Strange Attractor by Graham St John

Strange Attractor

The Hallucinatory Life of Terence Mckenna

Graham St John

MIT Press · Print & ebook · October 7, 2025

An intellectual biography of one of the most celebrated and yet least understood figures of the late twentieth century, Terence McKenna.

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Who it’s for
Graham St John traces Terence McKenna’s life and ideas through documents, letters, photographs, and artworks.
Themes
Psychedelics and consciousness, Intellectual biography, Legacy and influence
Genres
Philosophers' Lives, Sacred Plants & Entheogens, Writers' Lives

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About this book

An intellectual biography of one of the most celebrated and yet least understood figures of the late twentieth century, Terence McKenna. A stand-up philosopher who made a unique contribution to science, humanism, and the hidden arts, Terence McKenna (1946–2000) was the twentieth century’s psychedelic Renaissance man.

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Perfecting his rugged philosophy on the role of psychedelics in evolution, consciousness, and time, McKenna was a riotous charmer who stalked the shadows, but also sought the iridescence. More than twenty years since his untimely passing, McKenna has an enduring magnetism across the virtual pop stream, in pervasive digitization, and within social media networks. In Strange Attractor, the first biography of this enigmatic figure, Graham St John detects the signal behind the noise. This book is an engaging chronicle of the life, works, and legacy of this brazen adventurer of the inner and outer dimensions, whose weird intelligence has affected multitudes and whose spirit continues to haunt the present. It draws on original documents and letters, features fifty two rare photographs and artworks, and shares previously untold stories from over eighty people. Neither glorifying nor disparaging its subject, Strange Attractor will appeal to those interested in the evolution of a psychedelic intellectual, and to those for whom McKenna’s wisdom endures.

McKenna’s Ideas

Graham St John traces Terence McKenna’s life and ideas through documents, letters, photographs, and artworks.

Come here for

  • McKenna’s thinking on psychedelics, evolution, consciousness, and time
  • His life, works, and legacy

Expect

  • Original documents and letters
  • Previously untold stories from more than eighty people

Where it sits

Sacred Plants & Entheogens78%
Philosophers' Lives67%
Writers' Lives23%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Philosophers' Lives
  • Sacred Plants & Entheogens
  • How Cultures Work
Authors
Graham St John
Publisher
MIT Press
Published
October 7, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Psychedelics and consciousness · Intellectual biography · Legacy and influence
Reading lane
Philosophers' Lives