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Death by Astonishment

Confronting the Mystery of the World's Strangest Drug

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Death by Astonishment

Written by: Andrew R. Gallimore, Graham Hancock
Narrated by: Andrew R. Gallimore, Graham Hancock
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About this listen

For fans of the compelling critical and investigative style of best-selling authors Graham Hancock and Brian Muraresku, the first detailed account of the history and science of the world’s strangest and most mysterious drug: DMT. This program is read by the author and features a foreword written and read by British journalist and author Graham Hancock.

DMT is the world’s strangest and most mysterious drug, inducing one of the most remarkable and yet least understood of all states of consciousness. This common plant molecule has, from ancient times to the modern day, been used as a tool to gain access to a bizarre alien reality of inordinate complexity and unimaginable strangeness, populated by a panoply of highly advanced, intelligent, and communicative beings entirely not of this world.

In a story that begins in the Amazonian rainforests and ends somewhere beyond the stars, Andrew Gallimore presents the first detailed account of the discovery of DMT and science’s continuing struggle to explain how such a simple and common plant molecule can have such astonishing effects on the human mind. The history of the drug involves many fascinating characters from the scientific and literary worlds—including legendary ethnobotanist Dr. Richard Schultes; renegade beat writer and drug aficionado William S. Burroughs; philosopher and raconteur Terence McKenna; and the high priest of the 1960s psychedelic revolution, Dr. Timothy Leary. In the end, the story of DMT forces us to reconsider our most basic assumptions about the nature of reality and our place within it.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2025 Andrew Gallimore (P)2025 Macmillan Audio
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What the critics say

"DMT is unique among all the psychedelics in that it affords access to an alternate reality that seems every bit as real as our 'ordinary reality' and yet is utterly alien. With the possible exception of Terence McKenna, Andrew Gallimore has been investigating this longer and more thoroughly than anyone else. I believe he may have cracked the code. His conclusions are astonishing. And to some they will be horrifying. This book is not to be missed."—Dennis McKenna, PhD

"An exhilarating, yet rigorously grounded, account of DMT's rapidly increasing influence on human consciousness. What if an unimaginably powerful psychedelic molecule, made in the human brain, could be harnessed to reliably provide contact with super intelligent beings from other dimensions of time and space? Gallimore's project provides an essential understanding of this nascent field, and its implications for our species' evolution."—Rick Strassman MD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico School of Medicine and author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule and My Altered States.

"Compulsively readable and impossible to put down, Death by Astonishment is a page-turning odyssey into the enigmatic history of the world’s strangest drug. Bringing together many of the most pivotal stories in psychedelic history, Gallimore not only connects the dots but also fills in the missing pieces, shedding new light on the mysteries of this extraordinary molecule."—David Jay Brown, author of The Illustrated Field Guide to DMT Entities

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This book is definitely one of my new favorite books about dmt history that I have ever read. The first half is the back story, and in the second half, Andrew Gallimore takes the reader through the jungles and the back alleys of our minds in search of somewhere, if anywhere the DMT folx might be hiding. A worthwhile read for anybody.

Reading pace also works well when sped up. Sometimes the pace gets weird, but this one works well. I also found myself wanting the book to last longer and ended up listening to it at normal pace for a good portion.

History and Hyperspace

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well written and well composed. The book flowed nicely. a compelling story about everything DMT

well written

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