Set against the simmering haze of the New Mexican desert, Bett Williams’s memoir The Wild Kindness: A Psilocybin Odyssey is a dreamlike foray into a time when she sought the curative powers of magic mushrooms. When word quickly gets out about her mushroom farm, Bett’s solitary ceremonies by the fire are disrupted by people in search of similar healing.

Not long after, things spiral south. The police read her her Miranda Rights, her relationships fall out of whack, and she’s convinced that her dog Rosie just might be CIA.

On a quest to find help through the psychedelic community, Bett is led to Cleveland to meet Kai Wingo, an African American leader within a high-dose psilocybin community, and to Huautla de Jiménez, where the legendary curandera María Sabina spent her life. Back home, Bett begins a solid ritual practice with the help of her partner and friends, bearing in mind the medicine's indigenous roots and power to transform one's life.

By turns hilarious and moving, The Wild Kindness: A Psilocybin Odyssey is the tale of one woman’s hypnotic, psilocybin-fueled journey toward understanding the world around her and, in turn, herself.

“On the surface, a book about mycology. Immediately beneath this, a safe trip facilitated by a guide who places herself between heaven and earth, between the fight for love and the fight itself; wholly engaged by both magic and the material plane.” —Kristin Hersh

“Bett Williams brings to the table one of the best overviews of contemporary psychedelic culture in a long time.” —The Erowid Review

“Like any good memoirist, Williams performs surgery on herself and holds up each organ for inspection...This is a book that requires you to “go with the flow,” but the flow is awfully inviting.” —Molly Young, Vulture

Bett on Comedy Central’s “Tales from the Trip”

About the Author