Drugs of Choice: Mescaline, LSD, mushrooms Eminent English writer and philosopher Aldous Huxley is most famous for writing Brave New World, considered to be one of the greatest English-language novels of the 20th Century. Twenty-two years after publishing his dystopian masterpiece, he released The Doors of Perception, detailing his experiences while taking the psychedelic drug mescaline. The short book documents Huxley's recollection of a mescaline trip that took place over the course of an afternoon, in which the writer recalls the insights he experienced, ranging from the 'purely aesthetic' to 'sacramental vision'. When the book was published in 1954, mescaline was still treated as a research chemical rather than an illicit drug. He later dabbled with LSD and mushrooms, and concluded that the urge to transcend one's self is universal through times and cultures and reasoned that better, healthier 'doors' are needed than alcohol and tobacco. Needless to say, reaction to the controversial book was mixed, though he had success with many other literary works, including non-fiction writing on pacifist issues. Stricken with laryngeal cancer, the writer requested LSD on his deathbed and after two injections of the drug administered by his wife Laura, he passed away aged 69.
