By Leslie Smith Dow

Combine sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and throw in a little S & M. Mix with a healthy shot of death--and bingo! Things can get out of hand before you can say "qualudes." Magic Carpet Ride takes you from your front door to the bad-boy backseat of a 1970s Cadilac Fleetwood--and then some, with characters like Bong Hey Zeus, Mick Mack MacGyver and the long-suffering Bridget, who just wants to light up and make them all go a way. The Badass Hippie Tales series is a kind of rock ’n’ roll homage to the bawdy humour of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, an antidote to the smarmy feel-goodness of The Vinyl Cafe, and a reminder to Rolling Stone magazine of gonzo journalism’s once-glorious past. Brace yourselves, we’re going on a politically incorrect Magic Carpet Ride through the Voodoo Vortex, complete with forbidden sex in an ashram, lethal doses of chemical pick-me-ups, accompanied by an unforgettable 60s and 70s soundtrack.