Page 8- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 10, 1986
Books

By Sue Misencik
For the majority of the students
at UM today, any mention of the
'60s conjures up a bizarre
melange of symbols--peace signs
and paisley, the Beatles and bell
bottom jeans. But for two UM
graduates, Martin A. Lee and
Bruce Shlain, the era has come to
mean far more. In their highly
provocative book, Acid Dreams:
The C.I.A., LSD and the Sixties
Rebellion, Lee and Shlain explore
the social, cultural, and political
aspects of the '60s in terms of one
"common denominator"--LSD.
The book is an extraordinary
complex of discoveries and
,questions, both of which work to
shed new light on this seemingly
mystical, often misunderstood
time in America's history.
Lee and Shlain, having
graduated in the mid-seventies,
are not contemporaries of their
subject, but grew up in the wake of
the era themselves. Nevertheless,
the two authors look right at home
sitting outside near the cube.
While at Michigan, Lee majored
in philosophy, although his "true
loves were literature and poetry."
He "was always involved in
writing" and "had a knack for
winning Hopwoods," which

helped to finance his education.
Bruce Shlain, also a Hopwood
winner, did an ICP in
Journalism and Creative
Writing, while reviewing films
as well. Initially, it seemed
surprising that these two soft.
spoken lovers of literature turned
to investigating the CIA.
However, as Shlain points out,
political involvement was central
to their college experience. "The
anti-war movement was still
taking place in the'70s. It was a
time when a tremendous amount
of learning took place outside of
the classroom."
Indeed, after witnessing their
acute curiosity toward the world--
a trait common to all writers--it
was easier to see how Lee and
Shlain got from the Hopwood
room to a CIA document reading
room in Virginia.
As Lee describes, "I was going
through documents and I came
across one that utterly startled
me. It was the minutes of a top-
level meeting in 1953, during
which a lot of the CIA big wigs
discussed, and approved, the
purchase of ten kilograms of LSD-
-100 million doses of the drug--
from the pharmaceutical
company in Switzerland which

thought, 'What did they do with
all that LSD?"' Ironically, these
figures were an error, the
amount, in actuality, much less;
yet the search to discover the true
extent of CIA involvement with
LSD had begun.
What Lee and Shlain found,
however, was that the story of LSD,
a drug "so much a part of the
cultural and political rebellion of
the day," was not about a specific
societal group or organization, but
several, and thus, could be used as
a tool for understanding all of the
groups more fully.
As Lee notes, "The drug meant
different things to different
people. To the CIA, LSD was a
drug to potentially revolutionize
the intelligence trade. The army
saw it as a battle weapon for
waging 'war without death.' To
the psychiatrists, LSD was ' a
promising scientific tool. In the
'60s a good number of people
thought LSD was the drug to save
the world."
One thing Lee and Shlain
hoped to discover was the link
betweeen these points on the social
continuum. As Shlain asks,
"How did a top secret military
mind control project eventually
evolve into the Haight-Ashbury

Flower Power scene?" Working
toward an answer, Lee explains
that "the CIA and the army tested,
and in some cases developed,
drugs to use in espionage
scenarios which later hit the
black market .... However, this
is not to say that the CIA
engineered the drug scene on the
streets." As Shlain adds, "It's
like the sorcerer's apprentice
scene from Fantasia. Once the
drugs get out of the lab, they take
on a life of their own."
After years of research into the
vastly complex relationships
between the CIA and the
counterculture, Lee and Shlain
found their investigation was
open-ended. Indeed, writing the
book raised a series of questions
concerning the events of the '60s,
as well as the nature of LSD itself.
As Lee explains, "The Civil
Rights Movement, Malcolm X,
Johnson's activity in Vietnam,
the anti-war movement-- all this
ferment was happening in a
culture dish that was awash in
LSD. This is not to say that
everyone involved in politcal
protest was involved with drugs,
but that drugs were a catalyst.
While the counterculture, the New
Left, and the student upheavals

are not identical, there is an
overlap between these cultural
phenomena."
A fascinating book, Acid
Dreams: The CIA, LSD and the
Sixties Rebellion is a must read

for those who have experience( the
'60s, as well as for those who grew
up in the relative calm that
followed this stormy era. The
book is $12.95 and published by
Grove Press.

4


Records
(Continued from Page 7)
land of forever/ Not to be tied to an
old stone grave. Another
relatively early composition,
"Clothes of Sand" finds Drake as
the outcast lover; it is a gorgeous,
mysterious tale.
Also included on this record
are unreleased versions of "Fly"
and "Man in a Shed." The
former, which appears in a
somewhat baroque form on Bryter
Layter, has a more plaintive
sound to it on this "work tape,"
while the latter (which appears on
his first album) takes on a less
structured, lazy type of feel; it is a
poor boy/rich girl story with a
witty twist. And "Been Smoking
Too Long" is a beauty of a home
recording (liner notes say it was
made for his parents), so bluesy

I

and gutteral.
The last four tracks were
tacked onto the Pink Moon disc of
the Island Records' version of
this collection. They were all
written in 1974 and range from
confused ("Hanging on a Star")
to desparate ("Black-Eyed Dog").
It was at this time, after his last
record was made, that Drake
claimed he had no more songs
left.
The tragedy of Nick Drake is
that which is unfulfilled: his
talents and his inner longings.
But within his short career, a fruit
tree really did take root, although
not, perhaps, as Drake or others
would have wanted. Now, years
later, he will continue to live on
and blossom through his music.
--Beth Fertig

invented it. I sat back

The Office of Major Events
presents
HOLLY NEAR

and
BE SEEN
In The Michigan Daily *
WINTER
FASHION ISSUE
All interested in
modeling should
stop in and say cheese
for us on*
Friday, September 12
Noon - 4:00
For more information call
A ndi at 764-0553
*************** 


Look
into the
Aft a
Interested in writing about film, theater,
music, books or dance?
JOIN THE DAILY'S
ARTS STAFF
General meeting:
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Student Publications Bldg., second floor

Saturday, September 27 8pm, Power Center
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Tickets available at the Michigan Union Ticket Office, all Ticket World Outlets,
Schoolkid's Records & Tapes. Herb David Guitar Studioj
Charge by phone 763-TKTS 5

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