... in the mid-'80s, to Scotland, Holland, and Germany. The story starts with the initial, utopic discovery of Ecstasy and its boundary-lowering qualities, and ends, with varying degrees of speed, with the descent into polydrug abuse and depression. Resisting easy moralizing, Reynolds' analysis of the dialectic remains admirably balanced, sensitive to both the consciousness-expansion which can inspire insights that ... carry over into everyday life, and the tunnel-vision nihilism which is usually the outcome of rave as an end in itself. At times, the scales tip; Reynolds' persistent reading...

• Word Count: 695
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Graduate