Reviews

Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story by Ann Shulgin, Alexander Shulgin

gavriell's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


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thatcosmikdebris's review against another edition

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4.0

Informative and interesting. Never has a book paced between scientific discovery and self discovery so well, perhaps it's the topic at hand. 

But Pihkal paints an honest portrait of Shulgins legacy in both his historical placement in our drug governments programs and then with his own creative twist of relived storytelling of his friends and academics who rebuked it. 

Also Alice/Ann, his second wife, wrote chapters which was a welcomed change of perspective, both of them had stories to tell. I appreciate their knowledge, journey, and ultimately the important work that was completed at a time when it seemed the world didn't want to embrace it. 

bollu's review against another edition

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4.0

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.

davehog's review against another edition

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5.0

What an incredible book.

jacket_sg's review

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adventurous informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

h3mmy's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.75

noahjmack's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative slow-paced

2.5

burnabrenna's review against another edition

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informative inspiring slow-paced

penderworth's review against another edition

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5.0

One of the coolest books I’ve ever read. Both Alexander and Ann’s writing styles are so unique that this whole thing felt like a wild adventure. I’m excited for my next read through.

bredahl's review against another edition

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4.0

Sasha Shulgin - utan tvekan en av de mest betydelsefulla människor inom psykofarmakologi genom tiderna - och hans fru Ann beskriver i denna bok bl.a. Sashas livsverk inom psykedelika och deras gemensamma äventyr med de substanser han uppfann och upptäckte.

Vi får utöver detta en inblick i deras individuella historier och den extraordinaritet som genomsyrade både de själva som individer och deras kärlekshistoria. De olika kapitlen skriver de var för sig och de har två väldigt olika fokus i sina författarstilar.

Genom sina arbeten berörde dessa två eldsjälar oändligt många människor och kommer fortsätta att göra det. Så länge preparaten fortsätter syntetiseras och deras ord fortsätter användas inom den personliga, själsliga utvecklingen.

Då den andra halvan innehåller kemiska formler och labbanteckningar vilket är som rena grekiska för mig hoppade jag över den.