A journey is some of the Earth's most endangered people in the remote Upper Amazon. . . . a look at the rituals of the Bwiti cults of Gabon and Zaire. . . . . a field watch on the easting habits of 'stoned' apes and chimpanzees - these adventures are all a part of ethnobotanis t Terence McKenna's extraordinary quest to discover the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. He wonders why, as a species, we are so fascinated by altered states of consciousness. Can you reveal something about our origins as human beings and our place in nature? As an odyssey of mind, body and spirit, Food of the Gods is one of the most fascinating and suprising histories of consciousness ever written And as a daring work of scholarship and exploration, it offers an inspiring vision for individual fulfilment and a humane basis for our interaction which each other and with the natural world. 'Brilliant, provocative, opinionated, poetic and inspiring. . . . . Essenti al reading for anyone who ever wondered why people take drugs. Rupert Sheldrake.