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The Official Drug Related Literature Thread

Why is it that we are obsessed with reading about our drug addictions?!

I too would have to vote for Nic Sheff and James Frey ...
 
Stuff I've read:

Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby, Jr.
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (love the Scottish terminology)

Other stuff not mentioned in this thread:
Disco Bloodbath by James St. James - This is kind of like a modern Fear And Loathing set in early 90s NY. It's also about clubbing and partying, but drugs play a huge role in this book. This is actually based on a real story. They made a movie called "Party Monster" with Macaulay Culkin which is based on the events in this book.
Ecstasy : The Complete Guide by Julie Holland - Really good comprehensive book about MDMA. features everything from explaining the chemistry behind MDMA, to analyzing the spiritual impact of entactogens and dispelling mainstream myths about MDMA. The chemistry chapters alone makes this book worth reading.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - Can't believe no one mentioned this one yet. It's a wild tale of dystopian future where bunch of dudes go around beatings people up and raping women after drinking some moloko++
LSD, My Problem Child by Albert Hoffman - Short book by Albert Hoffman's about his discovery of LSD. He also talks about other LSD related stuff like how it should be taken with care. He criticize Leary type people in this book

Stuff I want to read:
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Pihkal/Tikhal - the prose parts not the chemistry parts
The Doors of Perception

I also didn't really like Naked Lunch by Burroughs. It was hard to understand what was going on and some parts were kind of boring. While I appreciate the style and the 'ambiance' this novel is really not for me.
 
I'd hardly call A Clockwork Orange drug related. :(

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas is an obvious one.
I plan to read A Scanner Darkly soon (love the movie)
Anything by Ginsberg or Burroughs.

I'm drawing a blank. :p
 
Mmmm good reading

Visions of Cody (Kerouac)
The Acid House (Irvine Welsh)
Opium (Cocteau)

The 2nd one is a collection of short stories, all hilariously sick and wonderfully written, especially «A Smart Cunt».
 
Candy by Luke Davies
Requiem For A Dream by Hubert Selby Jr.
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

along with The Contortionist's Handbook, which I mentioned above on 1/6/2010
 
wow you guys gotta read this book

Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945 - 2000


if you want to know the story of drugs in America during the last 50 years, read this book. i'm halfway in and i must say it's been fascinating. a lot of it has been about acid and psychedelics, and honestly i'm tempted more than i've ever been to try LSD, shrooms, or anything more psychedelic than weed. i can't wait for the perfect time & setting.

quick highlights: heroin and jazz of the 1940's, marijuana's permeance into culture, NY speed use, california/SF and lsd

that's how far i've gotten, i'd say mid 1960's. a lot about people like leary, owsley, etc etc who are prominent figures people should know

basically if you wanna know about drugs and their place in american society, read this book!!

mods if this is not the right place for this please feel free to move or advice me where to repost :)
 
sounds alot like the history channel series "Illegal Drugs & How They Got That Way," which is also certainly worth watching
 
!_MDMA_! said:
Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945 - 2000


if you want to know the story of drugs in America during the last 50 years, read this book. i'm halfway in and i must say it's been fascinating. a lot of it has been about acid and psychedelics, and honestly i'm tempted more than i've ever been to try LSD, shrooms, or anything more psychedelic than weed. i can't wait for the perfect time & setting.

quick highlights: heroin and jazz of the 1940's, marijuana's permeance into culture, NY speed use, california/SF and lsd

that's how far i've gotten, i'd say mid 1960's. a lot about people like leary, owsley, etc etc who are prominent figures people should know

basically if you wanna know about drugs and their place in american society, read this book!!

mods if this is not the right place for this please feel free to move or advice me where to repost :)
Click to expand...

I just bought it a week ago. :) its in the mail :)
 
Looks interesting thanks for the recommendation.

I read the first edition of this book when it was first published in 1998 but it's still a good read. I haven't read any newer editions of it.

Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy (Third Edition)
Cynthia Kuhn
 
the illuminatus trilogy by robert anton wilson: an acid trip in the form of a novel.
 
The confessions of an English Opium Eater: Thomas de Quincey

Came out in 1821 for christ's sake! This guy is the shit. If you look around you can find an old movie with Vincent Price starring as De Quincey. I want to plug a vial of laudanum just thinking about it!
 
Favorite Books About Drugs

If there's already a thread about this, I apologize. All I ask if that you link me to it. =D

Drugs are a fascinating topic. It was indeed literature that first really turned me on to the idea, that elevated it from a thought in the back of mind to an active desire to experience different states of intoxication. I am procrastinating so allow me to tell you all about some of my favorites.

Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception

My high school librarian recommended this to me, and told me it was where The Doors got their name. It's very short, and very readable. Aldous Huxley was an extraordinary man. He discusses his experience with mescaline, and the implications of such an experience. One of the most poignant moments, for me, was when he talked about being in awe of a chair's "chairness." That is one of the best, defining aspects of the psychedelic experience, IMO. You truly appreciate things as THEY ARE, even if it's only for a few hours.

Storming Heaven: A Social History of LSD

Very readable account of LSD's cultural influence, from the days before it was scheduled through the decadence of the '60s and beyond.

The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics

This one is kind of dry, but I like it because of that. This isn't just some head waxing nostalgic, it's a real historical account of the drug trade, from the middle ages to the present. You can't go three sentences without running into a primary source quote. I recommend this to anyone who wants an indepth analysis of the history of drug use in the West. But it's not light reading.

I'm currently reading Seeds of Terror: How Heroin is Bankrolling The Taliban and Al-Qaeda. It's well written and compelling, however there is one VERY big flaw, IMO. I'm only two chapters in, but there is no mention of how prohibition is the sole reason for the vast profit margin to be found in drug smuggling. There's all this talk about how Afghani farmers harvest millions of dollars worth of opium that becomes refined into more millions of dollars worth of heroin. I will be very disappointed, and a little angry, if the author at no point mentions WHY THE SHIT IS WORTH SO MUCH IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I look forward to your input.
 
Electric Kool Aid Acid Test
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Candy
PiHKaL
TiHKaL
Crank
...god, i have a whole fucking library at home, but my brain is failing me....ill look tonight and come back with some other good ones
 
My favorite would be Tweak by Nic Sheff and then his follow book It All Falls Down: Living With Addiction. A fiction book I liked would have to be Exit Here... the book was pretty intense at some points.
 
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