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  • Foucault in California

  • [A True Story—Wherein the Great French Philosopher Drops Acid in the Valley of Death]
  • Written by: Simeon Wade
  • Narrated by: Daniel Henning, Dina Pearlman
  • Length: 3 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

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Foucault in California

Written by: Simeon Wade
Narrated by: Daniel Henning, Dina Pearlman
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Publisher's Summary

In The Lives of Michel Foucault, David Macey quotes the iconic French philosopher as speaking “nostalgically...of 'an unforgettable evening on LSD, in carefully prepared doses, in the desert night, with delicious music, [and] nice people'". This came to pass in 1975, when Foucault spent Memorial Day weekend in Southern California at the invitation of Simeon Wade - ostensibly to guest-lecture at the Claremont Graduate School where Wade was an assistant professor, but in truth to explore what he called the Valley of Death. Led by Wade and Wade's partner, Michael Stoneman, Foucault experimented with psychotropic drugs for the first time; by morning he was crying and proclaiming that he knew Truth. Foucault in California is Wade's firsthand account of that long weekend. Felicitous and often humorous prose vaults listeners headlong into the erudite and subversive circles of the Claremont intelligentsia: parties in Wade's bungalow, intensive dialogues between Foucault and his disciples at a Taoist utopia in the Angeles Forest (whose denizens call Foucault “Country Joe”); and, of course, the fabled synesthetic acid trip in Death Valley, set to the strains of Bach and Stockhausen. 

Part search for higher consciousness, part bacchanal, this book chronicles a young man's burgeoning friendship with one of the 20th century's greatest thinkers.

©2019 David Wade (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

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More Philosophy Than Trip Report

January 2022 | 4/5
I don't read/engage with much (any) philosophy - but I was familiar with the name and based on a member rec I gave it a go. I was expecting something like Doors of Perception, or Confessions of an English Opium-Eater - high brow trip reports with super flowery prose. That's not what I got.
The book begins by questioning the authenticity of the story that is about to unfold. And then we pickup the great french philosopher and the adventure begins. Along the way, Foucault, Simeon and Michael journey to Death Valley, drop acid and enjoy each other company. The next day the visit a friend on the mountain. Throughout, Foucault answers all the questions directed his way from the various players in the story.

I really enjoyed it, and plan to do some deeper dives into Foucault, french philosophy, and philosophy in general.

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