Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story
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- Create Date：2021-07-22 08:53:08
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Alexander Shulgin
- ISBN：0963009605
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Summary
phen-ethyl-amine \fen-'eth-al-a-，men\ n。 [phenyl fr。 F。 phène， fr。 Gk。 phainein， to show （from its occurrence in illuminating gas）+ ethyl （ + yl） + amine fr。 NL ammonia] 1: A naturally occurring compound found in both the animal and plant kingdoms。 It is an endogenous component of the human brain。 2: Any of a series of compounds containing the phenethylamine skeleton， and modified by chemical constituents at appropriate positions in the molecule。
Reviews
Light
，
If a story about a chemist's discovery of 100's of new psychedelic compounds， a frustrating love triangle， and lots of geriatric sex appeal to you， then this is the book for you。 The first half is the story of Alex and Ann's life （though hidden different names and supposedly being a work of fiction for legal reasons） 。 The second half is documentation of the chemistry and qualitative effects of many of Alex's creations。 Points of interest: - A compound which the research group responded negative If a story about a chemist's discovery of 100's of new psychedelic compounds， a frustrating love triangle， and lots of geriatric sex appeal to you， then this is the book for you。 The first half is the story of Alex and Ann's life （though hidden different names and supposedly being a work of fiction for legal reasons） 。 The second half is documentation of the chemistry and qualitative effects of many of Alex's creations。 Points of interest: - A compound which the research group responded negatively to with the exception of one participant， underlining how different each of our neurochemistry is。 - Ann's very difficult experience with encountering an unfeeling， computation perspective of the world after taking a certain substance。 The same substance taken by Alex and by Ann later was found to be unremarkable， underlining how important the effect of set is to an experience。 - The last chapter which is a passionate university lecture on drug prohibition。 。。。more
Leon
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A fascinating dive into the life of a man who trailblazed the study of psychoactive substances and laid the foundation for drug-assisted therapy。
Tetrijeb
，
canon for phenetylamine lovers
RB
，
Absolutely outstanding。 There's no book like，"Pihkal"。 The first half is over 400 pages written by Alexander and Anne Shulgin， and the final half is devoted to nearly 200 chemicals Shulgin's responsible for。 There's really no point for me to write any more， the joy for any new reader will be in precisely what she doesn't know。 I will say this: the reader does not need to enter this book with a single memory from chemistry class - it helps， but it's not at all required to enjoy the first half of Absolutely outstanding。 There's no book like，"Pihkal"。 The first half is over 400 pages written by Alexander and Anne Shulgin， and the final half is devoted to nearly 200 chemicals Shulgin's responsible for。 There's really no point for me to write any more， the joy for any new reader will be in precisely what she doesn't know。 I will say this: the reader does not need to enter this book with a single memory from chemistry class - it helps， but it's not at all required to enjoy the first half of this amazing book。 。。。more
Joseph Nichols
，
It was an intimate insight into the thoughts and life of of life of Shura and Alice。 I would recommend the first part of the book to anyone who is interested in the realm of psychedelics and their subjective effects。 The commentary in the second half is a witty and funny rambling on the potential of a large number of interesting chemicals。
Roxana
，
I really liked the first part。 The description of the life， love and psychedelic first encounters of the main characters。 I would say it's well written， keeps you connected and presents such a controversial subject in a very easy to digest way。 And it also doesn't sound like propaganda at all。 To me :）The last part though。。。。with the spiritual crises and the take on the war on drugs。。。。I was pulled completely out of the literature and into rolling my eyes， and seeing the characters as hippies wi I really liked the first part。 The description of the life， love and psychedelic first encounters of the main characters。 I would say it's well written， keeps you connected and presents such a controversial subject in a very easy to digest way。 And it also doesn't sound like propaganda at all。 To me :）The last part though。。。。with the spiritual crises and the take on the war on drugs。。。。I was pulled completely out of the literature and into rolling my eyes， and seeing the characters as hippies with an agenda。。。 。。。more
Alex Bond
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Mijn meest favoriete boek in mijn gehele collectie
Matt Karwoski
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An absolute masterpiece of a chemistry reference manual for experimental psychoactive compoinds。 If I'm being honest the story before the lab notes was just alright， maybe 3 stars。 However one must appreciate the absolute dedication this man had to advancing psychedelic research。 And for that reason alone this book is 5 stars。 An absolute masterpiece of a chemistry reference manual for experimental psychoactive compoinds。 If I'm being honest the story before the lab notes was just alright， maybe 3 stars。 However one must appreciate the absolute dedication this man had to advancing psychedelic research。 And for that reason alone this book is 5 stars。 。。。more
Serge
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Неплохая автобиографическая книга с трипами от разных веществ。Александр， как и подобает ученому， воспринимает многое разумом; анализирует и разрабатывает не только наркотики， но и способы их приема; замедляет время и закидывается МДМА в самолете。У Энн опыт проходит скорее на уровне чувств。 Да， она верит в эзотерику и прочую чушь， но глава с ее опытом принятия пейота - одна из самых зацепивших в книге。С другой стороны книга могла быть несколько короче， а описания чуть более интересными。
Siddharth
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This book convinced me that there's beauty in chemisty， in reading Shulgin's descriptions of his methods of synthesis， and his speculations on how the chemicals he's building possess their psychoactive properties。 His writing about chemicals felt like a love story to chemistry， almost。 This book convinced me that there's beauty in chemisty， in reading Shulgin's descriptions of his methods of synthesis， and his speculations on how the chemicals he's building possess their psychoactive properties。 His writing about chemicals felt like a love story to chemistry， almost。 。。。more
Spencer
，
As far as writing goes， Ann Shulgin’s writing was noticeably different from Sasha （I’m sure I would find his chemistry to be a good duality to his wife’s writing） Unfortunately didn’t understand any of the chemistry in this one but there’s some worthwhile insights taken from the story half of it。 The end of first half is a great analysis on the war on drugs and change in law that led to the demonization of anyone surrounding drugs。 Sasha was pretty spot on with what was inevitably going to be a As far as writing goes， Ann Shulgin’s writing was noticeably different from Sasha （I’m sure I would find his chemistry to be a good duality to his wife’s writing） Unfortunately didn’t understand any of the chemistry in this one but there’s some worthwhile insights taken from the story half of it。 The end of first half is a great analysis on the war on drugs and change in law that led to the demonization of anyone surrounding drugs。 Sasha was pretty spot on with what was inevitably going to be a part of this culture but at the time he was bringing such issues forward to be used to further the case that this war was not worthy of being waged for various reasons。 Here the end of the first half love story， Sasha highlights a telling excerpt from a letter that resonated in me: Is it any wonder that laws prohibiting the use of psychoactive drugs have been traditionally ignored？ The monstrous ego （or stupidity！） of a person or group of persons， to believe that they or anyone else have the right， or the jurisdiction， to police the inside of my body， or my mind'。It is， in fact， so monstrous a wrong that， were it not so sad - indeed， tragic！ - it might be humorous。All societies must， it seems， have a structure of laws， of orderly rules and regulations。 Only the most hard-core， fanatical anarchist would argue that point。 But I， as a responsible， adult human being， will never concede the power， to anyone， to regulate my choice of what I put into my body， or where I go with my mind。 From the skin inward is my jurisdiction， is it not？ I choose what may or may not cross that border。 Here I am the Customs Agent。 I am the Coast Guard。 I am the sole legal and spiritual Government of this territory， and only the laws I choose to enact within myself are applicable！！！Now， were I to be guilty of invading or sabotaging that same territory in others， then the external law of the Nation has every right - indeed， the responsibility - to prosecute me in the agreed-upon manner。But what I think？ Where I focus my awareness？ What biochemical reactions I choose to cause within the territorial boundaries of my own skin are not subject to the beliefs， morals， laws or preferences of any other person！I am a sovereign state， and I feel that my borders are far more sacred than the politically drawn boundaries of any country。 。。。more
Flynn Essenhigh
，
bruh？
Greg
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There are two groups who will love this book: scientists （especially chemists） who are passionate about science， and people who love psychedelics。Alexander Shulgin lived his life in a unique position where his expertise in the field of mind altering drugs gave him the freedom to dance the lines of legality in the design， synthesis， and consumption of new substances。 No sentence summarizes this book better than the Mythbusters quote， "Remember kids， the only difference between screwing around and There are two groups who will love this book: scientists （especially chemists） who are passionate about science， and people who love psychedelics。Alexander Shulgin lived his life in a unique position where his expertise in the field of mind altering drugs gave him the freedom to dance the lines of legality in the design， synthesis， and consumption of new substances。 No sentence summarizes this book better than the Mythbusters quote， "Remember kids， the only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down。" Shulgin and his experimental group conducted countless experiments on his creations， all while documenting the dosages， effects， and durations。 As anyone who has done psychedelics knows， recounting the experience is at least as hard as remembering dreams。 This， alone， makes the data extremely impressive。Depending on the future legal status of these drugs and the prevailing attitudes towards them， Shulgin's accounts may end up being the only comprehensive knowledge on these substances that we ever have， making this book even more noteworthy。This book is split into two sections - the first being the "love story，" a discussion of Shulgin's lab and where he builds the case for the value of psychedelic drugs as tools for self-exploration。 The second half is a recipe book full of detailed synthesis instructions for making the various compounds he discovered。 Unless you have a strong background in organic chemistry and some expensive chemistry equipment， you probably won't have much luck actually creating any of these。 This isn't the 5th grade science fair， folks。Ann's （"Alice"） portion of the "love story" is absurdly overblown and doesn't fit well into the focal point of the book。 I could have done without this section entirely。The final chapter is a John Galt-like argument for the legalization and use of psychedelic drugs and a more libertarian approach to freedom with some light warnings against the slippery slope of government control。 This is Shulgin at his most passionate。Pihkal should be required reading for chemistry students （especially organic） and should be extremely interesting for anyone interested in psychedelics。 。。。more
Liradie
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A unique memoir and a brilliant statement。
RioMadre
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4。25
Krokki
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The Holy Bible of mind-altering psychedelics， written by the stepfather of ecstacy and his wife。 A treasure of a book， with lots of fantastic stories about the Shulgins' life and effects of an expansion and exploration of minds。 The revolution of neuroscience， how our brain works， goes hand in hand with the explosion of reasearch on psychedelics in the mid 1900s until it got struck down by the war on drugs。 We are finally seeing a renaissance theese days - and I belive it is the key in a further The Holy Bible of mind-altering psychedelics， written by the stepfather of ecstacy and his wife。 A treasure of a book， with lots of fantastic stories about the Shulgins' life and effects of an expansion and exploration of minds。 The revolution of neuroscience， how our brain works， goes hand in hand with the explosion of reasearch on psychedelics in the mid 1900s until it got struck down by the war on drugs。 We are finally seeing a renaissance theese days - and I belive it is the key in a further quest for knowledge of the brain， consciousness and treating mental illnesses++。 。。。more
Luka Dubravica
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 A good， interesting story and collection of reports。 The love drama part with Ursula seemed a bit too long for my taste， taking too big part of the book which is otherwise a great memoir。
D
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Don't even dare call yourself a 'drug nerd' or anything like that until you've read this and TiHKAL。 This is not your normal read， a mixture of real chemistry/pharmacological writing and an autobiography。 If there's a novel drug or 'research chemical' being consumed on this planet， chances are Shulgin discovered it and wrote about it。It's hard to recommend this book as it's definitely for a certain type of person but if you fall under that category， this + TiHKAL will be your bible。 Don't even dare call yourself a 'drug nerd' or anything like that until you've read this and TiHKAL。 This is not your normal read， a mixture of real chemistry/pharmacological writing and an autobiography。 If there's a novel drug or 'research chemical' being consumed on this planet， chances are Shulgin discovered it and wrote about it。It's hard to recommend this book as it's definitely for a certain type of person but if you fall under that category， this + TiHKAL will be your bible。 。。。more
Thomas Elert
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Interesting insight into a remarkable life， and 100s of pages that are essentially a scientific encyclopedia that go beyond what I am able to appreciate。 A unique look at a rational and scientific approach to drug use vs。 the scenes of excess and debauchery that predominate that topic。
XcQ
，
absolutely essential for anybody interested in the study of psychoactive substances。 i have an admittedly very limited chemistry background， so my initial read of Pihkal focused more on the biographical first-half and the accounts of qualitative drug effects in the second-half。 even then， though， i found it incredibly valuable。 read it！！！
Ethan Grant
，
This book will continue to serve me well as a reference work。
Kaspars Laizans
，
What would happen if a psychopharmacist marries a hippie？ And then they coauthor a book together？ Highly technical part 3 of the book with all the synthesis descriptions was too heavy for a peasant like me。 Apart from experience description part， which also includes some personal insights obtained during "experiments"Part 2 was way too sexy and esoteric， but does provide some interesting material about ways of dealing with different mental states that can be achieved during experimentation with What would happen if a psychopharmacist marries a hippie？ And then they coauthor a book together？ Highly technical part 3 of the book with all the synthesis descriptions was too heavy for a peasant like me。 Apart from experience description part， which also includes some personal insights obtained during "experiments"Part 2 was way too sexy and esoteric， but does provide some interesting material about ways of dealing with different mental states that can be achieved during experimentation with psychoactive substances。 Part 1 was the most interesting for me personally as a sort of autobiography of a chemist。 Like the idea of their psychoactivity scale。 Apparently it's a more-or-less official thing :）All in all wasn't too excited。 An ok book， might be a treasure trove of technical information for a skilled chemist。 Might also not。 Way above my paygrade。 。。。more
Sara Blanco
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Fully recommended。 A book of self-exploration， very inspiring both for the ones interested in psychodelic substances and those who are not。 It talks about the lifes of two very interesting people with a beautiful inside world。 I learnt something about love， about drugs and about academia。 That kind of book that you feel like phoning the authour once you're done with it。 Fully recommended。 A book of self-exploration， very inspiring both for the ones interested in psychodelic substances and those who are not。 It talks about the lifes of two very interesting people with a beautiful inside world。 I learnt something about love， about drugs and about academia。 That kind of book that you feel like phoning the authour once you're done with it。 。。。more
Anand
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fascinating。 well written， good analogue to how to change your mind
Darkvine
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1K pages seems like a lot but it is actually two books in one。Book 1 is an autobiographical and mature love story which goes from a love-triangle stalemate to a healthy and balanced relationship， where the deepness of the union of two persons， the sublime intensity of eroticism of senses of touch， smell， taste and even the flow of time is enhanced to regions of experience only known daring psychonautic explorers。Book 2 is a drug encyclopedia。This volume is not meant for the kind of people who ju 1K pages seems like a lot but it is actually two books in one。Book 1 is an autobiographical and mature love story which goes from a love-triangle stalemate to a healthy and balanced relationship， where the deepness of the union of two persons， the sublime intensity of eroticism of senses of touch， smell， taste and even the flow of time is enhanced to regions of experience only known daring psychonautic explorers。Book 2 is a drug encyclopedia。This volume is not meant for the kind of people who just take whatever their dealer gives them at a party， and hope they don't die。 Nothing against those ppl， the spice must flow。 This book， however， is meant for the intelligent psychonaut who knows what he/she is taking and has a college/university level knowledge of chemistry， or at least has a basic understanding of organic chemistry。 With this in mind you can enjoy the psychedelic love story of book 1， and read the trip reports and commentary of book 2。 Book 2 also contains the synthesis of every drug， but unless you have majored in chemistry with a lab at your disposal， you probably just want to skip those。NVM the illegality of the whole thing of course， but we can only hope this isn't a permanent situation。 We all know， these backward drug laws are politics based and not science-based。 。。。more
Sarah Martyn
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Fascinating discussion on the synthesis and effects of psychotropic substances， highly educational and engaging。 This autobiography gives an insight into what it is like to do science for the sake of knowledge rather than for monetary promise and high impact journal publications。 Very enjoyable
Jack Ramsey
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The best psychedelic literature I have ever come across。
RN_Hpesoj
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This autobiographical account offers great insight into the wonders of psychedelic substances。 It shows how they can be an extremely useful tool for personal development and therapy as well。The chapters that included the whole research group （basically eight educated friends） using the same substance， at different dosages， were so fascinating！There were profound insights from both Alexander and Ann on various difficult aspects of life。 It is an incredibly personal book that does not hide much at This autobiographical account offers great insight into the wonders of psychedelic substances。 It shows how they can be an extremely useful tool for personal development and therapy as well。The chapters that included the whole research group （basically eight educated friends） using the same substance， at different dosages， were so fascinating！There were profound insights from both Alexander and Ann on various difficult aspects of life。 It is an incredibly personal book that does not hide much at all。I feel that the book is still cutting-edge even though it is 28 years old。 It is a unique book with great information presented in a human way。 Only occasionally were some of the comments from Alexander or Ann a bit outdated。The second half of the book that details the synthesis of the substances would be interesting to a chemist， but they are beyond me。 What is interesting to me is the qualitative comments included on all 179 substances。 They are written accounts by people who used the substance， and what dosage they used， so it is a great reference guide。I am excited to read TiHKAL and have acquired a copy of The Shulgin Index。 。。。more
Eduardo Santiago
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（Review applies to Book I only）。Quite the hodgepodge: memoir， hagiography， trip reports。 Friendship。 Political commentary， self-exploration and growth。 Pirates。 Swordfights。 True Love。 Two of those aren’t true。It was informative， grating， fascinating， tedious。 （Any similarities to an actual trip are purely coincidental。） （Or maybe not。） Part Two — “Alice’s” Voice — I found especially irritating。 Much of it read like the Dear Diary of an infatuated adolescent。 I had trouble remembering that this （Review applies to Book I only）。Quite the hodgepodge: memoir， hagiography， trip reports。 Friendship。 Political commentary， self-exploration and growth。 Pirates。 Swordfights。 True Love。 Two of those aren’t true。It was informative， grating， fascinating， tedious。 （Any similarities to an actual trip are purely coincidental。） （Or maybe not。） Part Two — “Alice’s” Voice — I found especially irritating。 Much of it read like the Dear Diary of an infatuated adolescent。 I had trouble remembering that this was a forty-year-old woman; I felt embarrassed for her。 And yet: there are eight post-it flags adorning paragraphs I found particularly memorable throughout the book; all eight are in Part Two。 When she writes about insights it’s like she’s in my head， putting words to what I’ve felt but never been able to describe。 She spells out what a positive psychedelic experience can be like， how transformative and surprising and humbling。 The quietly all-encompassing new awareness that fades in intensity afterward but never really leaves our memory。 The dippy truths I would feel too self-conscious ever to say aloud except among a small subset of friends， those who’ve been there or who intend to go。I’m not sure who I’d recommend this book to。 It’s a long slog with a possibility of low ROI。 I’m not really the target audience for this book and am not sure who is but should you—as a friend of mine—ever consider reading it， and want advice on whether or not to commit to it， whether it’d be worth your while， please reach out。 Until then， remember that I love you， and that: “Know that there is no safety anywhere。 There never was and there never will be。 Stop looking for it。 Live with a fierce intent to waste nothing of yourself or life。” 。。。more
Tautvydas13
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