It's a simple, delightful premise: a journal of microdosing. Then Waldman brings so much to the project that it turns into something else, something far more beguiling . . . The result is
constantly entertaining, slyly educational, and surprisingly
moving . . .
I don't know another writer like her. * William Finnegan, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning Barbarian Days *
[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 *
Humour informs Ayelet Waldman 's lively diary of taking acid . . .
A smart writer with an easy tone. As a suburban mother of four , she nicely plays up how unlike the archetypal acid tripper she is. The neurological and pharmaceutical science is well handled and she makes a strong case for medicinal LSD. But perhaps what the book does best is demystify the chemical mythology of drugs. * The Observer *
Waldman proves a
sharp debunker of the myths that have accrued around a potentially life-saving chemical whose star is clearly on the rise * Spectator *
A
wildly brilliant,
radically candid, and rigorous daybook of [Waldman's] life-changing, last-resort journey. * Lisa Shea, Elle *
Ignoring decades of drug war propaganda, Ayelet Waldman bravely chose to take back her psyche using forbidden medicine. The result is this
candid and fearless mental travelogue.
Funny, wise, surprising, and all too human, this book about peering through the veil of self may just - if you dare to let it - drive you sane * Walter Kirn, author of Up in the Air and Blood Will Out *
In this raw, honest, and ultimately hopeful journey, Waldman takes us deep into the forest of her mind and moods. The success of her story with microdosing reminds the medical and legal communities how much still remains to be understand about the brain.
* Dr. David Eagleman, neuroscientist, author of The Brain *
Ayelet Waldman is
fearless, which is our good fortune and sometimes hers. That boldness led to her fruitful adventures in mind-altering substances recounted here. Subtly
mind-altering; this is a book about sub-hallucinatory microdoses of LSD but also about marriage and family life, insomnia, addiction, her past as a defense attorney, our insane drug laws, moods and dispositions and afflictions, and a lot of other stuff braided into an
informative, amusing, nonchalantly incendiary narrative. You could call this book her war on the war on drugs, but it's
so much more,
and so much more funny. * Rebecca Solnit, author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost *
Novelist and essayist Waldman (
Bad Mother) - mother of four, married to another high-profile writer (Michael Chabon) - worked as a federal public defender and taught at prestigious law schools. After struggling with mood swings and bouts of depression, Waldman becomes a 'self-study psychedelic researcher,' taking small doses of LSD on repeating three-day cycles and discovers plenty to exonerate the illicit substance . . . A
highly engaging combination of research and self-discovery, laced with some
endearingly honest comic moments. She is exactly the sort of sensible, middle-aged, switched-on, spontaneous woman whom any reader would enjoy taking a trip with * Publisher's Weekly, starred review *
Crisp,
hilarious, and weirdly
optimistic, Ayelet Waldman breaks from the convention of mental health memoir the way an acid head breaks from reality. At its core this is a deeply romantic story about the redemptive power of marriage, surprising and easy to celebrate. * Jenni Konner, showrunner and executive producer of Girls, co-founder of Lenny Letter *