John Geiger's Soft Skull Press Edition of "Chapel of Extreme Experience" (2003)

Brooklyn, New York: Soft Skull Press (book), 2003.
8.25" x 5.5" x 0.375", 120 pages, softcover, ISBN 1-932360-01-8.

Chapel of Extreme Experience: A Short History of Stroboscopic Light and the Dream Machine [sic] by John Geiger, as published by Soft Skull Press (Brooklyn, New York) in 2003.  This is, as noted, a history of the science of flickering light, mostly focused on the invention of the Dreamachine by Ian Sommerville and Brion Gysin. This contains a foreword by Leila Hadley and an introduction by John R. Smythies. Cover photograph is by Charles Gatewood.

This is an edition following the Gutter Press edition of 2002 (which has a different subtitle), and lacks the Burroughs blurb on the back cover that the Gutter Press edition has.

Burroughs is mentioned throughout this book, bringing in his experiences with "consciousness-expanding drugs", the influence of the Dreamachine on the Cut-Up trilogy (The Soft Machine, Nova Express, and The Ticket That Exploded), and Burroughs' travels with Gysin to promote the invention.

A photo of William S. Burroughs alongside a Dreamachine, in the company of R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hoffman, and Udo Breger, is at page 92.

Shoaf II.453.

Contents: 

• Foreword by Leila Hadley
• Introduction by John R. Smythies
• Chapel of Extreme Experience
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgements
• Index