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shasta54's review
3.0
while i wish this book contained more actually philosophical content i enjoyed it for what it was— the story of foucault doing acid in the desert. the characterization of california throughout this book was funny and i enjoyed the forward description of wade.
rachelevolve's review
4.0
Surprisingly enjoyable and a quick read. What almost ruined it for me was the transcription of the discourse towards the end. Thank goodness that didn’t go on for chapters on end.. Glad it circled back to its original relaxed vibe of Foucault chilling with his new friends in California.
neek_roy's review
3.0
Very cute little book that feels like a big inside joke, but probably shouldn't be in the philosophy section of the book store. I have no complaints about this book. It was a really fun airplane read and got me out of a rutt of not reading for months. It isn't written brilliantly, but considering these manuscripts are a deadmans, you can't be too upset. The conversations they have are a bit pretentious and outdated, but I guess that is philosophy.
If this book was claiming to be some sort of life changing or logically consistent paradigm shifting piece ya, I would say it failed. The fun here is that this is a peak into someone's very passionate and critical point in mid life. The adventure and spirit of that is exciting, even if it makes you want to roll your eyes. Authenticity can teach you some pretty nice implicit philosophical concepts in its own right.
If this book was claiming to be some sort of life changing or logically consistent paradigm shifting piece ya, I would say it failed. The fun here is that this is a peak into someone's very passionate and critical point in mid life. The adventure and spirit of that is exciting, even if it makes you want to roll your eyes. Authenticity can teach you some pretty nice implicit philosophical concepts in its own right.
chiarazamba's review
3.0
"I libri dovrebbero sparire dopo essere stati letti e usati. Dovrebbero essere delle specie di bombe e nient'altro."
Onestamente penso che questo libro sia molto più complesso di quanto mi sarei immaginata prima di iniziarlo. Penso che per capirlo bene sia necessario come minimo avere un'idea generale del pensiero di Foucault e, in secondo luogo, conoscere le personalità più rilevanti del clima culturale francese degli anni '60 e '70. Detto questo, io non è che lo abbia proprio capito al 100% (soprattutto perché Foucault non si fa mai a scuola mannaggia a lui, me lo sono dovuto studiare da sola con risultati osceni), però il libro aiuta ripercorrendo i concetti fondamentali del suo lavoro. Poi avrei voluto che la narrazione si concentrasse di più sul viaggio nella Death Valley e invece occupa due capitoli in croce.
Però in generale è stata una lettura piacevole e interessante.
Onestamente penso che questo libro sia molto più complesso di quanto mi sarei immaginata prima di iniziarlo. Penso che per capirlo bene sia necessario come minimo avere un'idea generale del pensiero di Foucault e, in secondo luogo, conoscere le personalità più rilevanti del clima culturale francese degli anni '60 e '70. Detto questo, io non è che lo abbia proprio capito al 100% (soprattutto perché Foucault non si fa mai a scuola mannaggia a lui, me lo sono dovuto studiare da sola con risultati osceni), però il libro aiuta ripercorrendo i concetti fondamentali del suo lavoro. Poi avrei voluto che la narrazione si concentrasse di più sul viaggio nella Death Valley e invece occupa due capitoli in croce.
Però in generale è stata una lettura piacevole e interessante.
hberg95's review
3.0
This was an interesting read, but not for the reasons I thought it would be. I was expecting a narrative tale focused on Foucault's trip itself and possibly an analysis of what that trip ended up meaning for his later philosophical work. Instead, Simeon Wade's first hand account of spending a week with Foucault reads more like a diary entry detailing interesting opinions Foucault made about art and philosophy popular in the 70's and it serves to humanize him a little bit.
The trip itself is almost glossed over and the implications it had on Foucault's later work weren't really discussed at all. All in all, I'm glad I read this, it gives me a fun bit of insight into Foucault's personal life (assuming the story is legit) and the way he behaved in his everyday life.
I'm excited to read the forthcoming "The Last Man Takes LSD" from Dean & Zamora, which I'm hoping will dive a bit deeper into the philosophy of it all.
The trip itself is almost glossed over and the implications it had on Foucault's later work weren't really discussed at all. All in all, I'm glad I read this, it gives me a fun bit of insight into Foucault's personal life (assuming the story is legit) and the way he behaved in his everyday life.
I'm excited to read the forthcoming "The Last Man Takes LSD" from Dean & Zamora, which I'm hoping will dive a bit deeper into the philosophy of it all.
lukes_ramblingwritings66's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
2.25
I’ve had two people tell me this book isn’t good. And I’m here to echo the same sentiment. Not that the book is insultingly awful, it had potential, but much of the content felt like a fan fiction of a Foucault fan boy rather than a first hand account of Foucault’s visit in California. Also the title of the book is pretty misleading as the dropping acid in Death Valley part of the book was shorter than what I expected. Not only that, much of my time reading this book had me feeling “who the hell writes like this?” because of how much Simeon Wade embellishes his sentences with fancy words to give it the feeling that it’s conveying something more important than what’s already there. If you own the hardcover of this book, I guess the redeeming quality would be the cover, and the only two photos inside the cover, depicting Simeon and Foucault at Death Valley. Again, feels more like a fan fiction more than a first hand account.