I don’t know. Maybe I am just a prude, but I have never looked at a toad and thought, “Man, I’d really love to ingest the secretions of this animal. Might just change my life.” However, Kimon de Greef is here to tell us that a lot of people did have those thoughts in his mind-altering The Ego Trip.
There are two basic threads to the story. The first is a man named Octavio whom I will never refer to as a doctor. He says he has revived an indigenous ritual which uses the secretions of the Sonoran Desert Toad. I think we have all read enough at this point to know that Octavio is going to get a god complex, treat his “patients” badly, and the indigenous people (who he owes ALL of this to) even worse. The other part is the basic history of psychedelics, toads, and what might be the future for both of them.
I found that I enjoyed both parts of the book separately. Greef is a journalist and a heck of a writer, but some sections did feel a bit like their own book as opposed to parts of a cohesive whole. The book is also marketed as true crime, which, while not incorrect, does not contain all the aspects of the genre a reader might expect. There isn’t some sort of international investigation to bring Octavio to justice, but rather the author shines a light on some very troubling behaviors that have consequences.
Overall, a very enlightening and enjoyable read. If you want to be more enlightened, you might need a toad or two.
(This book was provided as an advanced reader copy by NetGalley and Doubleday Books.)
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