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Synopses & Reviews
"A highly engaging combination of research and self-discovery, laced with some endearingly honest comic moments." — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
A revealing, courageous, fascinating, and funny account of the author's experiment with microdoses of LSD in an effort to treat a debilitating mood disorder, of her quest to understand a misunderstood drug, and of her search for a really good day.
When a small vial arrives in her mailbox from "Lewis Carroll," Ayelet Waldman is at a low point. Her mood storms have become intolerably severe; she has tried nearly every medication possible; her husband and children are suffering with her. So she opens the vial, places two drops on her tongue, and joins the ranks of an underground but increasingly vocal group of scientists and civilians successfully using therapeutic microdoses of LSD. As Waldman charts her experience over the course of a month — bursts of productivity, sleepless nights, a newfound sense of equanimity — she also explores the history and mythology of LSD, the cutting-edge research into the drug, and the byzantine policies that control it. Drawing on her experience as a federal public defender, and as the mother of teenagers, and her research into the therapeutic value of psychedelics, Waldman has produced a book that is eye-opening, often hilarious, and utterly enthralling.
Review
"A wildly brilliant, radically candid, and rigorous daybook of [Waldman’s] life-changing, last-resort journey." Lisa Shea, Elle
Review
"[The last book that made me laugh] may have been Ayelet Waldman’s A Really Good Day in manuscript. It’s a nonfiction book about combating depression by way of a daily micro-dose of LSD, and it’s Ayelet, so you can imagine." Zadie Smith, in the column "By the Book," The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Engrossing… Candidly written with vivid detail, Waldman’s thirty-day diary is compelling and eye-opening from both a medical and an observational perspective… Frank, revealing… bravely honest… Thirty days on LSD therapy makes for a fascinating trip, indeed." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Honest and intelligent… A humane, well-reasoned, and absolutely necessary argument for a major overhaul of America’s drug policy. The book triumphantly coheres in a lucid manifesto of how and why the racist, immoral undertaking called the War on Drugs has failed… Passionate, persuasive." Claire Vaye Watkins, The New Republic
Review
"Smart, outspoken, provoking, and funny.… Poignant, sometimes hilarious.… Her intensely personal revelations are balanced by a clarion history in the psychedelic…. Buoyed by the benefits of microdosing, Waldman calls for renewed research and drug-law reform in this informative, candid, altogether irresistible quest." Donna Seaman, Booklist
Synopsis
"Relentlessly honest and surprisingly funny." - The Washington Post "Genuinely brave and human." --The New York Times
"Wildly brilliant." --Elle
The true story of how a renowned writer's struggle with mood storms led her to try a remedy as drastic as it is forbidden: microdoses of LSD. Her fascinating journey provides a window into one family and the complex world of a once-infamous drug seen through new eyes.
When a small vial arrives in her mailbox from Lewis Carroll, Ayelet Waldman is ready to try anything. Her depression has become intolerable, severe and unmanageable; medication has failed to make a difference. Married with four children and a robust career, she should be happy, but instead her family and her work are suffering at the mercy of her mood disorder. So she opens the vial, places two drops on her tongue, and becomes part of a burgeoning underground group of scientists and civilians successfully using therapeutic microdoses of LSD. As Waldman charts her experience over the course of a month, during which she achieved a newfound feeling of serenity, she also explores the history and mythology of LSD, the cutting-edge research into the drug, and the byzantine policies that control it. Drawing on her experience as a federal public defender, and as the mother of teenagers, and her research into the therapeutic value of psychedelics, Waldman has produced a book that is candid, revealing and completely enthralling.
About the Author
Ayelet Waldman is the author of the novels Love and Treasure, Red Hook Road, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, and Daughter’s Keeper, as well as of the essay collection Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace, and the Mommy-Track Mystery series. She was a federal public defender and taught a course on the legal implications of the War on Drugs at the UC Berkeley law school. She lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband, Michael Chabon, and their four children.