, expose frauds, and tell a throat-gripping good yarn all at once. Don't hesitate--take the trip!\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Robert Moor, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eIn Trees: An Exploration\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"A chilling saga about a former doctor who spearheaded the rise of toad smoking. . . . As de Greef digs into [the] deaths and Rettig's motives, he takes the narrative on intriguing side quests, including a look at the heaps of corporate money being poured into the development of synthetic toad venom. Propulsive and rigorously reported, this wild work of true crime grips from first page to last.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA charismatic doctor claimed to have rediscovered the ancestral roots of \"toad medicine,\" becoming the face of a global psychedelic movement. But in his wake, he left a trail of destruction that embodies the maladies of our spiritually desolate age. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Entirely mesmerizing. . . . Richly reported and written with humor and flair, \u003ci\u003eThe Ego Trip\u003c\/i\u003e is itself a trip--and Kimon de Greef is a major talent.\" --Patrick Radden Keefe, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eLondon Falling\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 2012, a Mexican doctor announced that he had revived a forgotten indigenous ritual: smoking the secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad, which releases a potent psychedelic substance known as \"the God molecule.\" The drug, which often induced states of ego death and the sensation of being directly connected with the divine, had remarkable effects on those suffering from PTSD, depression, and drug addiction. As the doctor's fame grew, however, stories emerged of extreme dosing, abusive behavior, and even dramatic deaths. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this gripping and deeply reported book, Kimon de Greef explores the promise and the peril of \"toad medicine\" and captures the defining tensions of this new era of psychedelics. As the notoriety of this powerful drug rose, psychonauts, spiritual seekers, and sufferers of innumerable conditions flocked to Sonora, giving rise to a bourgeoning economy of psychedelic tourism. Many of the Seri people, who had once lent their imprimatur to the doctor's narrative of indigenous tradition, conspicuously avoided using the substance at all, and evidence of ancestral use appeared questionable. Impoverished toad collectors chased after the animals in drug cartel territory and risked their lives in the process. And pharmaceutical companies raced against one another to harness the therapeutic potential of the toad's chemical wonders and develop a world-altering breakthrough in mental illness treatment--a drug that could rival Prozac in its impact on psychopharmacology. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePart true crime, part cult story, part cultural history, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Ego Trip \u003c\/i\u003eis a chronicle of the rise and fall of a messianic figure, but it is also an investigation into a larger truth about our age of spiritual desolation. As this story forcefully demonstrates, no matter the lengths we go to in attaining a more cosmic understanding, we will always be firmly rooted in the real world, bound by our limitations and inescapably human.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/18\/2026 (EAN 9780385550246, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/15\/2026 (EAN 9780385550246, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 07\/01\/2026 pg. 68 (EAN 9780385550246, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Doubleday Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496136409366,"sku":"9780385550246","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780385550246.jpg?v=1783053773","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-ego-trip-psychedelic-toads-a-trail-of-deaths-and-the-guru-who-peddled-transcendence","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}