Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna - Book Talk
Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna
Visionary Salon with Graham St. John
Saturday October 18th, 2025
2PM - 5PM
ABOUT THE EVENT:
Graham St John discusses his new book Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna
(with a foreword by Erik Davis, MIT Press, Oct 7, 2025). Terence McKenna (1946-2000) was the 20th century’s psychedelic renaissance man. More than twenty-five years since his untimely passing, across the virtual popstream and in networked communities dedicated to his “small mouth noises,” McKenna’s magnetism endures. As the first biography of this stand-up philosopher, rogue scholar, and surreal oracle, Strange Attractor detects the signal behind the noise.
Perfecting his rugged philosophy on the role of psychedelics in evolution, consciousness, and time, McKenna was a riotous provocateur who charted the edges of mind and matter with razor wit and poetic charm. Described by Dennis McKenna as “the definitive biography of Terence,” the book offers a hallucinatory chronicle of the life, work, and legacy of this bold cartographer of the weird. Accessing original documents and letters, featuring rare photographs and artworks, sharing previously untold stories from over eighty people, Strange Attractor chronicles one of the most celebrated and yet least understood figures of the late twentieth century. Neither exalting nor condemning its subject, it documents the evolution of an altered statesman whose mellifluous voice affected multitudes and continues to haunt the present.
Book sold and signed by the author at the event ($35.00 - cash only).
Praise
Graham St John is our best contemporary historian of psychedelic culture. This biography is filled with wonders, striking the perfect balance between historical accuracy and sympathetic engagement.
~Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam
This enrapturing book is psychoactive in all the best ways. You don’t know Terence McKenna until you’ve read Strange Attractor.
~R. U. Sirius, cofounder of Mondo 2000
When Terence passed in 2000, we all thought that Humpty Dumpty had fallen and lay shattered everywhere. With painstaking diligence, St John has put him back together again for the benefit of generations to come.
~Dr. Bruce Damer, Astrobiologist and President of The Center for MINDS
Beautifully written and impossible to put down . . . A real triumph in the art of biography.
~Libbie Grant, bestselling author of The Prophet’s Wife, The Ragged Edge of Night (as Olivia Hawker), and other novels
About the Author: Graham St John
Graham St John, PhD, is an anthropologist and historian specialising in the study of transformational events, movements, and figures. The latest among his ten books is Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna (MIT Press, 2025), a biography of the life, work, and legacy of one of the most celebrated and yet least understood figures in intellectual history. Other titles include Mystery School in Hyperspace: A Cultural History of DMT, Global Tribe: Technology, Spirituality and Psytrance, and FreeNRG: Notes from the Edge of the Dancefloor. Graham is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Media, Humanities and the Arts at the University of Huddersfield, UK. He is Executive Editor of Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture and a curator of the speaker’s program at Chambok House, Ozora Festival, Hungary. His website is: www.edgecentral.net
Order options for Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna
Book will be sold and signed by the author at the event ($35.00 - cash only).
SCHEDULE:
All times are listed in EDT
Saturday, October 18th, 2025
- 12 PM: CoSM opens to the public
- 1 PM: Registration opens
- 2 PM - 5 PM: Afternoon Visionary Salon in the CoSM Art Lab
- 6 PM: CoSM closed
ADMISSION:
- $25.00 online / $30 at the door
- Includes entry to Entheon and CoSM
Getting To CoSM:
CoSM is 65 miles north of New York City and accessible by Metro North Train leaving hourly from Grand Central Station.
Things to Note:
- No pets of any kind are allowed on CoSM property.
- No food or open liquids are allowed inside Entheon.
- Coat & bag closet available for ALL backpacks & large bags in Entheon.
Questions? Visit our FAQ Page or contact [email protected] for more information.