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Paperback Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story Book

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ISBN: 0963009605

ISBN13: 9780963009609

Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story

Name: A monumental work on drug structure.
Item: Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story
Rating: 5
Author: Thriftbooks.com User

By Ann Shulgin and Alexander Shulgin

Alexander (better known as "Sasha") and Ann Shulgin's foundational work in the genre was the first book to fully impart the how-to chemistry, and convey the effects, of many of the entheogenic drugs that are currently being studied and used to heal trauma and deal with death. An acronym for "Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved", the book spans autobiography, organic chemistry, politics, ethnobotany, and psychopharmacology, and the cultural impact is likely to be profound for decades to come, as it has already. PiHKAL is divided into two parts, the first of which is a fictionalized autobiographical 'novel' - the main fiction is that it is fiction. This first half of the book is The Love Story, about two people named Shura and Alice who fall in love, though one of them is already in love with someone else. This love triangle is a painful ordeal they must go through, and that process unfolds before the reader with grace and great insight into human nature. Shura is a brilliant chemist who has dedicated his career to making psychoactive drugs, in the story they go through many experiences with the psychedelic compounds that Shura has discovered and has made in his lab, all of which have been bioassayed himself. The reader will find themselves going on this journey with them, experiencing what they experienced, both in their hearts and in the psychedelic journeys they have. The second half of PiHKAL is called The Chemical Story, and it contains detailed instructions for, and effects of, the synthesis of 179 psychedelic phenethylamines, which were mostly discovered by Shulgin himself. For each substance there is information on its synthesis, suggested effective dosage, duration, and detailed commentary on the subjective effects that were experienced. This book appeals to adults of all ages and cultures, and to the psychedelically experienced and inexperienced alike.Show Additional Fields

Format:Paperback

Language:English

ISBN:0963009605

ISBN13:9780963009609

Release Date:October 1990

Publisher:Transform Press

Length:978 Pages

Weight:2.95 lbs.

Dimensions:1.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Age Range:18 years and up

Grade Range:All grades

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Customer Reviews

6 customer ratings | 4 reviews

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Rated 5 stars
A monumental work on drug structure.

By Thriftbooks.com User, April 18, 2002

While the story itself is rather interesting, the last section of PIHKAL ('book II') is the true star. It's not a story...it's a list of aprox. 200 psychoactive and potentially psychoactive drugs, each lovingly described as to structure, synthesis, dosage, and effects. Each item is based on the core skeleton of phenyl-ethyl amine, which Shulgin laboriously explored at virtually every point, substitutive alkyl groups,...

3Report

Rated 5 stars
Important scientific biography, interesting new-age history

By Thriftbooks.com User, October 30, 2001

I had assumed this book to be new-age fluff after havingseen it referenced so often in other new-age fluff books.So I was quite surprised to find that it is really afascinating scientific biography, a genre I am personally addicted to. The 'love story' wanders into thefluff zone occasionally, and the chemistry recipe book wanders into extreme alchemical arcana, but overall itsa comprehensive compendium that is unique as far...

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Rated 5 stars
Pihkal: It will change you.

By Thriftbooks.com User, February 5, 2001

This book is divided into two halves. The first half is the story of Shulgin's life, from childhood to modern times. It is a moving and beautiful tale of one man's attempt to make sense of the world and his place in it. Intertwined in this personal experience is a budding love affair with a woman who could only be rated as amazing. The second half consists of Shulgin's recipes and notes on the synthesis of every compound...

0Report

Rated 5 stars
Excellent. A prerequisite to the world of psychedelic drugs

By Thriftbooks.com User, March 24, 1999

This book is fascinating. It is not an "I like trippin' and listenin' to the Dead" book. It is a very thorough, interesting account of the work of two very intelligent and thoughtful people in the area of psychedelic drugs and their influence on/application to human life. Here's a quote that gives some idea of the orientation of the book: of marijuana (not a phenethylamine, and thus, not really addressed fully in the...

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