Highly readable. The subject matters, botany, biography, pharmacology, anthropology, geology are all fascinating. A good map, the smaller scale the better, will help because those provided aren't up to the job. But that's a minor point.
The significant parts of this book are the understanding that Davis has of the indigenous world view of Andean and Amazonian tribes. He embraces it because the tribal views of existence are a coherent set of beliefs that can be explained through the natural world. One of the many devices used to connect with the spiritual world is through the use of coca. We Westerners have a wildly pathological view of the drug. Davis shows how nutritious, life sustaining and essential a drug it is to those who have a respect for it. (I am not talking about cocaine).
A page turner and thoroughly informative.

Rambling tale of Schultes, Plowman and Davis in Amazon and its tributaries collecting plants, emphasis on hallucinogens and coca.

Davis dishes up myths and adventures and history at an alarming rate in perhaps the first non-fiction "page turner" I've ever read. I never knew so many exciting things could happen in so few pages. Except, unlike a fictional page turner, which yields some sort of conclusion and thus satisfaction for tearing through it, this book gently reminds you how little you know and therefore makes you savor it that much slower so that you won't be left with the task of finding some equally entertaining source of information on South American mysteries. I am told "Wizard of the Upper Amazon" is excellent, but I am dubious I'll ever find anything quite as juicy as this.

From an introduction to the genius of Inca civilization, to the history of the rubber tree (the most important modern plant we don't hear about), to the miracle of coca and the ritual consumption of countless hallucinogens, to the birth of the American drug culture, to the simple and mysterious magic of the undisturbed natural phenomenon that is the unforgiving Amazon forest and rivers. Yes, that wasn't a complete sentence, but who needs more when there are so many excellent ones in this book?

For those acquainted with Marquez, and Borges and de Bernieres' magical realism, the landscape and culture encountered by centuries of explorers described herein will be instantly recognizable. Inspiration awaits in every chapter. Truly, fact is stranger than fiction.

I can't recommend this book enough. To anyone who likes travelogues and adventures, to anyone who likes plants, to any environmentalist, to doctors and budding scientists, or to those looking for a "cure" to anything. The forest has something to offer all of us. The Amazon has definitely jumped up my list of "have to visit" after reading this.

I suppose the one downside to this book is that it may be overwhelming to some, the breadth Davis tries to capture. Like other reviewers have noted, there are several full length books lurking in these pages. More depth in all of the topics would have been excellent, and now I'm afraid that if I pursue any of them further I will be sorely disappointed with the readability. But I guess you can't blame Davis for people not writing more non-fiction Amazon adventure tales. ( )

Davis dishes up myths and adventures and history at an alarming rate in perhaps the first non-fiction "page turner" I've ever read. I never knew so many exciting things could happen in so few pages. Except, unlike a fictional page turner, which yields some sort of conclusion and thus satisfaction for tearing through it, this book gently reminds you how little you know and therefore makes you savor it that much slower so that you won't be left with the task of finding some equally entertaining source of information on South American mysteries. I am told "Wizard of the Upper Amazon" is excellent, but I am dubious I'll ever find anything quite as juicy as this.

From an introduction to the genius of Inca civilization, to the history of the rubber tree (the most important modern plant we don't hear about), to the miracle of coca and the ritual consumption of countless hallucinogens, to the birth of the American drug culture, to the simple and mysterious magic of the undisturbed natural phenomenon that is the unforgiving Amazon forest and rivers. Yes, that wasn't a complete sentence, but who needs more when there are so many excellent ones in this book?

For those acquainted with Marquez, and Borges and de Bernieres' magical realism, the landscape and culture encountered by centuries of explorers described herein will be instantly recognizable. Inspiration awaits in every chapter. Truly, fact is stranger than fiction.

I can't recommend this book enough. To anyone who likes travelogues and adventures, to anyone who likes plants, to any environmentalist, to doctors and budding scientists, or to those looking for a "cure" to anything. The forest has something to offer all of us. The Amazon has definitely jumped up my list of "have to visit" after reading this.

I suppose the one downside to this book is that it may be overwhelming to some, the breadth Davis tries to capture. Like other reviewers have noted, there are several full length books lurking in these pages. More depth in all of the topics would have been excellent, and now I'm afraid that if I pursue any of them further I will be sorely disappointed with the readability. But I guess you can't blame Davis for people not writing more non-fiction Amazon adventure tales. ( )

Boy, was this book hard to read, I felt that I needed a giant map at hand all the time of Northern South America to plot the journeys three main protagonists. That and the small print meant a great deal of re-reading. I was mainly interested in the travels and work of Richard Schultes, particularly his work on rubber and the story of Richard Spruce. I found it much harder to be interested in hallucinogenic substances, although the section on coca and its history was fascinating. Overall the writing style is good although at times much too detailed for the ordinary reader.