A Dose of Reality

A MEMOIR OF TURNING ON, TUNING IN, AND GROWING UP

It's the late eighties, and Syracuse's eclectic university neighborhood presents young E.R.-good-natured but behaviorally challenged-with plenty of opportunity for trouble. Through a series of juvenile but often dangerous hijinks, he nearly fails every grade, until an experiment with LSD sparks an intellectual curiosity with the potential to change his life. If only he could take advantage.

After dropping out of high school, E.R. befriends a group of affluent university students, selling drugs to keep up with their lifestyle. But after he gets in debt with a notorious gangster and his new social life collapses, E.R. undergoes a psychedelic psychosis-believing he's fighting a subliminal world war alongside the nineties' biggest rock bands. Questioning his sanity, he seeks to confront the deadly dealer, turn his life around, and save-at least in his mind-the planet.

This trippy and hilarious coming of age story explores the power of music, the transformative ability of psychedelics, and one young person's desire to find his place in the world.