Strange Attractor

An intellectual biography of Terence McKenna (1946–2000), the twentieth century's psychedelic Renaissance man, who developed a philosophy on the role of psychedelics in evolution, consciousness, and time. More than twenty years after his death, McKenna maintains an enduring presence across digital culture and social media. The biography, drawing on original documents, letters, fifty-two rare photographs and artworks, and stories from over eighty people, chronicles his life, works, and legacy without glorifying or disparaging him. It presents McKenna as a stand-up philosopher who contributed to science, humanism, and the hidden arts, and whose weird intelligence continues to haunt the present.

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Abstract

An intellectual biography of one of the most celebrated and yet least understood figures of the late twentieth century, Terence McKenna. A stand-up philosopher who made a unique contribution to science, humanism, and the hidden arts, Terence McKenna (1946–2000) was the twentieth century’s psychedelic Renaissance man. Perfecting his rugged philosophy on the role of psychedelics in evolution, consciousness, and time, McKenna was a riotous charmer who stalked the shadows, but also sought the iridescence. More than twenty years since his untimely passing, McKenna has an enduring magnetism across the virtual pop stream, in pervasive digitization, and within social media networks. In Strange Attractor, the first biography of this enigmatic figure, Graham St John detects the signal behind the noise. This book is an engaging chronicle of the life, works, and legacy of this brazen adventurer of the inner and outer dimensions, whose weird intelligence has affected multitudes and whose spirit continues to haunt the present. It draws on original documents and letters, features fifty two rare photographs and artworks, and shares previously untold stories from over eighty people. Neither glorifying nor disparaging its subject, Strange Attractor will appeal to those interested in the evolution of a psychedelic intellectual, and to those for whom McKenna’s wisdom endures.