Flew Too High by Louie Mandrapilias

A coming-of-age journey into the heart of psychedelia and reality’s bitter truth, Flew Too High: A gay drug smuggler’s transcendent odyssey in the heyday of Studio 54 by Louie Mandrapilias is a thrilling memoir that summons a gilded and infamous past.

Louie is a closeted young Texan getting his first taste of New York City in the raucous age of gay liberation in Greenwich Village. His life immediately entangles with Govind, an Adonis-like tour guide to metropolitan hotspots and mind-expanding experiences. Fully under his new lover’s spell, Louie is soon seduced into the world of international drug smuggling, and then entranced by the spiritual allure of India after arriving at his lover’s ashram. Facing startling revelations about sexuality, purpose, and desire, Louie must tow the lines of criminality, freedom, trust, and the dangerous allure of high-quality narcotics.

Exploring the difference between romantic love and passionate lust, as well as the boundaries of consciousness itself, this memoir lures readers back to an age of hedonism and hallucinogenic enlightenment, with a criminal element making it a transfixing read that unfolds like a novel. While in part a cautionary tale about the inherent risks of living on the edge, Mandrapilias’ story is also a reminder of the sacrifices made for equality, which is essential in our contemporary era of regressive views on gay rights and self-expression.

Laced with clever prose, simmering erotic tension, and incisive passages about existential purpose, this globe-spanning romp of self-discovery and salacious adventure is truly unique among memoirs.