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Freeway Rick Ross (book) Freeway Rick Ross: The Untold Autobiography is a 2014 memoir by former drug kingpin Rick Ross, co-authored by American crime writer Cathy Scott, about the rise and fall of Ross, in the 1980s and '90s, to his 2009 release from prison. The book was released by Freeway Studios in June 2014. Storyline. According to the publisher, the book embarks on the day-to-day dealings of a drug kingpin in the heart of the ghetto. It is also the story of a boy born into poverty in Texas who grew up in a single-parent household in the heart of South Central Los Angeles, next to the 110, thus the nickname "Freeway," and was pushed through the school system, emerging illiterate. He saw his options as few and turned to drug dealing. Authors Ross and Scott chronicle the times by highlighting the social climate that made crack cocaine so desirable. Ross points out that at the time the "cops in the area didn't know what crack was; they didn't associate the small white rocks they saw on homies as illegal drugs." All Ross knew was people wanted it, so he sold it. During his reign as the head of a nationwide drug enterprise, it is estimated that Ross profited nearly $300 million, selling nearly $3 million worth of drugs in one day. Ross' role in what became known as the Iran-Contra affair that took place during the Ronald Reagan administration was outlined in "San Jose Mercury News" reporter Gary Webb's original series of articles alleging that the CIA was complicit in smuggling drugs into the U.S., which effectively ignited the crack-cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. The autobiography includes the outcome of Ross' crack cocaine dealing, his conviction of conspiracy to illegally traffic cocaine, and the knowledge that the money Ross paid drug supplier Danilo Blandón funded the Nicaraguan rebels in the Contra scandal, which Ross learned of while in prison when he was informed by "San Jose Mercury-News" reporter Webb. It also details Ross' successful appeal of his life sentence without the possibility of parole and his re-sentencing to 20 years. Ross was released from custody in September 2009. In July 2014, Ross talked about what is included in the book, telling the NPR affiliate in Los Angeles that it took about five years of dealing before he saw the negative impact crack was having on his community, but customers asked for more. When he realized he did not want to see his brother or sister smoke crack cocaine, he decided to get out and start a legitimate business. "This story," wrote "Crimespree Magazine"'s Marie Nicoll, "will be retold and shared to American classrooms to children on what can happen when you go down the wrong path. His story shows the true meaning of having everything you could imagine, but at what price." In the book's foreword, Los Angeles Bishop Noel Jones writes that "this work portrays the heart of a man who is seeking the opportunity, in whatever form, to right the wrongs he has done to his community." Reception. "Freeway Rick Ross" debuted at the Eso Won Bookstore in Los Angeles at a book launch on June 17, 2014 to a standing-room only crowd. KCET TV wrote in its review, "(The book) is fascinating for its unsentimental, inside look at his career on the streets of South Central, which started for Ross with car theft and quickly shifted to drugs and the big time." The "Los Angeles Sentinel" wrote, "While some have yet to move past the stigma of Ross' former image, it has worked to his advantage in dissuading students interested in following in his foot steps. Upon its release, "The Huffington Post UK"'s Ruth Jacobs described the book as "the eagerly awaited autobiography." During a national book tour, Fox 59 in Indianapolis interviewed Ross about his autobiography in September 2014 for its morning show. Awards. The book was named a finalist in "ForeWord Reviews"' Best Book of the Year 2014.

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Leave the Light On (memoir) Leave the Light On is the second memoir written by Jennifer Storm. The book deals with Storm's recovery from drug and alcohol addiction and her experiences coming out of the closet. The book is the companion to "". It has been called "fearlessly honest" and "courageous" by "We Magazine for Women".

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Mr. Nice (book) Mr. Nice is the autobiography of former drug dealer Howard Marks. Published in 1996 it became an international bestseller due in large part to the humour and unabashed bravado the author uses to describe his life and the sheer scale of his drug deals involving, amongst others, the CIA, MI6, the IRA and the Mafia. The book received mostly positive reviews, though some critics were initially sceptical of some of the more outlandish details portrayed. It was adapted for film in 2010 as "Mr. Nice". Overview. Welsh born Marks began small scale dealing of hashish in the late 1960s whilst at Oxford University studying nuclear physics and, later, a postgraduate degree course in philosophy. His activities rapidly expanded after a chance meeting with a Pakistani supplier made him realise how lucrative drug smuggling could be. After teaming up with Jim McCann, a senior member of the IRA, his business was soon bringing in huge amounts of cash and he began setting up various legitimate businesses as a front, to launder the proceeds of his hashish smuggling. At one time he claims to have had 25 such companies, 89 phone lines and 43 aliases, including the name used for the title of this book, Mr. Nice, an alias he adopted after buying a passport from a convicted murderer of that name. Following his arrest in 1980 in a combined operation by British and Spanish police, Marks managed to avoid a lengthy sentence by claiming to be a spy for the British intelligence agency MI6. He was eventually caught again, this time by the American DEA, and sentenced to life in prison at Terre Haute federal penitentiary in Indiana. He was released after seven years and allowed to return to the UK. Film adaptation. The book was adapted into a film "Mr. Nice" in 2010, directed by Bernard Rose and starring Rhys Ifans and Chloë Sevigny.

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Growgirl Growgirl is a 2012 book by former actor Heather Donahue about dropping out of Hollywood and moving to a semi-collective society in Nevada County, California's Sierra Mountains called "Nuggettown" to become first a "pot wife" then embrace the "backbreaking, spirit-sucking work" of a cannabis grower. Critical reception. "The Hollywood Reporter" called the work "always funny and surprisingly sweet". "Publishers Weekly" said it was "wry, with a nuanced distance from the events". "Kirkus Reviews" called it "at times funny, sensitive or filled with obscenities...an intimate look at a woman's yearlong search for her place in the world".

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Prozac Nation Prozac Nation is a memoir by Elizabeth Wurtzel published in 1994. The book describes the author's experiences with atypical depression, her own character failings and how she managed to live through particularly difficult periods while completing college and working as a writer. Prozac is a trade name for the antidepressant fluoxetine. Wurtzel originally titled the book "I Hate Myself and I Want To Die" but her editor convinced her otherwise. It ultimately carried the subtitle "Young and Depressed in America: A Memoir." The book was adapted into a feature film, "Prozac Nation" (2001), starring Christina Ricci. Reception. Reviews were mixed. In "The New York Times", Michiko Kakutani characterized "Prozac Nation" as "by turns wrenching and comical, self-indulgent and self-aware," comparing it with the "raw candor of Joan Didion's essays, the irritating emotional exhibitionism of Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" and the wry, dark humor of a Bob Dylan song." While praising Wurtzel's prose style as "sparkling" and "luminescent," Kakutani thought the memoir "would have benefited enormously from some strict editing" and said that its "self-pitying passages make the reader want to shake the author, and remind her that there are far worse fates than growing up during the '70s in New York and going to Harvard." "Publishers Weekly" was similarly ambivalent: "By turns emotionally powerful and tiresomely solipsistic, [Wurtzel's] book straddles the line between an absorbing self-portrait and a coy bid for public attention." Writing in "New York Magazine", Walter Kirn found that although "Prozac Nation" had "moments of shapely truth-telling," altogether it was "almost unbearable" and "a work of singular self-absorption." Calling the book a "tedious and poorly written story of Wurtzel's melodramatic life, warts and all (actually all warts)," Erica L. Werner asked in "The Harvard Crimson", "How did this chick get a book contract in the first place? Why was she allowed to write such crap?" Werner also described "Prozac Nation" as "obscenely exhibitionistic," with "no purpose other than alternately to bore us and make us squirm." She said that the author "comes off as an irritating, solipsistic brat." "It would be possible to have more sympathy for Ms. Wurtzel if she weren't so exasperatingly sympathetic to herself," wrote Ken Tucker in the "New York Times Book Review". He observed, "The reader may well begin riffling the pages of the book in the vain hope that there will be a few complimentary Prozac capsules tucked inside for one's own relief." "Kirkus Reviews" thought the book to be filled with "narcissistic pride" and concluded, "By alternately belittling and belaboring her depression, Wurtzel loses her credibility: Either she's a brat who won't shape up or she needs the drugs. Ultimately, you don't care which."

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Confessions of an English Opium-Eater Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821) is an autobiographical account written by Thomas De Quincey, about his laudanum addiction and its effect on his life. The "Confessions" was "the first major work De Quincey published and the one that won him fame almost overnight". First published anonymously in September and October 1821 in the "London Magazine", the "Confessions" was released in book form in 1822, and again in 1856, in an edition revised by De Quincey. Synopsis. As originally published, De Quincey's account was organised into two parts: Though De Quincey was later criticised for giving too much attention to the pleasure of opium and not enough to the harsh negatives of addiction, "The Pains of Opium" is in fact significantly longer than "The Pleasures". However, even when trying to convey darker truths, De Quincey's language can seem seduced by the compelling nature of the opium experience: Style. From its first appearance, the literary style of the "Confessions" attracted attention and comment. De Quincey was well read in the English literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and assimilated influences and models from Sir Thomas Browne and other writers. Arguably the most famous and often-quoted passage in the "Confessions" is the apostrophe to opium in the final paragraph of "The Pleasures": De Quincey modelled this passage on the apostrophe "O eloquent, just and mightie Death!" in Sir Walter Raleigh's "History of the World". Earlier in "The Pleasures of Opium" De Quincey describes the long walks he took through the London streets under the influence of the drug: The "Confessions" represents De Quincey's initial effort to write what he called "impassioned prose", an effort that he would later resume in "Suspiria de Profundis" (1845) and "The English Mail-Coach" (1849). 1856 revision. In the early 1850s, De Quincey prepared the first collected edition of his works for publisher James Hogg. For that edition, he undertook a large-scale revision of the "Confessions", more than doubling the work's length. Most notably, he expanded the opening section on his personal background, until it consumed more than two-thirds of the whole. Yet he gave the book "a much weaker beginning" and detracted from the impact of the original with digressions and inconsistencies; "the verdict of most critics is that the earlier version is artistically superior". "De Quincey undoubtedly spoiled his masterpiece by revising it... anyone who compares the two will prefer the unflagging vigour and tension of the original version to the tired prosiness of much of the revised one". Influence. The "Confessions" maintained a place of primacy in De Quincey's literary output, and his literary reputation, from its first publication; "it went through countless editions, with only occasional intervals of a few years, and was often translated. Since there was little systematic study of narcotics until long after his death, De Quincey's account assumed an authoritative status and actually dominated the scientific and public views of the effects of opium for several generations." Yet from the time of its publication, De Quincey's "Confessions" was criticized for presenting a picture of the opium experience that was too positive and too enticing to readers. As early as 1823, an anonymous response, "Advice to Opium Eaters", was published "to warn others from copying De Quincey." The fear of reckless imitation was not groundless: several English writers—Francis Thompson, James Thomson, William Blair, and perhaps Branwell Brontë—were led to opium use and addiction by De Quincey's literary example. Charles Baudelaire's 1860 translation and adaptation, "Les paradis artificiels", spread the work's influence further. One of the characters of the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Man with the Twisted Lip" (1891), is an opium addict who began experimenting with the drug as a student after reading the "Confessions". De Quincey attempted to address this type of criticism. When the 1821 original was printed in book form the following year, he added an Appendix on the withdrawal process; and he inserted significant material on the medical aspects of opium into his 1856 revision. More generally, De Quincey's "Confessions" influenced psychology and abnormal psychology, and attitudes towards dreams and imaginative literature. Edgar Allan Poe praised "Confessions" for its "glorious imagination—deep philosophy—acute speculation". The play "The Opium Eater" by Andrew Dallmeyer was based on "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater", and has been published by Capercaillie Books. In 1962, Vincent Price starred in the full-length film "Confessions of an Opium Eater" which was a reimagining of De Quincey's "Confessions" by Hollywood producer Albert Zugsmith. In the 1999 documentary "Tripping", recounting Ken Kesey's Further bus and its influence, Malcolm McLaren refers to De Quincey's book as the influence for the beatnik generation before Jack Kerouac's popular "On the Road" was written.

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The Book of Drugs The Book of Drugs is a 2012 memoir by the musician and songwriter Mike Doughty. The book details Doughty's struggles with drug addiction, his musical career, both before and during his time with the band Soul Coughing and during his solo career. The book was noted for its acerbic take on Doughty's Soul Coughing band mates, as well as its unflinching look at the damage caused by addiction. The book covers Doughty's experiences growing up in a military family, his education, first experiences with drugs such as alcohol, his friendship with Jeff Buckley, and his antagonism with his (unnamed) fellow Soul Coughing band members. It also covers his experience with 12-step programs, his travels to Ethiopia and Cambodia, his experience with bipolar disorder, and his post-Soul Coughing solo career. The book received a generally positive reception for its unflinching narrative and engaging writing. The "Village Voice" review called it a "quickly paced, finely observed, and often mordantly funny read"—though some reviewers wondered, as Jay Trachtenberg of the "Austin Chronicle" did, why "...if the atmosphere was so rancid, Doughty stuck around."

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The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is a 1968 nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe. The book is a popular example of the New Journalism literary style. Wolfe presents a firsthand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, who traveled across the US in a colorfully painted school bus, the "Furthur", whose name was painted on the destination sign, indicating the general ethos of the Pranksters. Kesey and the Pranksters became famous for their use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD in order to achieve expansion of their consciousness. The book chronicles the Acid Tests (parties with LSD-laced Kool-Aid), encounters with notable figures of the time (Hells Angels, Grateful Dead, Allen Ginsberg) and describes Kesey's exile to Mexico and his arrests. Plot. Tom Wolfe chronicles the adventures of Ken Kesey and his group of followers. Throughout the work, Kesey is portrayed as desiring the creation of a new religion. Kesey forms a group of followers based on the allure of transcendence achievable through drugs and his ability to preach and captivate listeners. The group was labelled as the "Merry Pranksters" and participated in a drug-fuelled lifestyle. The beginnings of Acid Tests started at Kesey's house in the woods of La Honda, California. The Acid Tests were carried out with lights and noise in order to enhance the psychedelic experience. The Pranksters eventually leave the confines of Kesey's estate and travel across the country on the "Furthur". The bus is driven by Neal Cassady, who was the inspiration for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel "On the Road". Throughout the journey, the individuals take acid. As the Pranksters grow in popularity, Kesey's reputation develops as well. Towards the middle of the book, Kesey is idolized as the hero of a growing counterculture. Alongside this, Kesey forms friendships with groups like the Hells Angels and crosses paths with icons of the Beat Generation. The growing popularity of Kesey provides the opportunity for the Pranksters to meet other significant members of the growing counterculture: the Pranksters encounter the Grateful Dead, Allen Ginsberg and attempt to meet with Timothy Leary. The failed meeting with Leary was a disappointment as it would have marked the union of the East and West. In an effort to broadcast their lifestyle, the Pranksters publicize their acid experiences and the term Acid Test comes to life. The Acid Tests are parties at which everyone takes LSD (which was often put into the Kool-Aid they served) and abandon the realities of the mundane world in search of a state of "intersubjectivity." Just as the Acid Tests are catching on, Kesey is arrested for possession of marijuana. In an effort to avoid jail, he flees to Mexico and is joined by the Pranksters. The Pranksters struggle in Mexico and are unable to obtain the same results from their acid trips. Kesey and some of the Pranksters return to the United States. At this point, Kesey becomes a full blown pop culture icon as he appears on TV and radio shows, even as he is wanted by the FBI. Eventually, he is located and arrested. Kesey is conditionally released as he convinces the judge that the next step of his movement is an "Acid Test Graduation", an event in which the Pranksters and other followers will attempt to achieve intersubjectivity without the use of mind-altering drugs. The graduation is not effective enough to clear the charges from Kesey's name. He is given two sentences for two separate offenses. He is designated to a work camp to fulfill his sentence. He moves his wife and children to Oregon and begins serving his time in the forests of California. Cultural significance and reception. "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" has been described as faithful and "essential" in depicting the roots and growth of the hippie movement. The New Journalism literary style is seen to have elicited either fascination or incredulity by its audience. While The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test was not the original standard for New Journalism, it is the most-often cited work of that genre. Wolfe's descriptions and accounts of the adventures of Kesey and his cohort were influencial and, particularly characteristic of New Journalism by inviting the reader to view the work as fiction rather than reportage. The novel received modest literary acclaim, in particular for the clear narrative Wolfe maintained amidst the indulgent and often intoxicated milieu depicted. Despite Wolfe's immersion within Kesey's "movement" and advocacy of Kesey's and the Prankster's ideology, he renders sober portrayals of their experiences as being triggered by both paranoia and the acid trips which had become the group's cultural motif. Wolfe chronicles the Prankster's day-to-day lives and numerous psychedelic experiences, and his abstinence usefully differentiates his point of view. Wolfe endeavors to depict the Pranksters and Kesey within their environment, and as he believes they themselves wished to be seen. While some saw New Journalism as the future of literature, the concept was not without criticism. There were many who challenged the believability of the style and there were many questions and criticisms about whether accounts were true. Wolfe however challenged such claims and notes that in books like "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test", he was nearly invisible throughout the narrative. He argues that he produced an uninhibited account of the events he witnessed. As proponents of fiction and orthodox nonfiction continued to question the validity of New Journalism, Wolfe stood by the growing discipline. Wolfe realized that this method of writing transformed the subjects of newspapers and articles into people with whom audiences could relate and sympathize. "The New York Times" considered the book one of the great works of its time; it described it as not only a great book about hippies, but the "essential book". The review continued to explore the dramatic impacts of Wolfe's telling of Kesey's story. Wolfe's book exposed counterculture norms that would soon spread across the country. The review notes that while Kesey received acclaim for his literary bomb "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", he was, for the most part, not a visible icon. His experiments and drug use were known within small circles, the Pranksters for example. Wolfe's accounts of Kesey and the Pranksters brought their ideologies and drug use to the mainstream. A separate review maintained that Wolfe's book was as vital to the hippie movement as Norman Mailer's 1968 book "The Armies of the Night" was to the anti-Vietnam movement. "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" received praise from some outlets. Others were not as open to its effects. A review in "The Harvard Crimson" identified the effects of the book, but did so without offering praise. The review, written by Jay Cantor, who went on to literary prominence himself, provides a more moderate description of Kesey and his Pranksters. Cantor challenges Wolfe's messiah-like depiction of Kesey, concluding that "In the end the Christ-like robes Wolfe fashioned for Kesey are much too large. We are left with another acid-head and a bunch of kooky kids who did a few krazy things." Cantor explains how Kesey was offered the opportunity by a judge to speak to the masses and curb the use of LSD. Kesey, who Wolfe idolizes for starting the movement, is left powerless in his opportunity to alter the movement. Cantor is also critical of Wolfe's praise for the rampant abuse of LSD. Cantor admits the impact of Kesey in this scenario, stating that the drug was in fact widespread by 1969, when he wrote his criticism. He questions the glorification of such drug use however, challenging the ethical attributes of reliance on such a drug, and further asserts that "LSD is no respecter of persons, of individuality". Asked in 1989 by Terry Gross on "Fresh Air" what he thought of the book, Kesey replied, It's a good book. yeah, he’s a—Wolfe's a genius. He did a lot of that stuff, he was only around three weeks. He picked up that amount of dialogue and verisimilitude without tape recorder, without taking notes to any extent. He just watches very carefully and remembers. But, you know, he's got his own editorial filter there. And so what he's coming up with is part of me, but it's not all of me. . . ."

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Beautiful Things (book) Beautiful Things: A Memoir is a 2021 memoir by American lawyer Hunter Biden, who is the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. It was published on April 6, 2021 by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. In "The New York Times" reviewer Elisabeth Egan described the book as "equal parts family saga, grief narrative and addict's howl". Synopsis. Hunter Biden is a Yale-educated lawyer. In "Beautiful Things", Hunter Biden writes about his family and recounts his history of substance abuse and path to sobriety. He discusses the grief and trauma he experienced following the death of his brother Beau Biden and the 1972 car accident in which he was injured and that killed his mother, Neilia, and his sister, Naomi. He also defends his time on a Ukraine company board. Hunter Biden told CBS that his cocaine addiction reached a zenith in 2015 after the death of his brother Beau.<ref>

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Then It Fell Apart Then It Fell Apart is a 2019 memoir by American electronica musician Moby. Moby had previously written a memoir called "", published in 2016, which covered his life pre-fame. "Then It Fell Apart" covers the subsequent decade from 1999 to 2009 when Moby released the album "Play" to acclaim and success. Synopsis. The memoir predominantly deals with Moby's life from 1999 to 2009 with some flashbacks to his early childhood. In particular, the memoir deals with his surprise at the accidental success of "Play", his descent into alcohol addiction, and his decision in 2007 to finally go to rehab in order to stay sober. Controversies and inaccuracies. In his memoir, Moby detailed several flings he had had with famous women, notably including actress Natalie Portman among them. In his memoir, he claimed that they were together for several weeks in 1999 when she was 20 and he was 33. Portman subsequently denied that they had ever had a relationship, also pointing out that there were 16 years between them and that she was 18 in 1999. In an interview with "Harper's Bazaar", Portman said "I was surprised to hear that he characterised the very short time that I knew him as dating because my recollection is a much older man being creepy with me when I just had graduated high school." In response, Moby repeatedly took to his Instagram to re-assert that they had dated. He later publicly apologized to Portman on Instagram, writing, "I accept that given the dynamic of our almost 14 year age difference I absolutely should've acted more responsibly and respectfully when Natalie and I first met almost 20 years ago." On May 28, 2019, due to the backlash he had received, Moby cancelled the remainder of his book tour. Moby also revealed that in 2001, he rubbed his flaccid penis on Donald Trump at a party after being dared to do so by his then-girlfriend. Details of this incident were later called into question by "Vanity Fair", who revealed that, based on Moby's own description of events, the incident most likely took place years later. Reception. Kitty Empire writing for "The Guardian" called it "funny and often harrowing".

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The Hasheesh Eater The Hasheesh Eater (1857) is an autobiographical book by Fitz Hugh Ludlow describing the author's altered states of consciousness and philosophical flights of fancy while he was using a cannabis extract. In the United States, the book created popular interest in hashish, leading to hashish candy and private hashish clubs. The book was later popular in the counter-culture movement of the 1960s. "The Hasheesh Eater" is often compared to "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" (1821), Thomas De Quincey's account of his own addiction to laudanum (opium and alcohol). Publication history. First published in 1857, "The Hasheesh Eater" went through four editions in the late 1850s and early 1860s, each put out by Harper & Brothers. In 1903, another publishing house put a reprint of the original edition — and the last complete edition until 1970. , two editions are in print, including an annotated version first published in 2003. Literary significance. Ludlow said, "The entire truth of Nature cannot be copied," so "the artist must select between the major and minor facts of the outer world; that, before he executes, he must pronounce whether he will embody the essential effect, that which steals on the soul and possesses it without painful analysis, or the separate details which belong to the geometrician and destroy the effect." Many of his passages, which may have seemed like fantastic myth-making to his contemporaries, ring true today with more modern knowledge of the psychedelic state. Ludlow writes of one hallucination: "And now, with time, space expanded also… The whole atmosphere seemed ductile, and spun endlessly out into great spaces surrounding me on every side." Ludlow describes the marijuana user as one who is reaching for "the soul’s capacity for a broader being, deeper insight, grander views of Beauty, Truth and Good than she now gains through the chinks of her cell." Conversely, he says of hashish users: "Ho there! pass by; I have tried this way; it leads at last into poisonous wildernesses." Cultural effect. The popularity of "The Hasheesh Eater" led to interest in the drug it described. Not long after its publication, the Gunjah Wallah Co. in New York began advertising "Hasheesh Candy": The Arabian "Gunjh" of Enchantment confectionized. — A most pleasurable and harmless stimulant. — Cures Nervousness, Weakness, Melancholy, &c. Inspires all classes with new life and energy. A complete mental and physical invigorator. John Hay, who would become a close confidant of President Lincoln and later U.S. Secretary of State, remembered Brown University as the place “where I used to eat Hasheesh and dream dreams.” And a classmate recalls that after reading Ludlow’s book, Hay “must needs experiment with hasheesh a little, and see if it was such a marvelous stimulant to the imagination as Fitzhugh Ludlow affirmed. ‘The night when Johnny Hay took hasheesh’ marked an epoch for the dwellers in Hope College.” Within twenty-five years of the publication of "The Hasheesh Eater", many cities in the United States had private hashish parlors. And there was already controversy about the legality and morality of cannabis intoxication. In 1876, when tourists could buy hashish at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, the "Illustrated Police News" would write about “The Secret Dissipation of New York Belles… a Hasheesh Hell on Fifth Avenue.” Rediscovery. Ludlow’s writings crop up in a couple of places in pre-marijuana-prohibition 20th century America. The occultist Aleister Crowley found "The Hasheesh Eater" to be “tainted by admiration of de Quincey and the sentimentalists” but admired Ludlow’s “wonderful introspection” and printed significant excerpts from the book in his journal "The Equinox". Using the pseudonym Oliver Haddo, Crowley also wrote at length about his own cannabis experiences, comparing and contrasting them to those of Ludlow. He “was struck by the circumstance that [Ludlow], obviously ignorant of Vedantist and Yogic doctrines, yet approximately expressed them, though in a degraded and distorted form.” After the prohibition of marijuana, the writings of Ludlow were interpreted by two camps. On the one hand, there were the prohibitionists, who pointed out Ludlow’s addiction to “hasheesh” and his horrifying hallucinations; on the other, those who believed that cannabis deserved a second chance and saw Ludlow as a literate chronicler of the mystical heights that could be reached using the drug. In 1938, shortly after the federal government cracked down on marijuana, the prohibitionist warning was carried in the book "Marihuana: America’s New Drug Problem". The book included several pages of excerpts from "The Hasheesh Eater" and noted that It was Ludlow… who contributed the most remarkable description of the hashish effects. He not only described the acute hashish episode with great intensity and fidelity but recorded the development of an addiction and the subsequent struggle which resulted in his breaking the habit. As an autobiography of a drug addict it is, in several respects, superior to De Quincey's “Confessions” In 1953, Union College selected the alumnus Fitz Hugh Ludlow as a “Union Worthy” and invited three academics to compose speeches for the occasion. Morris Bishop (who would later include his impressions in his book "Eccentrics"), criticized Ludlow’s later attempts at fiction, writing that his short stories “are today stale and meaningless… echoes of all the other magazine stories of his time, originating in literature, not in life, and conducted with no regard for truth and with little for verisimilitude.” In "The Hasheesh Eater" on the other hand: is a sincerity, a reality, which he could not recapture when he tried to construct stories solely from his imagination… He finds lyric phrasing to convey the unearthly beauty of his visions, and the unearthly horror of the evil fantasia which succeeded his bliss. He is a drugged Dante in reverse, descending from the Paradiso to the Inferno. His descriptions, drawing from his subconscious a strange mingling of the sublime and the grotesque, often suggest the work of Dali and other surrealists. The writer’s passion gives his work an intensity which the reader recognizes and sympathetically feels. This is a very considerable literary achievement. Robert DeRopp, in the 1957 book "Drugs and the Mind", was perhaps the first to express skepticism at Ludlow’s “addiction” story, noting that “[n]o one seriously interested in the effects of drugs on the mind should fail to read Ludlow’s book,” but accusing Ludlow of a “hypertrophy of the imagination and an excessive dependence on the works of De Quincey” (although he also found "The Hasheesh Eater" to be “more lively and more colorful reading than… the grossly overrated confessions of that ‘English opium-eater.’”). DeRopp suspected that “in many places scientific impartiality has been sacrificed in the interests of literary effect.” At this point we are at the dawn of the resurgence of marijuana in the United States and the emergence of psychedelics in the English-speaking world. Researchers, like pioneering mescaline researcher Heinrich Klüver, looked to Ludlow’s seminal writings on the psychedelic experience for insight on the new drugs that were being discovered and synthesized. In 1960, "The Hasty Papers: A One-Shot Review", a beat literature journal, devoted most of its pages to reprinting the first edition of "The Hasheesh Eater" in its entirety, and David Ebin’s book "The Drug Experience" included three chapters from "The Hasheesh Eater". In 1966, excerpts were published in "The Marijuana Papers" edited by David Solomon. In 1970, a reprint of the 1857 edition was put out by Gregg Press, and the "Berkeley Barb" reprinted several chapters. By this time Ludlow had been rediscovered, both by mainstream researchers into drugs and addiction, and by the growing drug-savvy counterculture. Oriana J. Kalant, in 1971 in "The International Journal of the Addictions" found "The Hasheesh Eater" to be a remarkable description of the effects of cannabis: …it is evident that Ludlow recognized, with remarkable insight, most of the characteristic subjective effects of cannabis. He also noted, and interpreted essentially correctly, such pharmacological points as the relation of dose to effect, inter- and intra-individual variations in response, and the influence of set and setting. Most importantly, perhaps, he recorded the development of his dependence on cannabis more comprehensively and astutely than anyone to date. The initial motives — including features of his own personality and temperament — the constant rationalization, compulsive use despite obvious untoward effects, the progression to a state of almost continuous intoxication, the inability to reduce his dose gradually, and the intense craving and depression after abrupt withdrawal, all are clearly described. Ludlow recognized also the lack of physical symptoms during withdrawal, and the difference from opium withdrawal in this respect. With the benefit of hindsight, we can also identify in Ludlow’s account a number of other features consistent with present knowledge, but which even scientists of his day could not possibly have known. For example, the initial change in tolerance, the continuum between euphoria and hallucinations, the differentiation between the hallucinatory process and the affective reactions to it, the relation between spontaneous and drug-induced perceptual changes, the similarity between the effects of cannabis and those of other hallucinogens, the attempts at drug substitution therapy (opium, tobacco), and the role of psychotherapy and abreactive writing, are all in keeping with contemporary thought. These points permit the modern reader to feel even greater confidence in the extraordinary accuracy and perceptiveness of Ludlow’s record. The mid 1970s saw two new editions of "The Hasheesh Eater" in print, one by San Francisco’s City Lights Books, and a well-annotated and illustrated version edited by Michael Horowitz and released by Level Press. By the late 1970s, you could even find the face of Fitz Hugh Ludlow on a T-shirt, thanks to his alma mater Union College, which had thrown a “Fitzhugh Ludlow Day” celebration in 1979. In the 2000s, Ludlow has been introduced to a new generation of psychedelics users through Terence McKenna, who read chapters from "The Hasheesh Eater" for a set of tapes (“Victorian Tales of Cannabis”) put out by Sound Photosynthesis, and who regularly praised Ludlow in his books, saying Ludlow “began a tradition of pharmo-picaresque literature that would find later practitioners in William Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson.… Part genius, part madman, Ludlow lies halfway between Captain Ahab and P.T. Barnum, a kind of Mark Twain on hashish. There is a wonderful charm to his free-spirited, pseudoscientific openness as he makes his way into the shifting dunescapes of the world of hashish.” "The Hasheesh Eater" remains Ludlow's most remembered work. Only one other of his books, "The Heart of the Continent", has seen a new edition since the 19th Century.

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m2d2_wiki

How to Murder Your Life How to Murder Your Life is a memoir by fashion and beauty journalist Cat Marnell. Marnell sold the book in 2013 for an undisclosed sum. The memoir was finally released in 2017 by Simon & Schuster and became a bestseller. The memoir deals with Marnell's childhood in a wealthy D.C. suburb, her introduction to drugs, her entry into the world of fashion journalism, and her continued struggles with addiction, which constantly threatened to torpedo her career. Summary. Marnell grows up in Washington, D.C. Her father is an abusive and controlling psychiatrist who eventually has her older sister sent to the Cross Creek Manor reform school, where her movements are severely restricted. To escape her father's rages, Marnell asks to attend boarding school and is sent to Lawrence Academy. After recreationally taking Ritalin, Marnell believes she has ADHD. Her father prescribes the drug to her and Marnell begins to use it both as a study aid and recreationally. In her final year of school, she discovers she is pregnant and delays having an abortion for so long that she enters her second trimester of pregnancy. After being accepted to Bard College in 2000, she harasses other accepted students online, leading to her expulsion from Lawrence, the rescission of her Bard acceptance, and the revelation of her pregnancy to her parents. Her mother takes her for an abortion, which Marnell finds traumatizing. She gets into an acting class in New York City, but finds the workshops boring and is unable to make friends. Alone and isolated, she develops bulimia. While attending a show at the Comedy Cellar, she is picked up by Ardie Fuqua, who helps to introduce her to NYC nightlife. Marnell spends the next few years developing a drug habit, dropping in and out of colleges, and building contacts in the entertainment and fashion worlds. At 21, she works in the closet at "Vanity Fair". This gives her a taste for magazine journalism and she uses her connections to nab an internship at "Nylon", where she works for beauty editor Charlotte Rudge. She subsequently gets internships at "Teen Vogue" and "Glamour". After getting a free copy of Jean Godfrey-June's memoir, she becomes obsessed with the beauty editor and eventually lands a job as her assistant. Marnell works well with Godfrey-June and finds herself enjoying the perks of working at "Lucky" magazine. However, after moving into a new apartment that is infested with mice, she begins to take more drugs to cope with the infestation, which leads to further paranoia. She eventually contacts her parents to tell them she believes she is addicted to Adderall. They take her to a psychiatrist, who encourages Marnell to go to rehab. Marnell explains her addiction to Godfrey-June, who assures her she will have a job when she returns, and goes to the Silver Hill Hospital. Upon returning, Marnell is able to keep sober for a few months, before she begins to abuse alcohol and then returns to abusing Adderall. During the Great Recession, her coworker is fired, while Marnell is officially promoted to Associate Beauty Editor. She immediately abuses her privileges but is protected from consequences by her intern, her good relationship with Jean Godfrey-June, and PR reps who are more interested in preserving their relationship with the magazine than in checking her behavior. Marnell becomes a roommate of Nev Schulman. This coincides with the worst of her drug abuse as her only friend, a fellow junkie named Marco, encourages her to do harder drugs and becomes increasingly abusive and threatening towards her, repeatedly breaking into her home and robbing her. Eventually, Marco destroys Schulman's apartment, causing Marnell to be evicted. In 2009, on her 27th birthday, Marnell realizes she has no friends and no one to spend the day with. Shortly after, she reconnects with Marco, who steals her keys and robs her entire apartment. Tracking his movements, she is able to successfully recover her things and also realizes he had been robbing her for years before she noticed. After this breakdown, her father and Jean Godfrey-June try to convince her to go to rehab a second time. Instead, Marnell goes to a mental institution, claiming to be suicidal, as she wants to keep up the fiction that she is sober. Her doctor at the mental institution eventually persuades her to go to rehab, but Marnell leaves after nine days. She returns to drugs and to her job at "Lucky" magazine. However, she is no longer able to perform many of her job responsibilities and despite support from the staff, she ultimately decides to quit. During her unemployment, Marnell attempts suicide. After being cut off from the rest of her family, she turns to her wealthy grandmother, Mimi, who pays off her debts and allows her to stay with her in Charlottesville, Virginia. Marnell eventually returns to New York and splits her time between that city and Charlottesville. When Jane Pratt launches the online magazine "xoJane" in 2011, Marnell's friend Lesley Arfin encourages her to apply. Marnell is hired and while there, works on health, beauty, and drugs, finally able to write openly about her experiences as an addict. While she disdains the online publication, her columns are nevertheless successful. After Whitney Houston dies in early 2012, Marnell writes about life as a woman who is a drug addict and the piece goes viral, leading her to negotiate a raise with "xoJane". Shortly after, Marnell leaves the publication, in part due to her continued drug use. Nevertheless, in a series of interviews she gives about being a drug addict, her popularity rises. She is able to negotiate a well-paying job at "Vice" and obtain a literary agent, though it takes her until 2013 to piece together a coherent book proposal. In an afterword, Marnell claims to be doing much better, saying she is much closer with her family, but also admits to still abusing drugs. Reception. Marnell's memoir was warmly received. "The Globe and Mail" praised her "chic-macabre sense of humour". Anne Helen Petersen, writing for "The New York Times", praised her for keeping a balance "between glamorizing her own despair and rendering it with savage honesty." "The Irish Times", however, criticized the memoir, saying that Marnell was always playing the persona of Cat Marnell, and suggested "she can do much better".

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m2d2_wiki

Hole in My Life Hole in My Life is an American autobiography of Jack Gantos and was published by Macmillan Publishers in 2002. In 2003 the book was honored with the Michael L. Printz Award and the same year became a winner of the Robert F. Sibert Medal. Plot. The book is set in 1971 and tells about author's life behind bars. Before he goes to jail he dreams of becoming a writer and becomes inspired by William S. Burroughs who according to his knowledge used to use drugs to go through his life as a writer. Because he dropped out of university in Saint Croix, he began using hashish and later joined the sail team. There, his friends became Hamilton and Rik, the later of whom promised him $10,000 if he will sail with him to New York City from the Virgin Islands to sell hash to customers. As a result, upon arriving to New York and settling into a hotel, he and his friends were captured by the FBI and were sentenced from 5 to 20 years in prison for drug trafficking. Jack got 5, but because of his well behavior in prison he gets out in 15 months of his sentence. While there he works as an X-ray technician and writes his thoughts in a journal on a copy of "The Brothers Karamazov". He gets out of prison a bit earlier because he applies to a university for creative writing course and begins a new life by selling Christmas trees. Reception. The book received positive reviews from "Kirkus Reviews" and "Publishers Weekly".

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m2d2_wiki

Opium Nation Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman's Journey Through Afghanistan is a 2011 book by Fariba Nawa. The author travels throughout Afghanistan to talk with individuals part of the opium production in Afghanistan, centering on women's role in it. Generally, reviewers felt that the book succeeded in its portrayal of Afghan culture and the impact of the opium trade on Afghans. Synopsis. Born in Herat, Afghanistan, nine-year-old Nawa escaped in 1982 with her family during the Soviet–Afghan War. Following 18 years of separation from her homeland, Nawa visits the country in 2000 after the Taliban's rise to power in an attempt to harmonize her American and Afghan identities. Fluent in the dialect Dari Persian, she finds that she has difficulty comprehending the speech of people in her hometown Herat because Iranian words and idioms have seeped into their language. She spends seven years in the country attempting to comprehend and write about its changes. In 2002, she moves to Kabul, serving as a journalist reporting on the War in Afghanistan that began in 2001. From 2002 to 2007, she researches opium production in Afghanistan for her book. In her first visit, she finds that her gorgeous childhood memories are obscured by bleak actualities. Taliban leaders have suppressed inhabitants' aesthetic and academic ambitions. Nawa discusses opium trafficking in Afghanistan, a trade she said is valued at $4 billion in the country and $65 billion outside it. 60% of Afghanistan's GDP comes from opium, of which two-thirds is distilled into heroin, a more potent drug. Because the distillation requires cooking, the traffickers allow women to take part in it. A large number of women and their families are beholden to opium. About 10–25% of women and children are speculated to be addicted to the drug. Many families serve in the opium enterprise as "opium farmers, refiners, or smugglers". Nawa describes the story of Darya, a 12-year-old opium bride in the Ghoryan district given by her father to a creditor 34 years her senior to liquidate his opium debts. The girl is initially resistant to the marriage, telling Nawa, "I do not want to go with this man. Can you please help me?" She ultimately concedes to her father's wishes and marries the smuggler who lives hours away. After several months of no contact between Darya and the family, her mother beseeches Nawa to search for her. Nawa attempts to find the child, saying, "I was immediately attracted to the young girl because she was a mystery and a victim who needed to be saved from barbaric traditions. I thought it was my job as an outsider from the West to rescue her." But ultimately, she must give up because of danger from the child's husband and because the search takes her to the Helmand Province, a perilous place. Nawa believes that Darya will save herself by standing up to her husband, escaping him, or discovering how to cope with her situation. She writes, "Darya offers hope for change. I will always want to know what happened to her, and perhaps someday I will." Nawa reveals the story of an uncle who kidnaps a six-year-old boy and his friend in Takhar Province, an attempt to coerce the boy's father to settle an opium debt. When the debt is not settled, the boy disappears and his friend's body is found after several days in a river. She discusses the positive economic impact the opium industry has had on some families. For one woman, poppy cultivation allowed her to buy a taxi for her son and a carpet frame for her daughter. Some newly affluent farmers use some of the wealth to improve the infrastructure of their neighborhoods. At the book's end, she reveals that she has married Naeem Mazizian, whom she had met at the Herat chapter of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In 2005, he moves to Kabul. Following four years of companionship, they marry and have a daughter, Bonoo Zahra. Nawa dedicated the book to her daughter and her parents, Sayed Begum and Fazul Haq. Style. "Part personal memoir and part history", the book delves into the elements of Afghanistan society seldom seen or comprehended by outsiders. "The Canberra Times" reviewer Bron Sibree called the book a "unique, finely distilled, intense perspective" that was "surprisingly frank and intimate" because women confide in her beliefs they do not tell other people. The book is packed with numerous facts and numbers pertaining to the swell in the drug business. Sibree noted that the narrative is filled with accounts of Afghan history, particularly its traditions and its elegant, multifarious landscapes. Sibree opined that Nawa's intense depiction of the Afghanis, notably the women who are unflappable notwithstanding their adversity, are etched into the mind even after an extended period of time. Reception. "Kirkus Reviews" praised Nawa for deftly depicting the "tragic complexity of Afghan society and the sheer difficulty of life there". The reviewer found parts of the book's dialogue to be contrived but noted that Nawa's convincing narrative "clearly stems from in-depth reporting in a risk-laden environment". Novelist Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" praised the book for having a "very engaging narrative" and being "[a]n insightful and informative look at the global challenge of Afghan drug trade". Writing for "The Sun-Herald", author Lucy Sussex called the book "strong, informative reading". "Publishers Weekly" noted that Nawa "draws rich, complex portraits of subjects on both sides of the law". The review said the book is notable for its "depth, honesty, and commitment" to chronicling women's thoughts regarding their role in the drug trade, placing her life in jeopardy to collect the women's stories. Nawa, the review noted, "writes with passion about the history of her volatile homeland and with cautious optimism about its future". Kate Tuttle of "The Boston Globe" commended the book for its "detailed, sensitive reporting of individual people's stories" and the author for her "clear-eyed reckoning with a country and a people who are beyond her help". Writing in "The Guardian", investigative journalist Pratap Chatterjee found that the book "reminds us that Afghanistan is not just a war, but a country of many ordinary yet unique people, kind and cruel, rich and poor". In February 2012, "Opium Nation" ranked seventh in the "independent" section of "The Newcastle Herald"s bestseller list.

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m2d2_wiki

Chasing the Scream Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs is a book by Johann Hari examining the history and impact of drug criminalisation, collectively known as "the War on Drugs". The book was published simultaneously in the United Kingdom and United States in January 2015. It inspired the 2021 biographical film "The United States vs. Billie Holiday". Background and summary. In January 2012, Hari announced on his website that he was writing his first book, a study of the "war on drugs". The release of the book coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in the United States, which was the world's first drug control legislation when it passed in December 1914. In "Chasing the Scream", Hari writes that two global wars began in 1914: World War I, which lasted four years, and the war on drugs, which is ongoing. In the introduction to the book, Hari writes that one of his first memories was of trying and failing to wake up a relative from a "drugged slump", and that he has always felt "oddly drawn to addicts and recovering addicts—they feel like my tribe, my group, my people". He also discusses his history of abusing anti-narcolepsy medication, a class of prescription drugs sometimes taken by people without the disease in order to stay alert. Hari questions whether or not he is an addict and decides to go searching for answers to questions he has. "Why did the drug war start, and why does it continue? Why can some people use drugs without any problems, while others can't? What really causes addiction? What happens if you choose a radically different policy?" Hari writes that he spent the next three years in search of answers, traveling across nine countries (United States, Canada, Great Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Uruguay and Vietnam). He profiles early figures in the drug war like jazz musician Billie Holiday, a long-time heroin addict; racketeer Arnold Rothstein, an early drug trafficker; and Harry J. Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (who had a daily morphine habit). He also interviews drug addicts, dealers, police and lawmakers today, as well as scientists, drug addiction specialists and drug reform advocates like Danny Kushlick and Steve Rolles, as well as João Goulão, a doctor who has helped steer Portugal's drug policy. One of his interviewees is Bruce K. Alexander, the researcher behind the "Rat Park" drug addiction experiments done in the 1970s. Alexander's hypothesis is that drugs themselves do not cause addiction, which is largely in contrast to current popular beliefs about drugs and drug addiction. Hari writes, "Many of our most basic assumptions about this subject are wrong. Drugs are not what we think they are. Drug addiction is not what we have been told it is. The drug war is not what our politicians have sold it as for one hundred years and counting." Source documentation. An introductory page of "Chasing the Scream" states that audio files of all quotes in the book from Hari's interviews are available online at the book's official website. On the site, it states that there are more than 400 quotes spoken to Hari appearing in the book: "To be as transparent as possible, they are posted on this website – so as you read the book, you can listen the voices of the people in it, as they tell their stories for themselves." The book also includes 60 pages of explanatory notes on sources and interviews. The website includes a section for questions and corrections, with a note from Hari asking readers to submit any factual errors in the book to be corrected "for future editions and for the record". This section includes a few transcription errors from recorded interviews that were not noticed until after publication; for example, a quote from Bruce K. Alexander saying "learning to deal with the modern age” was incorrectly transcribed and printed in the book as "learning to live with the modern age". Author and anti-plagiarism campaigner Jeremy Duns accused Hari of inaccuracy in some of his quotations, claiming that Hari had "twisted the truth here because it made his narrative cleaner". Book reception. Critical response. "Chasing the Scream" has received mostly positive reviews from critics and journalists. Kate Tuttle of the "Boston Globe" called it a "passionate, timely book" and that through reading the stories of Hari's interview subjects, including drug addicts, drug dealers, scientists and politicians, "their combined testimony forms a convincing brief that drug prohibition may have spawned as much crime, violence, and heartache as drug use ever did". Reviewer Nick Romeo of "The Christian Science Monitor" wrote a lengthy synopsis on "Chasing the Scream", analysing the book's presentation of the history of drug criminalisation, its racial aspects, and scientific data concerning addiction. Romeo wrote of Hari, "His reporting is balanced and comprehensive; he interviews police and prisoners, addicts and dealers, politicians and activists. He also delves into different historical periods as case studies on the costs and benefits of the drug war. His book should be required reading for anyone involved in the drug war, and a glance at the national budget shows that anyone who pays taxes is involved in the drug war." Ed Vulliamy called the book a "righteous assault" and a "long-awaited history" on the war on drugs, "which imprisons millions and persecutes more". He was critical that the book omitted two crucial aspects of the situation – the first being how the "war" is in reality one waged against addicts and not those who financially profit from drugs, and the second concerning details of how legalisation of drugs would work in practicality. Vulliamy concluded that omission of these aspects does not detract "from the book’s argument, or the righteous movement of which Hari is an estimable spokesman". He noted the author's 2011 scandal, writing that a "shamed" Hari left to dedicate himself to documenting the war on drugs and that "Chasing the Scream" "is the prodigal fruit of that work, and with it redemption, if that was needed." In his review for "The Guardian", John Harris praised parts of the book but was negative overall. He wrote that although the work is a "powerful contribution to an urgent debate" on drug policy, Hari employs a "gauche journalistic equivalent of the narrative voice found in "Mills & Boon" novels". Harris also questioned why "a mere 52 words" are printed from Hari's interview with Dr. Robert DuPont, the first director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse and the keynote speaker at a World Federation Against Drugs conference Hari attended. Harris also admitted Hari's past record presents a challenge to reviewers, and made him more skeptical over things such as the DuPont interview, writing, "though it might be nice to set aside the events of 2011 and allow him a fresh start, his misdemeanours inevitably colour your experience of the book". Hugo Rifkind wrote in his review for "The Times" that it is "tempting, albeit petty, to read "Chasing the Scream" less as a book and more as an act of rehabilitation". Rifkind ultimately called it "thoughtful, thorough and questing, and full of fresh and genuine reportage about aspects of the drug economy". "Kirkus Reviews" praised the book, calling Hari "a sharp judge of character" and that the book is "a compassionate and humane argument to overturn draconian drug policies". Public response. David Nutt, an English psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in drug research, wrote a positive review of "Chasing the Scream" for "The Evening Standard". He praised Hari's research into the early events of anti-drug laws, some of which, Nutt noted, he himself had forgotten ever occurred. He called the personal stories of those affected the most "horrific", writing "The lack of evidence of the war having worked, alongside massive evidence of failure, are detailed with a frightening clarity". Nutt, the former chief scientific advisor on drugs to the British government, concluded, "Read it and demand our politicians take note!" Seth Mnookin, professor of science writing at MIT, wrote in his "New York Times" review that Hari is "in over his head" when writing about the current science of addiction: "[H]is misunderstanding of some of the basic principles of scientific research — that anecdotes are not data; that a conclusion is not a fact — transforms what had been an affecting jeremiad into a partisan polemic". Mnookin also characterises Hari's historical account of the early prohibition of drugs as "forced". In contrast, Mnookin's assessment of Hari's discussions of current events is generally quite positive.

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m2d2_wiki

Chasing the Scream Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs is a book by Johann Hari examining the history and impact of drug criminalisation, collectively known as "the War on Drugs". The book was published simultaneously in the United Kingdom and United States in January 2015. It inspired the 2021 biographical film "The United States vs. Billie Holiday". Background and summary. In January 2012, Hari announced on his website that he was writing his first book, a study of the "war on drugs". The release of the book coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in the United States, which was the world's first drug control legislation when it passed in December 1914. In "Chasing the Scream", Hari writes that two global wars began in 1914: World War I, which lasted four years, and the war on drugs, which is ongoing. In the introduction to the book, Hari writes that one of his first memories was of trying and failing to wake up a relative from a "drugged slump", and that he has always felt "oddly drawn to addicts and recovering addicts—they feel like my tribe, my group, my people". He also discusses his history of abusing anti-narcolepsy medication, a class of prescription drugs sometimes taken by people without the disease in order to stay alert. Hari questions whether or not he is an addict and decides to go searching for answers to questions he has. "Why did the drug war start, and why does it continue? Why can some people use drugs without any problems, while others can't? What really causes addiction? What happens if you choose a radically different policy?" Hari writes that he spent the next three years in search of answers, traveling across nine countries (United States, Canada, Great Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Uruguay and Vietnam). He profiles early figures in the drug war like jazz musician Billie Holiday, a long-time heroin addict; racketeer Arnold Rothstein, an early drug trafficker; and Harry J. Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (who had a daily morphine habit). He also interviews drug addicts, dealers, police and lawmakers today, as well as scientists, drug addiction specialists and drug reform advocates like Danny Kushlick and Steve Rolles, as well as João Goulão, a doctor who has helped steer Portugal's drug policy. One of his interviewees is Bruce K. Alexander, the researcher behind the "Rat Park" drug addiction experiments done in the 1970s. Alexander's hypothesis is that drugs themselves do not cause addiction, which is largely in contrast to current popular beliefs about drugs and drug addiction. Hari writes, "Many of our most basic assumptions about this subject are wrong. Drugs are not what we think they are. Drug addiction is not what we have been told it is. The drug war is not what our politicians have sold it as for one hundred years and counting." Source documentation. An introductory page of "Chasing the Scream" states that audio files of all quotes in the book from Hari's interviews are available online at the book's official website. On the site, it states that there are more than 400 quotes spoken to Hari appearing in the book: "To be as transparent as possible, they are posted on this website – so as you read the book, you can listen the voices of the people in it, as they tell their stories for themselves." The book also includes 60 pages of explanatory notes on sources and interviews. The website includes a section for questions and corrections, with a note from Hari asking readers to submit any factual errors in the book to be corrected "for future editions and for the record". This section includes a few transcription errors from recorded interviews that were not noticed until after publication; for example, a quote from Bruce K. Alexander saying "learning to deal with the modern age” was incorrectly transcribed and printed in the book as "learning to live with the modern age". Author and anti-plagiarism campaigner Jeremy Duns accused Hari of inaccuracy in some of his quotations, claiming that Hari had "twisted the truth here because it made his narrative cleaner". Book reception. Critical response. "Chasing the Scream" has received mostly positive reviews from critics and journalists. Kate Tuttle of the "Boston Globe" called it a "passionate, timely book" and that through reading the stories of Hari's interview subjects, including drug addicts, drug dealers, scientists and politicians, "their combined testimony forms a convincing brief that drug prohibition may have spawned as much crime, violence, and heartache as drug use ever did". Reviewer Nick Romeo of "The Christian Science Monitor" wrote a lengthy synopsis on "Chasing the Scream", analysing the book's presentation of the history of drug criminalisation, its racial aspects, and scientific data concerning addiction. Romeo wrote of Hari, "His reporting is balanced and comprehensive; he interviews police and prisoners, addicts and dealers, politicians and activists. He also delves into different historical periods as case studies on the costs and benefits of the drug war. His book should be required reading for anyone involved in the drug war, and a glance at the national budget shows that anyone who pays taxes is involved in the drug war." Ed Vulliamy called the book a "righteous assault" and a "long-awaited history" on the war on drugs, "which imprisons millions and persecutes more". He was critical that the book omitted two crucial aspects of the situation – the first being how the "war" is in reality one waged against addicts and not those who financially profit from drugs, and the second concerning details of how legalisation of drugs would work in practicality. Vulliamy concluded that omission of these aspects does not detract "from the book’s argument, or the righteous movement of which Hari is an estimable spokesman". He noted the author's 2011 scandal, writing that a "shamed" Hari left to dedicate himself to documenting the war on drugs and that "Chasing the Scream" "is the prodigal fruit of that work, and with it redemption, if that was needed." In his review for "The Guardian", John Harris praised parts of the book but was negative overall. He wrote that although the work is a "powerful contribution to an urgent debate" on drug policy, Hari employs a "gauche journalistic equivalent of the narrative voice found in "Mills & Boon" novels". Harris also questioned why "a mere 52 words" are printed from Hari's interview with Dr. Robert DuPont, the first director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse and the keynote speaker at a World Federation Against Drugs conference Hari attended. Harris also admitted Hari's past record presents a challenge to reviewers, and made him more skeptical over things such as the DuPont interview, writing, "though it might be nice to set aside the events of 2011 and allow him a fresh start, his misdemeanours inevitably colour your experience of the book". Hugo Rifkind wrote in his review for "The Times" that it is "tempting, albeit petty, to read "Chasing the Scream" less as a book and more as an act of rehabilitation". Rifkind ultimately called it "thoughtful, thorough and questing, and full of fresh and genuine reportage about aspects of the drug economy". "Kirkus Reviews" praised the book, calling Hari "a sharp judge of character" and that the book is "a compassionate and humane argument to overturn draconian drug policies". Public response. David Nutt, an English psychiatrist and neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in drug research, wrote a positive review of "Chasing the Scream" for "The Evening Standard". He praised Hari's research into the early events of anti-drug laws, some of which, Nutt noted, he himself had forgotten ever occurred. He called the personal stories of those affected the most "horrific", writing "The lack of evidence of the war having worked, alongside massive evidence of failure, are detailed with a frightening clarity". Nutt, the former chief scientific advisor on drugs to the British government, concluded, "Read it and demand our politicians take note!" Seth Mnookin, professor of science writing at MIT, wrote in his "New York Times" review that Hari is "in over his head" when writing about the current science of addiction: "[H]is misunderstanding of some of the basic principles of scientific research — that anecdotes are not data; that a conclusion is not a fact — transforms what had been an affecting jeremiad into a partisan polemic". Mnookin also characterises Hari's historical account of the early prohibition of drugs as "forced". In contrast, Mnookin's assessment of Hari's discussions of current events is generally quite positive.

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Elite da Tropa Elite da Tropa is a Brazilian book written by the ex-police officers André Batista and Rodrigo Pimentel together with Luiz Eduardo Soares. It was first published in 2006. The book originated the film "Elite Squad". Synopsis. Based on real facts, this book recounts stories about the Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE), considered an elite squad in Rio de Janeiro's Military Police. The book depicts the officers from BOPE as an incorruptible and extremely violent troop. This book also describes the plan to assassinate Leonel Brizola, the then governor of Rio de Janeiro.

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Dark Alliance (book) Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion is a 1998 book by journalist Gary Webb. The book is based on "Dark Alliance", Webb's three-part investigative series published in the "San Jose Mercury News" in August 1996. The original series claimed that, in order to help raise funds for efforts against the Nicaraguan Sandinista government, the CIA supported cocaine trafficking into the US by top members of Nicaraguan Contra Rebel organizations and allowed the subsequent crack epidemic to spread in Los Angeles. The book expands on the series and recounts media reaction to Webb's original newspaper exposé. "Dark Alliance" was published in 1998 by Seven Stories Press, with an introduction by U.S. Representative Maxine Waters. A revised edition was published in 1999. The same year the book won a Pen Oakland Censorship Award and a Firecracker Alternative Book Award. It served as part of the basis for "Kill the Messenger", a 2014 film based on Webb's life. Synopsis. According to Webb, in the 1980s when the CIA exerted a certain amount of control over Contra groups such as the FDN, the agency as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) granted amnesty to and put on the agency’s bankroll important Contra supporters and fundraisers who were known to the US Government to be cocaine smugglers. Later, at the behest of Oliver North, the Reagan Administration began to use Contra drug money to support the anti-communist Nicaraguan rebels' efforts against the Sandinista government. The Sandinistas were hated by successive Democratic and Republican U.S. administrations for the 1978-79 Sandinista Revolution (the overthrowing of the U.S.-sponsored brutal dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua) and for their support of worker and peasant revolutions developing throughout Central and South America. Blandon, a cocaine smuggler who founded an FDN chapter in Los Angeles, was a major supplier for Freeway Ricky Ross. With access to cheap, pure cocaine and the idea to cook the cocaine into crack, Ross established a major drug network and fueled the popularity of crack. By 1983, Ross was purchasing 10 to 15 kilos of cocaine a week from CIA-backed Contra supporter Blandon - according to Blandon. All the while, Webb alleges, the CIA was supporting the Contras supplying him with the cocaine. Meanwhile, the US Justice Department and its agencies - who were aware of the Contra-linked drug trafficking operations of the FDN supporters - derailed local police investigations and blocked the prosecution of the Contra-linked cocaine traffickers. Webb also discusses his experiences writing the investigative series that the book expands on. He notes that the use of the Internet and the uploading of the documents on which his assertions rest "made it possible to share [the files the story was based on] directly with your readers. If they cared to, they could read and hear exactly what you had read and heard, and make up their own minds about the story. It was raw interactive journalism, perhaps too interactive for some." The release of the "Dark Alliance" series on the San Jose Mercury News' state-of-the-art website, complete with images and facsimiles of the copious official US Government documentary record assembled by Webb and his colleagues broke new ground for both journalism and the Internet. Microsoft's Encarta encyclopedia enthused that "The unlimited space of the Web allowed the "Mercury News" to move forward into a whole new kind of journalism... the Web... let intelligent readers review the source materials and draw their own conclusions. This step, far beyond the traditional role of newspapers, attracted attention and readers from all over the world." The number of visits or "hits" to the "Dark Alliance" website rapidly climbed to 500,000, then 800,000 and topped out at 1,000,000 a day - phenomenal for this early stage of the development of the modern Internet. In October 1996, two months after the release of the series, a "Boston Globe" reporter wrote "that the story was 'pulsing through [L.A.'s] black neighborhoods like a shockwave, provoking a stunning, growing level of anger and indignation. Talk-radio stations with predominantly black audiences are deluged with calls on the subject. Demonstrations, candle-lighting ceremonies and town-hall meetings are becoming regular affairs. And people on the street are heatedly discussing the topic.'" "Nonetheless, the media slowly turned against Webb and attempted to discredit him. Notably, "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", and the "Los Angeles Times" ran articles calling his argument unfounded. "The Mercury News" originally stood by Webb’s reporting, but, amidst the denunciations by other news sources, executive editor Jerome Ceppos published an apology for much of the series’ content in May 1997. Critical reception. Reviewers' opinions of the book were mixed. David Corn, Washington editor for "The Nation" magazine, reviewed the book in "The Washington Post". Corn had previously been critical of aspects of the "Dark Alliance" newspaper series, and he found that the book "reflects the positives and negatives of the original series." He noted that Webb "deserves credit for pursuing an important piece of recent history and forcing the CIA and the Justice Department to investigate the contra-drug connection", but remained critical of several aspects of the book, observing that Webb's "threshold of proof is on the low side". Michael Massing, an investigative reporter and associate editor of the "Columbia Journalism Review", reviewed "Dark Alliance" in the "Los Angeles Times". Massing found that Webb "seems on solid ground in arguing that money from Nicaraguan traffickers ended up in Contra coffers," but observed that "the sums involved are in question." He believed that Webb does not demonstrate that the CIA was involved in or sanctioned these activities, but did show that agency officials "heard allegations ... but did little to intervene." For the claim that the CIA and the Contras "helped to set off the nation's crack explosion, Massing claims "Webb's account is at its most shaky", and that Webb's overall thesis "seems fantastic." He is also critical of Webb's contacts with Ricky Ross's lawyer Alan Fenster, as recounted in "Dark Alliance". James Adams, Washington correspondent for the "Sunday Times", wrote a largely negative review for "The New York Times". Adams was critical of Webb's "failure" to contact the CIA to "cross-check sources and allegations," and concluded that "For investigative reporters determined to uncover the truth, procedures like these are unacceptable. Neither the editors of the "San Jose Mercury News" nor the publishers of these books should have allowed their writers to take such relaxed approaches to a serious subject." One of the most negative reviews was written by Glenn Garvin in "Reason" magazine. Garvin, a reporter who served as Managua bureau chief for the "Miami Herald", was highly critical of Webb's treatment of sources and evidence: "No subject is too great, too small, or too far afield for Webb to distort or falsify," Garvin claimed. While Garvin said that "a few contra pilots and their associates, particularly on the so-called south front" were involved with narcotraffickers, he rejected Webb's account of contra involvement with cocaine trafficking, which he said is "almost entirely drawn from the claims of a few Nicaraguan traffickers facing long jail terms who were using a the-CIA-made-me-do-it defense." According to Garvin, Webb substantially overstated both the importance of these dealers to the Contras and their actual role in the cocaine trade.

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Kill the Messenger (Schou book) Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack-cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (New York: Nation Books, 2006) is a biography of investigative journalist Gary Webb, focusing on his 1996 "Dark Alliance" investigative series in the "San Jose Mercury News". The series linked the 1980s' crack cocaine trade in the United States and the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras. "Kill the Messenger" was adapted into a 2014 film by the same name.

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Opium Nation Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman's Journey Through Afghanistan is a 2011 book by Fariba Nawa. The author travels throughout Afghanistan to talk with individuals part of the opium production in Afghanistan, centering on women's role in it. Generally, reviewers felt that the book succeeded in its portrayal of Afghan culture and the impact of the opium trade on Afghans. Synopsis. Born in Herat, Afghanistan, nine-year-old Nawa escaped in 1982 with her family during the Soviet–Afghan War. Following 18 years of separation from her homeland, Nawa visits the country in 2000 after the Taliban's rise to power in an attempt to harmonize her American and Afghan identities. Fluent in the dialect Dari Persian, she finds that she has difficulty comprehending the speech of people in her hometown Herat because Iranian words and idioms have seeped into their language. She spends seven years in the country attempting to comprehend and write about its changes. In 2002, she moves to Kabul, serving as a journalist reporting on the War in Afghanistan that began in 2001. From 2002 to 2007, she researches opium production in Afghanistan for her book. In her first visit, she finds that her gorgeous childhood memories are obscured by bleak actualities. Taliban leaders have suppressed inhabitants' aesthetic and academic ambitions. Nawa discusses opium trafficking in Afghanistan, a trade she said is valued at $4 billion in the country and $65 billion outside it. 60% of Afghanistan's GDP comes from opium, of which two-thirds is distilled into heroin, a more potent drug. Because the distillation requires cooking, the traffickers allow women to take part in it. A large number of women and their families are beholden to opium. About 10–25% of women and children are speculated to be addicted to the drug. Many families serve in the opium enterprise as "opium farmers, refiners, or smugglers". Nawa describes the story of Darya, a 12-year-old opium bride in the Ghoryan district given by her father to a creditor 34 years her senior to liquidate his opium debts. The girl is initially resistant to the marriage, telling Nawa, "I do not want to go with this man. Can you please help me?" She ultimately concedes to her father's wishes and marries the smuggler who lives hours away. After several months of no contact between Darya and the family, her mother beseeches Nawa to search for her. Nawa attempts to find the child, saying, "I was immediately attracted to the young girl because she was a mystery and a victim who needed to be saved from barbaric traditions. I thought it was my job as an outsider from the West to rescue her." But ultimately, she must give up because of danger from the child's husband and because the search takes her to the Helmand Province, a perilous place. Nawa believes that Darya will save herself by standing up to her husband, escaping him, or discovering how to cope with her situation. She writes, "Darya offers hope for change. I will always want to know what happened to her, and perhaps someday I will." Nawa reveals the story of an uncle who kidnaps a six-year-old boy and his friend in Takhar Province, an attempt to coerce the boy's father to settle an opium debt. When the debt is not settled, the boy disappears and his friend's body is found after several days in a river. She discusses the positive economic impact the opium industry has had on some families. For one woman, poppy cultivation allowed her to buy a taxi for her son and a carpet frame for her daughter. Some newly affluent farmers use some of the wealth to improve the infrastructure of their neighborhoods. At the book's end, she reveals that she has married Naeem Mazizian, whom she had met at the Herat chapter of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In 2005, he moves to Kabul. Following four years of companionship, they marry and have a daughter, Bonoo Zahra. Nawa dedicated the book to her daughter and her parents, Sayed Begum and Fazul Haq. Style. "Part personal memoir and part history", the book delves into the elements of Afghanistan society seldom seen or comprehended by outsiders. "The Canberra Times" reviewer Bron Sibree called the book a "unique, finely distilled, intense perspective" that was "surprisingly frank and intimate" because women confide in her beliefs they do not tell other people. The book is packed with numerous facts and numbers pertaining to the swell in the drug business. Sibree noted that the narrative is filled with accounts of Afghan history, particularly its traditions and its elegant, multifarious landscapes. Sibree opined that Nawa's intense depiction of the Afghanis, notably the women who are unflappable notwithstanding their adversity, are etched into the mind even after an extended period of time. Reception. "Kirkus Reviews" praised Nawa for deftly depicting the "tragic complexity of Afghan society and the sheer difficulty of life there". The reviewer found parts of the book's dialogue to be contrived but noted that Nawa's convincing narrative "clearly stems from in-depth reporting in a risk-laden environment". Novelist Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" praised the book for having a "very engaging narrative" and being "[a]n insightful and informative look at the global challenge of Afghan drug trade". Writing for "The Sun-Herald", author Lucy Sussex called the book "strong, informative reading". "Publishers Weekly" noted that Nawa "draws rich, complex portraits of subjects on both sides of the law". The review said the book is notable for its "depth, honesty, and commitment" to chronicling women's thoughts regarding their role in the drug trade, placing her life in jeopardy to collect the women's stories. Nawa, the review noted, "writes with passion about the history of her volatile homeland and with cautious optimism about its future". Kate Tuttle of "The Boston Globe" commended the book for its "detailed, sensitive reporting of individual people's stories" and the author for her "clear-eyed reckoning with a country and a people who are beyond her help". Writing in "The Guardian", investigative journalist Pratap Chatterjee found that the book "reminds us that Afghanistan is not just a war, but a country of many ordinary yet unique people, kind and cruel, rich and poor". In February 2012, "Opium Nation" ranked seventh in the "independent" section of "The Newcastle Herald"s bestseller list.

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E for Ecstasy E for Ecstasy is a book written by Nicholas Saunders and published in May 1993. The book describes in detail the psychoactive substance MDMA (ecstasy), the people that use it and the law concerning it, all enhanced through the backdrop of the author's personal experience. Subsequent revised versions were renamed "Ecstasy and the Dance Culture" (1995) and "Ecstasy Reconsidered" (1997). The book is available freely online.

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The War We Never Fought The War We Never Fought: The British Establishment's Surrender to Drugs is the sixth book by the British author and "Mail on Sunday" columnist Peter Hitchens, first published in 2012. The book is intended as a rebuttal of what Hitchens sees as the widespread acceptance of drug use and the weakening of drug prohibition in Britain since the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, when a Conservative government adopted a Labour Party policy to implement the Wootton Report. Hitchens believes that there is "de facto" decriminalisation of drugs in the UK, especially of cannabis, contrary to claims of drug "prohibition" from "Big Dope" (name he gives to the cannabis legalisation lobby). Hitchens contends that it is only through much harsher and more stringent punishment – for both consumers and dealers of drugs – that any war on drugs can be successful. Background. Before the book's publication, Hitchens had often advocated in his writing a society governed by conscience and the rule of law, which he sees as the best guarantee of liberty, and he had also frequently and at length voiced opposition to the decriminalisation of recreational drugs (arguing that the legal prohibition of drug use is an essential counterweight to "pro-drug propaganda") and had debated a number of figures who are for such decriminalisation, including Christopher Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs, and Howard Marks. He has also debated the topic of drugs with the comedian Russell Brand. In April 2012, Hitchens had given evidence to the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee as part of its inquiry into drugs policy and called for the British government to introduce a more hardline policy on drugs. The cover image is an obvious take on the album cover for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Critical reception. A month before "The War We Never Fought"'s publication, Ed West in "The Daily Telegraph" said that the book had provoked criticism not only from the Left, but also from the free-market libertarian Right. In "Prospect" magazine, Peter Lilley wrote that Hitchens "realises there are only two logically coherent policies: prohibition and legalisation. Decriminalisation, the fashionable option of the intelligentsia, makes no sense, though it is the destination which policy in this country has moved towards for several decades" and "the most refreshing aspect of this book is its recognition that drug taking is fundamentally a moral issue". A largely positive review by William Dove in the "International Business Times" stated that, "Hitchens makes a convincing case that the anti-drug laws are not unenforceable as legalisers might claim, but unenforced". In a very critical review in "The Observer", Nicholas Lezard stated that the book "should never have been published", while Jonathan Rée in "The Guardian" dismissed the book as "hysterical" and accused its author of "moral racism".

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The Basketball Diaries (book) The Basketball Diaries is a 1978 memoir written by author and musician Jim Carroll. It is an edited collection of the diaries he kept between the ages of twelve and sixteen. Set in New York City, they detail his daily life, sexual experiences, high school basketball career, poetry compositions, the counterculture movement, and especially his addiction to heroin, which began when he was 13. The book was made into a film of the same name in 1995 starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim Carroll and Mark Wahlberg as Mickey. Carroll followed up this memoir with a sequel of sorts called "The Downtown Diaries" which follows his relocation to California and his efforts to end his heroin addiction.

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How to Change Your Mind How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence is a 2018 book by Michael Pollan. It became a No. 1 "New York Times" best-seller. Summary. "How to Change Your Mind" chronicles the long and storied history of psychedelic drugs, from their turbulent 1960s heyday to the resulting countermovement and backlash. Through his coverage of the recent resurgence in this field of research, as well as his own personal use of psychedelics via a "mental travelogue", Pollan seeks to illuminate not only the mechanics of the drugs themselves, but also the inner workings of the human mind and consciousness. The book is organized into six chapters with an epilogue: Promotion. Pollan has been interviewed concerning the book on popular podcasts such as The Tim Ferriss Show, The Kevin Rose Show and "The Joe Rogan Experience". Reception. "How to Change Your Mind" received many positive reviews. "The New York Times Book Review" named "How to Change Your Mind" one of the best books of 2018. Kevin Canfield of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote: "In 'How to Change Your Mind', Pollan explores the circuitous history of these often-misunderstood substances, and reports on the clinical trials that suggest psychedelics can help with depression, addiction and the angst that accompanies terminal illnesses. He does so in the breezy prose that has turned his previous booksthese include "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "", the inspiration for his winning Netflix documentaries of the same nameinto bestsellers." Jacob Sullum of the libertarian magazine "Reason" gave the book a generally positive review, but faulted Pollan for criticizing Timothy Leary's self-promotion without allocating blame to the politicians and journalists who shut down the promising scientific study of psychedelics. Writing in "New York" magazine, conservative journalist Andrew Sullivan praised "How to Change Your Mind" as "astounding." "How to Change Your Mind" received two positive reviews from "Vox". Ezra Klein described it as "one of the most mind-expanding books I have read this year." Sean Illing said that Pollan "describe[s] what it's like to take psychedelics. But beyond that, he also walks the reader through the history of these drugs and surveys the latest research into their therapeutic potential. It's a sprawling book that is likely to change how you think not just about psychedelic drugs but also about the human mind." Mark Rozzo reviewed "How to Change Your Mind" in "Columbia" magazine. He writes that the book "offers a convincingly grown-up case for the potential of drugs that, having survived decades of vilification, now seem poised to revolutionize several fields, from mental health to neuroscience." Oliver Burkeman wrote of the book in "The Guardian": ""How to Change Your Mind" is Pollan’s sweeping and often thrilling chronicle of the history of psychedelics, their brief modern ascendancy and suppression, their renaissance and possible future, all interwoven with a self-deprecating travelogue of his own cautious but ultimately transformative adventures as a middle-aged psychedelic novice." Drew Gwilliams wrote a review of the book for the scientific journal "Chemistry World". He called it "a fascinating history of psychedelic drugs" and said "Pollan approaches the topic with a combination of intelligent curiosity and skepticism, deftly avoiding controversial debates while seeking clarity and comprehension."

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Licit and Illicit Drugs Licit and Illicit Drugs is a 1972 book on recreational drug use by medical writer Edward M. Brecher and the editors of Consumer Reports. Summary. The book describes the effects and risks of psychoactive drugs which were common in contemporary use for recreational and nonmedical purposes. "The New York Times" paraphrased some major arguments from the book, saying "'Drug-free' treatment of heroin addiction almost never works", "Nicotine can be as tough to beat as heroin", and "Good or bad, marijuana is here to stay. The billions spent to fight it are wasted dollars." The book identifies marijuana as the most popular drug after tobacco, alcohol, and nicotine. A reviewer for the "Journal of the American Medical Association" summarized it by saying that "Brecher holds that the division of drugs into licit and illicit categories is medically irrational and rooted mainly in historical and sociological factors." The book's 10 main sections are titled as follows: Reception. In the "Annals of Internal Medicine" a reviewer said that the book should be read by every physician who cares for adolescents. In another journal a reviewer described the book as an "important work (which) stresses the historical and social perspectives on the drugs of abuse as well as the current laws, attitudes, and policies concerning all commonly used and abused drugs" and that he was "impressed with the conclusions concerning the failure of the judicial and penal systems" and "that both sides of many controversial issues are presented." "Kirkus Reviews" described the book as, "Liberal in the best sense, rigorously researched, and free from cant, the Consumer Union Report should become a standard referral."

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The Rhetoric of Drugs The Rhetoric of Drugs () in the original French title, is a 1990 work by French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Derrida, interviewed, discusses the concept of "drug", and says that "Already one must conclude that the concept of drug is a non-scientific concept, that it is instituted on the basis of moral or political evaluations." In his philosophical-linguistic analysis, Derrida unmasks the socio-cultural mystifications made on the discourses on drugs. Derrida also discusses drugs use by athletes. Exploring its confines, he says: "and what about women athletes who get pregnant for the stimulating, hormonal effects and then have an abortion after their event?" Derrida discusses how the link between the rhetoric of drugs and the Western ideology. He also says that "Adorno and Horkheimer correctly point out that drug culture has always been associated with the West's other, with Oriental ethics and religion", and adds: "The Enlightenment [...] is in itself a declaration of war on drugs." Editions. This interview was made in 1989 and published more than one time as a journal article. It was included in the Derrida's 1992 book "Points de suspension. Entretiens", as section XIV. The English edition of "Points de suspension. Entretiens", titled "" (1995), contained the interview at pp. 228–254, as the final part of the chapter "Autobiophotographies". Reactions. Neurobiologist and anti-drug activist Rita Levi Montalcini, which a few months earlier was the protagonist of an anti-drug TV ad campaign, was bothered by Derrida's work and commented: "Those [substances] that we call drugs are substances that are well identified both on the pharmacological-botanical level and on the behavioural level".

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Les Paradis artificiels Les Paradis Artificiels ("Artificial Paradises") is a book by French poet Charles Baudelaire, first published in 1860, about the state of being under the influence of opium and hashish. Baudelaire describes the effects of the drugs and discusses the way in which they could theoretically aid mankind in reaching an "ideal" world. The text was influenced by Thomas de Quincey's "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" and "Suspiria de Profundis". Baudelaire analyzes the motivation of the addict, and the individual psychedelic experience of the user. His descriptions have foreshadowed other such work that emerged later in the 1960s regarding LSD.

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m2d2_wiki

How to Change Your Mind How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence is a 2018 book by Michael Pollan. It became a No. 1 "New York Times" best-seller. Summary. "How to Change Your Mind" chronicles the long and storied history of psychedelic drugs, from their turbulent 1960s heyday to the resulting countermovement and backlash. Through his coverage of the recent resurgence in this field of research, as well as his own personal use of psychedelics via a "mental travelogue", Pollan seeks to illuminate not only the mechanics of the drugs themselves, but also the inner workings of the human mind and consciousness. The book is organized into six chapters with an epilogue: Promotion. Pollan has been interviewed concerning the book on popular podcasts such as The Tim Ferriss Show, The Kevin Rose Show and "The Joe Rogan Experience". Reception. "How to Change Your Mind" received many positive reviews. "The New York Times Book Review" named "How to Change Your Mind" one of the best books of 2018. Kevin Canfield of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote: "In 'How to Change Your Mind', Pollan explores the circuitous history of these often-misunderstood substances, and reports on the clinical trials that suggest psychedelics can help with depression, addiction and the angst that accompanies terminal illnesses. He does so in the breezy prose that has turned his previous booksthese include "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "", the inspiration for his winning Netflix documentaries of the same nameinto bestsellers." Jacob Sullum of the libertarian magazine "Reason" gave the book a generally positive review, but faulted Pollan for criticizing Timothy Leary's self-promotion without allocating blame to the politicians and journalists who shut down the promising scientific study of psychedelics. Writing in "New York" magazine, conservative journalist Andrew Sullivan praised "How to Change Your Mind" as "astounding." "How to Change Your Mind" received two positive reviews from "Vox". Ezra Klein described it as "one of the most mind-expanding books I have read this year." Sean Illing said that Pollan "describe[s] what it's like to take psychedelics. But beyond that, he also walks the reader through the history of these drugs and surveys the latest research into their therapeutic potential. It's a sprawling book that is likely to change how you think not just about psychedelic drugs but also about the human mind." Mark Rozzo reviewed "How to Change Your Mind" in "Columbia" magazine. He writes that the book "offers a convincingly grown-up case for the potential of drugs that, having survived decades of vilification, now seem poised to revolutionize several fields, from mental health to neuroscience." Oliver Burkeman wrote of the book in "The Guardian": ""How to Change Your Mind" is Pollan’s sweeping and often thrilling chronicle of the history of psychedelics, their brief modern ascendancy and suppression, their renaissance and possible future, all interwoven with a self-deprecating travelogue of his own cautious but ultimately transformative adventures as a middle-aged psychedelic novice." Drew Gwilliams wrote a review of the book for the scientific journal "Chemistry World". He called it "a fascinating history of psychedelic drugs" and said "Pollan approaches the topic with a combination of intelligent curiosity and skepticism, deftly avoiding controversial debates while seeking clarity and comprehension."

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Hidden Harvest Hidden Harvest is a 2014 book by Canadian author Mark Coakley that depicts an illegal drug conspiracy in Canada that was involved in the creation of a gigantic cannabis garden in Barrie, Ontario, concealed inside an abandoned Molson beer factory. The "Toronto Star" called "Hidden Harvest" "thoroughly researched, entertaining … real, sometimes humorous and very Canadian"; a review in Toronto's "Now" was sub-titled, "Buy the Book". On June 16, 2014, Coakley was interviewed on CBC Radio's "The Current" about "Hidden Harvest".

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Thai Stick Thai Stick – Surfers, Scammers and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade is a 2013 book by Peter H. Maguire about the illicit cannabis trade in Southeast Asia. The book was published by Columbia University Press, and in 2015, it was optioned by surfing competitor Kelly Slater to become a documentary film and television series.

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The Botany of Desire The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World is a 2001 nonfiction book by journalist Michael Pollan. Pollan presents case studies that mirror four types of human desires that are reflected in the way that we selectively grow, breed, and genetically engineer our plants. The tulip, beauty; marijuana, intoxication; the apple, sweetness; and the potato, control. The stories range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan's first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam to the paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes. Pollan also discusses the limitations of monoculture agriculture: specifically, the adoption in Ireland of a single breed of potato (the Irish Lumper) which made the Irish vulnerable to a fungus to which the breed had no resistance, resulting in the Great Famine. The Peruvians from whom the Irish had gotten the potato grew hundreds of varieties, so their exposure to any given pest was slight. PBS documentary. The book was used as the basis for "The Botany of Desire", a two-hour program broadcast by PBS.

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Weed the People (book) Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America is a 2015 book written by Bruce Barcott and published by Time Books.

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Romancing Mary Jane Romancing Mary Jane: A Year in the Life of a Failed Marijuana Grower is a non-fiction book, written by Canadian writer Michael Poole, first published in 1998 by Greystone Books. In the book, the author chronicles the regrettable consequences of his decision to cultivate marijuana on a commercial level. Goodreads called the book, an "engaging blend of metaphysics, marijuana, and midlife crisis." A panel of Wilfrid Laurier University judges called Poole's writing, "sheer competence". Awards and honours. "Romancing Mary Jane" received the 1998 "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction".

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This Is Your Country On Drugs This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America is a 2009 nonfiction book by Ryan Grim. Topics covered include the prohibition of LSD and anti-cannabis public service announcements. "Publishers Weekly" said it was a "sharp critique of anti-drug programs". "The Austin Chronicle" recommended it as a holiday gift for "the hard-to-buy-for drug policy reformer on your list". It has been required reading in university public health curricula, and cited in a RAND Corporation drug policy research paper.

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Mr. Nice (book) Mr. Nice is the autobiography of former drug dealer Howard Marks. Published in 1996 it became an international bestseller due in large part to the humour and unabashed bravado the author uses to describe his life and the sheer scale of his drug deals involving, amongst others, the CIA, MI6, the IRA and the Mafia. The book received mostly positive reviews, though some critics were initially sceptical of some of the more outlandish details portrayed. It was adapted for film in 2010 as "Mr. Nice". Overview. Welsh born Marks began small scale dealing of hashish in the late 1960s whilst at Oxford University studying nuclear physics and, later, a postgraduate degree course in philosophy. His activities rapidly expanded after a chance meeting with a Pakistani supplier made him realise how lucrative drug smuggling could be. After teaming up with Jim McCann, a senior member of the IRA, his business was soon bringing in huge amounts of cash and he began setting up various legitimate businesses as a front, to launder the proceeds of his hashish smuggling. At one time he claims to have had 25 such companies, 89 phone lines and 43 aliases, including the name used for the title of this book, Mr. Nice, an alias he adopted after buying a passport from a convicted murderer of that name. Following his arrest in 1980 in a combined operation by British and Spanish police, Marks managed to avoid a lengthy sentence by claiming to be a spy for the British intelligence agency MI6. He was eventually caught again, this time by the American DEA, and sentenced to life in prison at Terre Haute federal penitentiary in Indiana. He was released after seven years and allowed to return to the UK. Film adaptation. The book was adapted into a film "Mr. Nice" in 2010, directed by Bernard Rose and starring Rhys Ifans and Chloë Sevigny.

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Craft Weed Craft Weed: Family Farming and the Future of the Marijuana Industry is a 2018 MIT Press book by Ryan Stoa. In it, he argues for an American cannabis industry that looks more like the craft beer industry, and less like "Big Marijuana" equivalent of Anheuser-Busch. The author is an associate professor of law at Concordia University School of Law in Boise, Idaho. Reception. A review in "The Times Literary Supplement" said the book author's "expertise is undeniable" but "some of his deeper trawls through legislature slow an otherwise intriguing narrative". Another review found merit in Stoa's advocacy for agricultural law reform around craft cannabis, to include an appellation system for cannabis parallel to that of the American Viticultural Areas (AVAs).

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Licit and Illicit Drugs Licit and Illicit Drugs is a 1972 book on recreational drug use by medical writer Edward M. Brecher and the editors of Consumer Reports. Summary. The book describes the effects and risks of psychoactive drugs which were common in contemporary use for recreational and nonmedical purposes. "The New York Times" paraphrased some major arguments from the book, saying "'Drug-free' treatment of heroin addiction almost never works", "Nicotine can be as tough to beat as heroin", and "Good or bad, marijuana is here to stay. The billions spent to fight it are wasted dollars." The book identifies marijuana as the most popular drug after tobacco, alcohol, and nicotine. A reviewer for the "Journal of the American Medical Association" summarized it by saying that "Brecher holds that the division of drugs into licit and illicit categories is medically irrational and rooted mainly in historical and sociological factors." The book's 10 main sections are titled as follows: Reception. In the "Annals of Internal Medicine" a reviewer said that the book should be read by every physician who cares for adolescents. In another journal a reviewer described the book as an "important work (which) stresses the historical and social perspectives on the drugs of abuse as well as the current laws, attitudes, and policies concerning all commonly used and abused drugs" and that he was "impressed with the conclusions concerning the failure of the judicial and penal systems" and "that both sides of many controversial issues are presented." "Kirkus Reviews" described the book as, "Liberal in the best sense, rigorously researched, and free from cant, the Consumer Union Report should become a standard referral."

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The Hasheesh Eater The Hasheesh Eater (1857) is an autobiographical book by Fitz Hugh Ludlow describing the author's altered states of consciousness and philosophical flights of fancy while he was using a cannabis extract. In the United States, the book created popular interest in hashish, leading to hashish candy and private hashish clubs. The book was later popular in the counter-culture movement of the 1960s. "The Hasheesh Eater" is often compared to "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" (1821), Thomas De Quincey's account of his own addiction to laudanum (opium and alcohol). Publication history. First published in 1857, "The Hasheesh Eater" went through four editions in the late 1850s and early 1860s, each put out by Harper & Brothers. In 1903, another publishing house put a reprint of the original edition — and the last complete edition until 1970. , two editions are in print, including an annotated version first published in 2003. Literary significance. Ludlow said, "The entire truth of Nature cannot be copied," so "the artist must select between the major and minor facts of the outer world; that, before he executes, he must pronounce whether he will embody the essential effect, that which steals on the soul and possesses it without painful analysis, or the separate details which belong to the geometrician and destroy the effect." Many of his passages, which may have seemed like fantastic myth-making to his contemporaries, ring true today with more modern knowledge of the psychedelic state. Ludlow writes of one hallucination: "And now, with time, space expanded also… The whole atmosphere seemed ductile, and spun endlessly out into great spaces surrounding me on every side." Ludlow describes the marijuana user as one who is reaching for "the soul’s capacity for a broader being, deeper insight, grander views of Beauty, Truth and Good than she now gains through the chinks of her cell." Conversely, he says of hashish users: "Ho there! pass by; I have tried this way; it leads at last into poisonous wildernesses." Cultural effect. The popularity of "The Hasheesh Eater" led to interest in the drug it described. Not long after its publication, the Gunjah Wallah Co. in New York began advertising "Hasheesh Candy": The Arabian "Gunjh" of Enchantment confectionized. — A most pleasurable and harmless stimulant. — Cures Nervousness, Weakness, Melancholy, &c. Inspires all classes with new life and energy. A complete mental and physical invigorator. John Hay, who would become a close confidant of President Lincoln and later U.S. Secretary of State, remembered Brown University as the place “where I used to eat Hasheesh and dream dreams.” And a classmate recalls that after reading Ludlow’s book, Hay “must needs experiment with hasheesh a little, and see if it was such a marvelous stimulant to the imagination as Fitzhugh Ludlow affirmed. ‘The night when Johnny Hay took hasheesh’ marked an epoch for the dwellers in Hope College.” Within twenty-five years of the publication of "The Hasheesh Eater", many cities in the United States had private hashish parlors. And there was already controversy about the legality and morality of cannabis intoxication. In 1876, when tourists could buy hashish at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, the "Illustrated Police News" would write about “The Secret Dissipation of New York Belles… a Hasheesh Hell on Fifth Avenue.” Rediscovery. Ludlow’s writings crop up in a couple of places in pre-marijuana-prohibition 20th century America. The occultist Aleister Crowley found "The Hasheesh Eater" to be “tainted by admiration of de Quincey and the sentimentalists” but admired Ludlow’s “wonderful introspection” and printed significant excerpts from the book in his journal "The Equinox". Using the pseudonym Oliver Haddo, Crowley also wrote at length about his own cannabis experiences, comparing and contrasting them to those of Ludlow. He “was struck by the circumstance that [Ludlow], obviously ignorant of Vedantist and Yogic doctrines, yet approximately expressed them, though in a degraded and distorted form.” After the prohibition of marijuana, the writings of Ludlow were interpreted by two camps. On the one hand, there were the prohibitionists, who pointed out Ludlow’s addiction to “hasheesh” and his horrifying hallucinations; on the other, those who believed that cannabis deserved a second chance and saw Ludlow as a literate chronicler of the mystical heights that could be reached using the drug. In 1938, shortly after the federal government cracked down on marijuana, the prohibitionist warning was carried in the book "Marihuana: America’s New Drug Problem". The book included several pages of excerpts from "The Hasheesh Eater" and noted that It was Ludlow… who contributed the most remarkable description of the hashish effects. He not only described the acute hashish episode with great intensity and fidelity but recorded the development of an addiction and the subsequent struggle which resulted in his breaking the habit. As an autobiography of a drug addict it is, in several respects, superior to De Quincey's “Confessions” In 1953, Union College selected the alumnus Fitz Hugh Ludlow as a “Union Worthy” and invited three academics to compose speeches for the occasion. Morris Bishop (who would later include his impressions in his book "Eccentrics"), criticized Ludlow’s later attempts at fiction, writing that his short stories “are today stale and meaningless… echoes of all the other magazine stories of his time, originating in literature, not in life, and conducted with no regard for truth and with little for verisimilitude.” In "The Hasheesh Eater" on the other hand: is a sincerity, a reality, which he could not recapture when he tried to construct stories solely from his imagination… He finds lyric phrasing to convey the unearthly beauty of his visions, and the unearthly horror of the evil fantasia which succeeded his bliss. He is a drugged Dante in reverse, descending from the Paradiso to the Inferno. His descriptions, drawing from his subconscious a strange mingling of the sublime and the grotesque, often suggest the work of Dali and other surrealists. The writer’s passion gives his work an intensity which the reader recognizes and sympathetically feels. This is a very considerable literary achievement. Robert DeRopp, in the 1957 book "Drugs and the Mind", was perhaps the first to express skepticism at Ludlow’s “addiction” story, noting that “[n]o one seriously interested in the effects of drugs on the mind should fail to read Ludlow’s book,” but accusing Ludlow of a “hypertrophy of the imagination and an excessive dependence on the works of De Quincey” (although he also found "The Hasheesh Eater" to be “more lively and more colorful reading than… the grossly overrated confessions of that ‘English opium-eater.’”). DeRopp suspected that “in many places scientific impartiality has been sacrificed in the interests of literary effect.” At this point we are at the dawn of the resurgence of marijuana in the United States and the emergence of psychedelics in the English-speaking world. Researchers, like pioneering mescaline researcher Heinrich Klüver, looked to Ludlow’s seminal writings on the psychedelic experience for insight on the new drugs that were being discovered and synthesized. In 1960, "The Hasty Papers: A One-Shot Review", a beat literature journal, devoted most of its pages to reprinting the first edition of "The Hasheesh Eater" in its entirety, and David Ebin’s book "The Drug Experience" included three chapters from "The Hasheesh Eater". In 1966, excerpts were published in "The Marijuana Papers" edited by David Solomon. In 1970, a reprint of the 1857 edition was put out by Gregg Press, and the "Berkeley Barb" reprinted several chapters. By this time Ludlow had been rediscovered, both by mainstream researchers into drugs and addiction, and by the growing drug-savvy counterculture. Oriana J. Kalant, in 1971 in "The International Journal of the Addictions" found "The Hasheesh Eater" to be a remarkable description of the effects of cannabis: …it is evident that Ludlow recognized, with remarkable insight, most of the characteristic subjective effects of cannabis. He also noted, and interpreted essentially correctly, such pharmacological points as the relation of dose to effect, inter- and intra-individual variations in response, and the influence of set and setting. Most importantly, perhaps, he recorded the development of his dependence on cannabis more comprehensively and astutely than anyone to date. The initial motives — including features of his own personality and temperament — the constant rationalization, compulsive use despite obvious untoward effects, the progression to a state of almost continuous intoxication, the inability to reduce his dose gradually, and the intense craving and depression after abrupt withdrawal, all are clearly described. Ludlow recognized also the lack of physical symptoms during withdrawal, and the difference from opium withdrawal in this respect. With the benefit of hindsight, we can also identify in Ludlow’s account a number of other features consistent with present knowledge, but which even scientists of his day could not possibly have known. For example, the initial change in tolerance, the continuum between euphoria and hallucinations, the differentiation between the hallucinatory process and the affective reactions to it, the relation between spontaneous and drug-induced perceptual changes, the similarity between the effects of cannabis and those of other hallucinogens, the attempts at drug substitution therapy (opium, tobacco), and the role of psychotherapy and abreactive writing, are all in keeping with contemporary thought. These points permit the modern reader to feel even greater confidence in the extraordinary accuracy and perceptiveness of Ludlow’s record. The mid 1970s saw two new editions of "The Hasheesh Eater" in print, one by San Francisco’s City Lights Books, and a well-annotated and illustrated version edited by Michael Horowitz and released by Level Press. By the late 1970s, you could even find the face of Fitz Hugh Ludlow on a T-shirt, thanks to his alma mater Union College, which had thrown a “Fitzhugh Ludlow Day” celebration in 1979. In the 2000s, Ludlow has been introduced to a new generation of psychedelics users through Terence McKenna, who read chapters from "The Hasheesh Eater" for a set of tapes (“Victorian Tales of Cannabis”) put out by Sound Photosynthesis, and who regularly praised Ludlow in his books, saying Ludlow “began a tradition of pharmo-picaresque literature that would find later practitioners in William Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson.… Part genius, part madman, Ludlow lies halfway between Captain Ahab and P.T. Barnum, a kind of Mark Twain on hashish. There is a wonderful charm to his free-spirited, pseudoscientific openness as he makes his way into the shifting dunescapes of the world of hashish.” "The Hasheesh Eater" remains Ludlow's most remembered work. Only one other of his books, "The Heart of the Continent", has seen a new edition since the 19th Century.

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A New Leaf (book) A New Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition is a non-fiction book about cannabis by investigative journalists Alyson Martin and Nushin Rashidian, published by The New Press in 2014.

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Marihuana Reconsidered Marihuana Reconsidered is a 1971 book by Lester Grinspoon about the effects of marijuana and its place in society, first published by Harvard University Press. The book has received reviews from publications including "Kirkus Reviews", "JAMA", "Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics", "The New England Journal of Medicine", and "The New York Times".

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The Pot Book The Pot Book: A Complete Guide to Cannabis is a 2010 book about cannabis edited by Julie Holland M.D., a United States psychiatrist specializing in psychopharmacology. Holland has stated that proceeds from the book's sales will be used to fund further research on cannabis, which she has concluded has therapeutic agents able to induce apoptosis for cancer therapy, and other properties. Holland has also stated that humans and cannabis coevolved.

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Reefer Madness (Schlosser book) Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market is a book written by Eric Schlosser and published in 2003. The book is a look at the three pillars of the underground economy of the United States, estimated by Schlosser to be ten percent of U.S. GDP: marijuana, migrant labor, and pornography. The book is divided into three chapters: Chapter 1: "Reefer Madness", Schlosser argues, based on usage, historical context, and consequences, for the decriminalization of marijuana. Chapter 2: "In the Strawberry Fields", he explores the exploitation of illegal aliens as cheap labor, arguing that there should be better living arrangements and humane treatment of the illegal aliens the U.S. is exploiting in the fields of California. Chapter 3: "An Empire of the Obscene" details the history of pornography in U.S. culture, starting with the eventual business magnate Reuben Sturman. Schlosser closes by arguing that such a widespread black market can only undermine the law and is indicative of the discrepancy between accepted mainstream U.S. culture and its true nature.

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The Emperor Wears No Clothes The Emperor Wears No Clothes is a non-fiction book written by Jack Herer. Starting in 1973, the story begins when Herer takes the advice of his friend, "Captain" Ed Adair, and begins compiling tidbits of information about the "Cannabis" plant and its numerous uses, including as hemp and as a drug. After a dozen years of collecting and compiling historical data, Herer first published his work as "The Emperor Wears No Clothes", in 1985. The twelfth edition was published in November 2010, and the book continues to be cited in Cannabis rescheduling and re-legalization efforts. The book, backed by H.E.M.P. (United States), Hanf Haus (Germany), Sensi Seeds/Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum, Amsterdam, (Netherlands), and T.H.C., the Texas Hemp Campaign (United States), offers $100,000 to anyone who can disprove the claims made within. Quoting from the book's back cover: The title of the book alludes to Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale "The Emperor's New Clothes" (1837). Herer uses Andersen's story as an allegory for the current prohibition of Cannabis.

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Weed Land Weed Land: Inside America's Marijuana Epicenter and How Pot Went Legit is a non-fiction book about cannabis by Peter Hecht, published by University of California Press in March 2014. The book's first chapter covers the Drug Enforcement Administration's raid of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz, California.

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Higher Etiquette Higher Etiquette: A Guide to the World of Cannabis, From Dispensaries to Dinner Parties is a book about cannabis etiquette by Lizzie Post. Reception. "Publishers Weekly" said, "Those new to the cannabis scene, or those curious about it, would do well to check out Post's work, directed as it is to a more enjoyable and stress-free experience for all involved."

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Too High to Fail Too High to Fail is a book about cannabis by Doug Fine, published by Gotham Books in 2012, describing Northern California's legal cannabis industry.

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Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library The Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library is a library of psychoactive drug-related literature created in 1970 by Michael D. Horowitz, Cynthia Palmer, William Dailey, and Robert Barker, who merged their private libraries. It was named for Fitz Hugh Ludlow, author of the first full-length work of drug literature written by an American, "The Hasheesh Eater" (1857). It was the largest such library in the world and was based in San Francisco, California. The Ludlow Library became part of the Ludlow Santo Domingo Library in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2003. After the death of its owner, Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Jr., his family loaned the book collection to the Houghton Library at Harvard University and the music collection to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. During the 1970s the library grew rapidly and operated out of San Francisco as an international resource for psychoactive drug research, and for the study of psychoactive drug use in contemporary and historical societies. The Ludlow Library flourished during a period of perhaps the most intense media interest ever focused on the personal, social, scientific and political aspects of drug experience. The Library helped hundreds of writers, filmmakers, and news media researchers collect accurate historical information on cannabis, the opiates, coca and cocaine, and psychedelics for their publications. The library was curated by Michael R. Aldrich, holder of the first Ph.D. ever granted from an American university in the mythology and folklore of cannabis (SUNY-Buffalo, 1970), and he and his wife Michelle Aldrich joined the co-founders as members of the Board of Directors in 1974. The Library's advisory Board of Trustees included a number of eminent researchers and writers, including Chauncey Leake, Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann, Alexander Shulgin, Andrew Weil, Oscar Janiger, Ralph Metzner, Laura Huxley, Allen Ginsberg, Weston LaBarre, R. Gordon Wasson, Tod H. Mikuriya, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

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The Man with the Twisted Lip "The Man with the Twisted Lip", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the sixth of the twelve stories in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". The story was first published in the "Strand Magazine" in December 1891. Doyle ranked "The Man with the Twisted Lip" sixteenth in a list of his nineteen favourite Sherlock Holmes stories. Plot summary. The story begins when a friend of Dr. Watson's wife comes to Watson's house, frantic because her husband, who is addicted to opium, has gone missing. Watson helps her pull him out of the opium den and sends him home. Watson is surprised to find that Sherlock Holmes is there too, in disguise and trying to get information to solve a different case about a man who has disappeared. Watson stays to listen to Holmes tell the story of the case of Neville St. Clair. St. Clair is a prosperous, respectable, punctual man. His family's home is in the country, but he visits London every day on business. One day when Mr. St. Clair was in London, Mrs. St. Clair also went to London separately. She happened to pass down Upper Swandam Lane, a "vile alley" near the London docks, where the opium den is. Glancing up, she saw her husband at a second-floor window of the opium den. He vanished from the window immediately, and Mrs. St. Clair was sure that there was something wrong. She tried to enter the building; but her way was blocked by the opium den's owner, a lascar. She fetched the police, but they did not find Mr. St. Clair. The room behind the window was the lair of a dirty, disfigured beggar, known to the police as Hugh Boone. The police were about to put her story down as a mistake of some kind when Mrs. St. Clair noticed a box of wooden toy bricks that her husband said he would buy for their son. A further search turned up some of St. Clair's clothes. Later, his coat, with the pockets stuffed with hundreds of pennies and halfpennies, was found on the bank of the River Thames, just below the building's back window. Hugh Boone was arrested at once, but would say nothing, except to deny any knowledge of St. Clair. He also resisted any attempt to make him wash. Holmes was initially quite convinced that St. Clair had been murdered, and that Boone was involved. Thus he investigated the den in disguise. He and Watson return to St. Clair's home, to a surprise. It is several days after the disappearance; but on that day Mrs. St. Clair had received a letter from her husband in his own handwriting, with his wedding ring enclosed, telling her not to worry. This forces Holmes to reconsider his conclusions, leading him eventually to an extraordinary solution. Holmes and Watson go the police station where Hugh Boone is held; Holmes brings a bath sponge in a Gladstone bag. Finding Boone asleep, Holmes washes the sleeping Boone's dirty face—revealing Neville St. Clair. Mr. St. Clair has been leading a double life, as a respectable businessman, and as a beggar. In his youth, he had been an actor before becoming a newspaper reporter. In order to research an article, he had disguised himself as a beggar for a short time, and was able to collect a surprising amount of money due to a skillset uncommon to beggars; his actor's skills enabled him to emulate a more sympathetic character with make-up, as well as provide a repertoire of witty dialogue with which to entertain passers-by to offer coins—he was as much a street performer as a beggar. Later, he was saddled with a large debt, and returned to the street to beg for several days to pay it off. His newspaper salary was meagre and, tempted by the much larger returns of begging, he eventually became a "professional" beggar. His takings were large enough that he was able to establish himself as a country gentleman, marry well, and begin a respectable family. His wife and children never knew what he did for a living, and when arrested, he feared exposure more than prison or the gallows. But there is no murder, so he is released, and Holmes and the police agree to keep Mr. St. Clair's secret as long as no more is heard of Hugh Boone. Points of interest. The ability of St. Clair to earn a good living begging is considered by some to be an unlikely event, but others disagree. The morning the mystery is solved Watson awakes about 4:25 a.m., yet the summer sun is said to shine brightly already. In one in-universe point of interest, Watson's wife Mary calls him by the name "James" despite his established first name being "John". This led Dorothy L. Sayers to speculate that Mary may be using his middle name Hamish (an Anglicisation of "Sheumais", the vocative form of "Seumas", the Scottish Gaelic for James), though Doyle himself never addresses this beyond including the initial. Publication history. "The Man with the Twisted Lip" was first published in the UK in "The Strand Magazine" in December 1891, and in the United States in the US edition of the "Strand" in January 1892. The story was published with ten illustrations by Sidney Paget in "The Strand Magazine". It was included in the short story collection "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", which was published in October 1892. Adaptations. Film and television. A silent short film version of the story titled "The Man with the Twisted Lip" was released in 1921. It was made as part of the Stoll film series starring Eille Norwood as Holmes. In 1951, Rudolph Cartier produced an adaptation entitled "The Man Who Disappeared". This adaptation was a pilot for a proposed television series starring John Longden as Holmes and Campbell Singer as Watson. In 1964, the story was adapted into an episode of the BBC series "Sherlock Holmes" starring Douglas Wilmer and Nigel Stock, with Peter Madden as Inspector Lestrade and Anton Rodgers as Neville St Clair. The adaptation developed St Clair's attributed ability at repartee by showing him quoting from the classics, including Shakespeare. Granada Television also produced a version in 1986, adapted by Alan Plater as part of their "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" television series, starring Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke, with Denis Lill as Inspector Bradstreet, Clive Francis as Neville St. Clair, and Albert Moses as the Lascar. An episode of the animated television series "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" was adapted from the story. The episode, titled "The Man with the Twisted Lip", aired in 2000. The 2014 "Sherlock" episode "His Last Vow" begins with Sherlock being found in a drug den by John, reminiscent of the scene in the opium den from this story. Radio. Edith Meiser adapted the story as an episode of the American radio series "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", which aired on 24 November 1930, starring Richard Gordon as Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr. Watson. Remakes of the script aired on 12 May 1935 (with Louis Hector as Holmes and Lovell as Watson) and 22 February 1936 (with Gordon as Holmes and Harry West as Watson). Meiser also adapted the story as an episode of the American radio series "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson, that aired on 23 October 1939. Other episodes in the same series that were adapted from the story aired in 1940, 1943, 1944, and 1946 (with Frederick Worlock as Neville St Clair and Herbert Rawlinson as Inspector Bradstreet). A radio adaptation aired on the BBC Light Programme in 1959, as part of the 1952–1969 radio series starring Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley as Watson. It was adapted by Michael Hardwick. "The Man with the Twisted Lip" was dramatised by Peter Mackie for BBC Radio 4 in 1990, as part of the 1989–1998 radio series starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. The story was adapted as an episode of "The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", a series on the American radio show "Imagination Theatre", with John Patrick Lowrie as Holmes and Lawrence Albert as Watson. The episode first aired in 2012.

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The Acid House The Acid House is a 1994 book by Irvine Welsh, later made into a film of the same name. It is a collection of 22 short stories, with each story (between three and 20 pages) featuring a new set of characters and scenarios. Film adaptation. The 1998 film, "The Acid House", directed by Paul McGuigan, dramatizes 3 of the 22 stories from the book - "The Granton Star Cause", "A Soft Touch", and "The Acid House".

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Ten Stories About Smoking Ten Stories About Smoking is the debut short story collection by writer Stuart Evers.

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Getting Real (short story) "Getting Real" is a science fiction short story by American writer Harry Turtledove, published in the March 2009 issue of "Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine". Plot summary. The short story takes place in a run down Los Angeles, California in the year 2117 where the United States is no longer a world power but an "economic basket case" ever since China refused to renew its loans to the government a century earlier. As a result, China becomes the world's largest military and economic power, in addition in leading the world in technological research and development. In an earlier conflict a generation prior to the setting of the short story, China took over Catalina Island and the California Channel Islands. In the current setting, China had been distributing Real throughout the US for years. Real is a powerful hallucinogenic drug that came in the form of a small, colorful square of cardboard-like material. Contact with the skin produced hallucinations that were claimed to be "realer than real life". The drugs use had been undermining productivity since many citizens would rather "get Real" than work or do anything else. The United States government brought the issue to a head at a peace conference held in Los Angeles. Secretary of State Jackson, Secretary of Defense Berkowitz and Secretary of the DEA Kojima meet with Third Minister Hu Zhiaoxing and issued an ultimatum of war if distribution did not end. Hu Zhiaoxing refused and insisted that Real was not a drug but a meta-stimulation of specific brain regions and China was merely supplying a product to consumers and if the U.S. offered its citizens better, there would not be any demand for Real. This leads to the United States to declare war on China. The US began its offensive with air-strikes by F-27 aircraft on the Channel Islands, particularly Catalina Island off the coast from Los Angeles. The F-27 was the latest United States Air Force air superiority fighter aircraft. It first entered service in the 2050s but constant upgrades in weaponry, avionics and stealthiness kept it state of the art. With afterburner and strap-on rocket packs, an F-27 could climb to the edge of space. However, the Chinese demonstrated the defensive capabilities of meta-reality technology by defeating the attack. Avatars appeared in the cockpits of the aircraft and forced Real onto the pilots. This established control over their senses and deceived the pilots into crashing their aircraft. The US resorted to sending the Navy to attack the islands. Warships, using elaborate spoofing, approached the Chinese holding in order to shell them. However, the Chinese again used meta reality technology, this time more directly. For instance, the USS "Rumsfeld" (named after Donald Rumsfeld) ran into a giant brick wall at flank speed, causing enough damage to sink it. Hu Zhiaoxing met with his US counterparts via video conference and indicated that the US attacks were ineffective. He offered relatively soft terms for peace, which included that the US allow Chinese distribution of Real without legal penalty, Chinese citizens arrested in the United States be tried in Chinese courts to ensure fairness, and that the US pay a moderate indemnity. American officials rejected the terms and the war continued. The Chinese launched a punitive raid on Los Angeles. First all power and telephone services (both cell and landlines) were cut off. Then avatars appeared throughout the city warning the residents to evacuate the city. Two and a half hours later, what appeared to be a giant Pyrex bowl covered the city. However, it is impervious to missile and artillery fire. Then, what appeared to be lightning began causing random damage within the bowl. Meanwhile, companies of conventionally armed Chinese soldiers entered the city. They left the LA citizens alone unless they offered resistance, though a surprisingly large number were armed and not surprisingly angry. In addition, American soldiers trapped within the bowl were allowed to surrender unless they too offered more than token resistance. After this show of force and the continued impotence of US forces, the US had no option but to surrender. As Hu Zhiaoxing had warned, the terms were harsher, which included the US would place no further restriction on the distribution of the entertainment known as Real and any criminal or civil penalties would be declared null and void, China would receive a 99-year lease on the ports of San Pedro and Long Beach for one dollar a year and that those ports would have no duty on imports although the Chinese reserved the right to impose duties on U.S. products entering the territory and that the US would pay an indemnity of twenty trillion dollars in either gold, petroleum, uranium or hard currency to be agreed upon with the full amount was to be paid within ten years. Those actions insured that the U.S. would continue its decline.

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Faith of Our Fathers (short story) "Faith of Our Fathers" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in the anthology "Dangerous Visions" (1967). Plot summary. Tung Chien is a Vietnamese bureaucrat in a world that has been conquered by Chinese-style atheist communism, where the population is kept docile with hallucinogenic drugs. When a street vendor gives Tung an illegal anti-hallucinogen, he discovers that the Party leader has a horrible secret. Reception. Algis Budrys said that "the first three-quarters of (the) story appear to be very good", and that although "Dick knows his hallucinogens very well", unlike the superb "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", in "Faith of Our Fathers" "he makes sense only to himself". "Faith of Our Fathers" was nominated for the 1968 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Dick later said about this story: and

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Larry Niven/Known Space

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Pollen (novel) Pollen is a 1995 science fiction novel written by British author Jeff Noon. Plot summary. "Pollen" is the sequel to "Vurt" and concerns the ongoing struggle between the real world and the virtual world. When concerning the virtual world, some references to Greek mythology are noticeable, including Persephone and Demeter, the river Styx and Charon, and Hades (portrayed by the character John Barleycorn). The novel is set in Manchester. Influences. Noon is said to take his inspiration from music. While working on "Pollen," he often listened to ‘Dream of a 100 Nations’ album by Transglobal Underground on repeat."Things changed for my second novel, Pollen: by then I had really discovered the melancholic joys of house and techno music, and I think the novel reflects that change. Pollen is a much more tangled book, more fertile, a very overgrown, edge-of-wilderness narrative."

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Needle in the Groove Needle in the Groove is a 1999 novel by Jeff Noon. A music/spoken word CD was released on the same day as the book. It tells its story through the eyes of Elliot, a young twenty-something bassist, as he finds himself playing bass for Glam Damage, a new DJ-based band who are experimenting with a new recording technology - a weird liquid/drug that remixes music when shaken. The Book. Previous readers of Noon will be in familiar territory, the book is set in the near future of Manchester 2002, and the drugs as music metaphor is the essence of the novel. Eschewing conventional punctuation, capitalisation and grammar, the book reads as if it is a series of song lyrics. The book also traces the history of pop music in Manchester, starting with skiffle in 1957, running through the sixties, before coming to an angry explosion with the punk of 1977 and the Buzzcocks. This love for music is also expressed by the names of the streets. Poking fun at the increasing excesses taken towards marketing our heritage, Manchester streets have been renamed after Mancunian bands and musicians. So we are given Ian Curtis Boulevard, a street called Gerald, Bee Gees Avenue and even Northern Uproar cul-de-sac. This was Noon's farewell book to Manchester, before he moved to Brighton, and, for the time being, seems to be the last set in the Vurt/Manchester universe. His next work, "Falling Out of Cars" is his first not to be set in that city. The CD. Released on the same as the book was the musical version of "Needle in the Groove". The CD was produced by both Jeff Noon and David Toop. The music is experimental/ industrial and backs Noon speaking lines from the "Needle in the Groove" book. The CD was originally available from the "Needle in the Groove" website (now offline) for £10. Now, the CD is available in very limited amounts as there has only been one pressing of the album.

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Olive, Again Olive, Again is a novel by the American author Elizabeth Strout. The book was published by Random House on October 15, 2019. It is a sequel to "Olive Kitteridge" (2008), which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In November 2019, the novel was selected for the revival of Oprah's Book Club. Similar to the first novel, "Olive, Again" takes the form of 13 short stories that are interrelated but discontinuous in terms of narrative. It follows Olive Kitteridge from her seventies into her eighties. Stories. "Arrested". Jack Kennison, a seventy-four-year-old widower and retired Harvard professor, drives to Portland to buy whiskey to avoid the possibility of running into Olive, who he has since separated from, at the grocery store in Crosby. Jack is pulled over by the police and given a ticket for speeding. "Labor". Olive attends a "stupid" baby shower. One of the pregnant guests goes into labor and Olive attempts to drive her to the hospital, but finds herself having to deliver the stranger's baby in the back of her own car. "Cleaning". Kayley Callaghan is a fourteen-year-old girl living in Crosby whose father died two years earlier. She begins to find a passion for playing the piano, which her father played. While cleaning the house of Mrs. Ringrose for money, Kayley begins experiencing sexual feelings and touches her breasts. She opens her eyes to find Mr. Ringrose watching her, urging her to continue. She agrees and later finds an envelope filled with money left for her by Mr. Ringrose when she leaves. She and Mr. Ringrose continue their unspoken arrangement every time she cleans the house. When her mother eventually finds the envelopes of money, Kayley instead hides it in the piano. One day, she comes home to find her mother sold the piano since she stopped playing it. Mrs. Ringrose tells Kayley she is no longer needed for cleaning. In the last days of summer, Kayley learns from Olive Kitteridge that Mr. Ringrose's behavior has become abnormal and he is being put in a nursing home. Two days before Kayley begins high school, she rides her bike near the nursing home and feels a longing for Mr. Ringrose. "Motherless Child". Olive invites her son Christopher, a podiatrist living in New York, to finally come visit Crosby with his wife, Ann, and their four children. Olive reveals her plans to marry Jack and Christopher expresses disbelief and anger. When Jack comes to meet Christopher and his family the next day, Christopher expresses anger at his mother but is quickly chastised by his wife. Christopher immediately apologizes and appears "pale as paper", though Olive feels pity for her son. Olive recalls yelling at her late husband Henry in public similar to how Ann yelled at Christopher. Olive reflects that she has "failed on a colossal level" with both Henry and their son Christopher and has "lived her life as though blind." "Helped". Suzanne Larkin returns to Crosby, where her childhood home recently burned down with her father having died in the process. Suzanne finds a platonic consolation through conversations with her father's lawyer, Bernie. Bernie's compassion and empathy make a grieving Suzanne feel "as though huge windows above her had been smashed—the way the firemen must have smashed the windows of her childhood home— and now, here above her and around her, was the whole wide world right there, available to her once again." Bernie feels a similar connection to Suzanne, and is astonished by her "uncorrupted" nature. "Light". Olive encounters a former student of hers, Cindy Coombs, while grocery shopping. Coombs, who previously worked as a librarian, is gravely ill. Olive visits her unannounced one day and continues to see her afterwards. The two discuss mortality, and Olive confesses her "pretty awful" treatment of Henry. She says that she has become "a tiny — tiny — bit better as a person" but feels sick that Henry is not alive to receive her that way. The story's title refers to Cindy and Olive's mutual appreciation for the light in February: "how at the end of each day the world seemed cracked open and the extra light made its way across the stark trees." "The Walk". Sixty-nine-year-old Denny Pelletier is walking alone one night in December in Crosby. He thinks something is wrong with his children but can't think of the answer. He reminisces about his childhood, his own children, his first love Dorothy Paige, and finally his wife Marie Levesque. Denny stumbles upon a man bent over a bench and calls the police, who arrive and intervene by injecting him with Naloxone. Denny walks home and realizes it is with himself that something is wrong, that he had been "saddened by the waning of his life, and yet it was not over." When he returns home and is greeted by his wife Marie. "Pedicure". Olive gets her first pedicure. Jack contemplates his late wife, Betsy, and his affair with Elaine Croft. He thinks of and is frightened by "how much of his life he had lived without knowing who he was or what he was doing." "Exiles". Jim, Bob and Susan Burgess — the siblings from "The Burgess Boys" (2013) — reunite in nearby Shirley Falls. The brothers' wives, Helen and Margaret, do not like one another. One evening, after drinking wine, Helen finds herself falling down the stairs and breaking several bones. Following Helen's accident, Margaret confesses to her husband that "I couldn't stand her and she knew it, Bob. And I feel terrible." It is also revealed that Bob Burgess and his wife know Olive. "The Poet". Olive, now eighty-two years old, drives to the coffee shop in Crosby. She runs into a former student of hers, Andrea L'Rieux, who went on to become the United States Poet Laureate. Olive and Jack take a trip to Oslo, Norway. Later, in autumn, Jack dies in his sleep beside her. The following May, Olive is anonymously sent a poem written by Andrea that is based on their encounter. She is initially offended by Andrea's characterization of Olive as lonely. However, Olive eventually admits, "Andrea had gotten it better than she had, the experience of being another." "The End of the Civil War Days". Married couple Fergus and Ethel MacPherson live on the outskirts of Crosby and have been married for forty-two years. Though, the two have barely spoken to each other in the last thirty-five years. They have lived with yellow duct tape separating their house ever since Fergus had an affair. Their silence and separation is somewhat broken when their daughter, Laurie, returns from Portland to tell them she has become a dominatrix and is the star of a new documentary. The story draws parallels between the performance aspect of Fergus' Civil War reenactments with their daughter's work as a dominatrix. "Heart". Olive, eighty-three years old, suffers a heart attack in her hairdresser's driveway. She is assigned round-the-clock care in her home by nurse's aides. Olive befriends two of the nurses: Betty, a Trump supporter, and Halima, the daughter of a Somali refugee. Christopher visits Olive frequently and eventually helps her get into Maple Tree Apartments, an assisted living facility. "The Friend". In Maple Tree Apartments, Olive befriends Isabelle Daignault — the mother from "Amy and Isabelle" (1999). The two form a close friendship, caring for one another. Isabelle reflects with regret and shame for cutting off her daughters hair, saying to Olive, "The memory haunts me." Olive's oldest age mentioned in the novel is eighty-six-year-old. Reception. The review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, noted that the novel generally received rave feedback, based on a total of 28 reviews: 16 "Rave" reviews, 10 "Positive" reviews, and 2 "Mixed" reviews. "Kirkus Reviews" praised the novel, writing, "Beautifully written and alive with compassion, at times almost unbearably poignant. A thrilling book in every way." While "Publishers Weekly" called the novel "cohesive" and wrote, "Strout again demonstrates her gift for zeroing in on ordinary moments in the lives of ordinary people to highlight their extraordinary resilience." In her review for "The Washington Post", Joan Frank gave the novel a positive review, calling it "arguably better than the original" and writing, "Sentences flow in simplest words and clearest order — yet line after line hammers home some of the most complex human rawness you'll ever read."

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Requiem for a Dream (novel) Requiem for a Dream is a 1978 novel by American writer Hubert Selby Jr., that concerns four New Yorkers whose lives spiral out of control as they succumb to their addictions. Plot. This story follows the lives of Sara Goldfarb, her son Harry, his girlfriend Marion Silver, and his best friend Tyrone C. Love, who are all searching for the key to their dreams in their own ways. In the process, they fall into devastating lives of addiction. Harry and Marion are in love and want to open their own business; their friend Tyrone wants to escape life in the ghetto. To achieve these dreams, they buy a large amount of heroin, planning to get rich by selling it. Sara, Harry's lonely widowed mother, dreams of being on television. When a phone call from a reality show casting company gets her hopes up, she goes to a doctor, who gives her diet pills to lose weight. She spends the next few months on the pills, wanting desperately to look thin on TV and fit into a red dress from her younger days. However, the casting company does not notify her about the details of her show. She becomes addicted to the diet pills and eventually develops amphetamine psychosis after her life continues to go downhill. She eventually ends up in a mental institution, where she undergoes electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Harry, Marion, and Tyrone become addicted to their own product. Eventually, when heroin becomes scarce, they turn on each other, slowly hiding the drugs they obtain from the other two members. On their way to Miami, Harry and Tyrone are arrested, convicted, and sentenced to jail. Harry's arm has become infected from repeated injections, and has to be amputated. Left alone, Marion becomes a prostitute to support her addiction. In jail, Tyrone faces frequent abuse from the guards due to his race. Film adaptation. The novel was later adapted into a critically acclaimed eponymous film, released in 2000. The film was directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans and Ellen Burstyn. Burstyn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Sara.

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Lullabies for Little Criminals Lullabies for Little Criminals is a 2006 novel by Heather O'Neill. The book was chosen for inclusion in the 2007 edition of "Canada Reads", where it was championed by musician John K. Samson. "Lullabies for Little Criminals" won the competition. Plot summary. (Includes Spoilers) The novel revolves around the twelve-year-old protagonist named Baby and follows her for two years. Baby lives with her father Jules, who has a worsening heroin addiction. The two move frequently, to various places around Montreal, where they encounter many other characters, among them junkies, bums, pimps, and abused children. Baby was born while Jules was in high school with her mother, who died soon after Baby was born, though the cause of death is not revealed immediately. Jules often leaves young Baby by herself wherever they may be living, for anywhere from a week to over a month at a time. Baby becomes distraught and finds herself wandering the streets of Montreal on her own. She is eventually taken away by Child Protective Services and put into a foster home while Jules is in the hospital with tuberculosis. There she makes friends with two boys, Linus Lucas, a 14-year-old who all the children think is the very height of cool, and Zachary, a mellow, happy 12-year-old. When Jules finally picks her up, he promises that everything will return to normal. As Jules and Baby begin to settle down again, Jules' addiction gets the best of him and he begins to lash out at Baby, often for no reason. Baby eventually runs away and finds a semblance of security with a pimp named Alphonse. Around this time, she is taken into juvenile detention, and spends about a month in there. Alphonse develops an intimate relationship with Baby, taking her virginity, and forcing her to become a prostitute. She becomes one of his "girls" and is fearful of leaving him. She attempts to return to the apartment she had shared with Jules, but it is locked from the inside and nobody is there, so she assumes Jules has abandoned her. Alphonse also exposes her to heroin, making her addicted to it. Baby goes back to school while still prostituting herself and meets an odd boy named Xavier. Xavier and Baby slowly but surely become closer and begin to date. As their relationship grows, they become very intimate, and have sex at Alphonse's hotel room, the only place they can be alone. When Alphonse returns to find them there, he beats Xavier and sends him home. Alphonse then beats Baby and takes all of her heroin. When Baby wakes up the next morning, she finds Alphonse dead of a drug overdose. Baby leaves Alphonse's room and is left with nowhere to go. She decides to go to a nearby homeless shelter where she had heard that Jules was staying. They embrace, and Jules explains that he has set up a place to stay with his cousin. They pack up and walk to the local bus station. On the bus, Jules explains that Baby's mother died in a car crash while Jules was driving. The other driver was drunk at the time. Upon arrival at Jules' cousin's house in Val des Loups, the story ends. References. LULLABIES FOR LITTLE CRIMINALS. (2006). Kirkus Reviews, 74(15), 747.

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Long Bright River

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Brave New World Brave New World is a dystopian social science fiction novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist. Huxley followed this book with a reassessment in essay form, "Brave New World Revisited" (1958), and with his final novel, "Island" (1962), the utopian counterpart. The novel is often compared to George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (published 1949). In 1999, the Modern Library ranked "Brave New World" at number 5 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 2003, Robert McCrum, writing for "The Observer", included "Brave New World" chronologically at number 53 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all time", and the novel was listed at number 87 on The Big Read survey by the BBC. Title. The title "Brave New World" derives from Miranda's speech in William Shakespeare's "The Tempest", Act V, Scene I: Shakespeare's use of the phrase is intended ironically, as the speaker is failing to recognise the evil nature of the island's visitors because of her innocence. Translations of the title often allude to similar expressions used in domestic works of literature: the French edition of the work is entitled "Le Meilleur des mondes" ("The Best of All Worlds"), an allusion to an expression used by the philosopher Gottfried Leibniz and satirised in "Candide, Ou l'Optimisme" by Voltaire (1759). History. Huxley wrote "Brave New World" while living in Sanary-sur-Mer, France, in the four months from May to August 1931. By this time, Huxley had already established himself as a writer and social satirist. He was a contributor to "Vanity Fair" and "Vogue" magazines, and had published a collection of his poetry ("The Burning Wheel", 1916) and four successful satirical novels: "Crome Yellow" (1921), "Antic Hay" (1923), "Those Barren Leaves" (1925), and "Point Counter Point" (1928). "Brave New World" was Huxley's fifth novel and first dystopian work. A passage in "Crome Yellow" contains a brief pre-figuring of "Brave New World", showing that Huxley had such a future in mind already in 1921. Mr. Scogan, one of the earlier book's characters, describes an "impersonal generation" of the future that will "take the place of Nature's hideous system. In vast state incubators, rows upon rows of gravid bottles will supply the world with the population it requires. The family system will disappear; society, sapped at its very base, will have to find new foundations; and Eros, beautifully and irresponsibly free, will flit like a gay butterfly from flower to flower through a sunlit world." Huxley said that "Brave New World" was inspired by the utopian novels of H. G. Wells, including "A Modern Utopia" (1905), and "Men Like Gods" (1923). Wells's hopeful vision of the future's possibilities gave Huxley the idea to begin writing a parody of the novels, which became "Brave New World". He wrote in a letter to Mrs. Arthur Goldsmith, an American acquaintance, that he had "been having a little fun pulling the leg of H. G. Wells", but then he "got caught up in the excitement of [his] own ideas." Unlike the most popular optimistic utopian novels of the time, Huxley sought to provide a frightening vision of the future. Huxley referred to "Brave New World" as a "negative utopia", somewhat influenced by Wells's own "The Sleeper Awakes" (dealing with subjects like corporate tyranny and behavioural conditioning) and the works of D. H. Lawrence. The scientific futurism in "Brave New World" is believed to be appropriated from "Daedalus" by J. B. S. Haldane. The events of the Depression in the UK in 1931, with its mass unemployment and the abandonment of the gold currency standard, persuaded Huxley to assert that stability was the "primal and ultimate need" if civilisation was to survive the present crisis. The "Brave New World" character Mustapha Mond, Resident World Controller of Western Europe, is named after Sir Alfred Mond. Shortly before writing the novel, Huxley visited Mond's technologically advanced plant near Billingham, north east England, and it made a great impression on him. Huxley used the setting and characters in his science fiction novel to express widely felt anxieties, particularly the fear of losing individual identity in the fast-paced world of the future. An early trip to the United States gave "Brave New World" much of its character. Huxley was outraged by the culture of youth, commercial cheeriness, and sexual promiscuity, and the inward-looking nature of many Americans; he had also found the book "My Life and Work" by Henry Ford on the boat to America, and he saw the book's principles applied in everything he encountered after leaving San Francisco. Plot. The novel opens in the World State city of London in AF (After Ford) 632 (AD 2540 in the Gregorian calendar), where citizens are engineered through artificial wombs and childhood indoctrination programmes into predetermined classes (or castes) based on intelligence and labour. Lenina Crowne, a hatchery worker, is popular and sexually desirable, but Bernard Marx, a psychologist, is not. He is shorter in stature than the average member of his high caste, which gives him an inferiority complex. His work with sleep-learning allows him to understand, and disapprove of, his society's methods of keeping its citizens peaceful, which includes their constant consumption of a soothing, happiness-producing drug called Soma. Courting disaster, Bernard is vocal and arrogant about his criticisms, and his boss contemplates exiling him to Iceland because of his nonconformity. His only friend is Helmholtz Watson, a gifted writer who finds it difficult to use his talents creatively in their pain-free society. Bernard takes a holiday with Lenina outside the World State to a Savage Reservation in New Mexico, in which the two observe natural-born people, disease, the ageing process, other languages, and religious lifestyles for the first time (the culture of the village folk resembles the contemporary Native American groups of the region, descendants of the Anasazi, including the Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna and Zuni). Bernard and Lenina witness a violent public ritual and then encounter Linda, a woman originally from the World State who is living on the reservation with her son John, now a young man. She, too, visited the reservation on a holiday many years ago, but became separated from her group and was left behind. She had meanwhile become pregnant by a fellow-holidaymaker (who is revealed to be Bernard's boss, the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning). She did not try to return to the World State, because of her shame at her pregnancy. Despite spending his whole life in the reservation, John has never been accepted by the villagers, and his and Linda's lives have been hard and unpleasant. Linda has taught John to read, although from the only two books in her possession—a scientific manual and the complete works of Shakespeare. Ostracised by the villagers, John is able to articulate his feelings only in terms of Shakespearean drama, quoting often from "The Tempest", "King Lear", "Othello", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet". Linda now wants to return to London, and John, too, wants to see this "brave new world". Bernard sees an opportunity to thwart plans to exile him, and gets permission to take Linda and John back. On their return to London, John meets the Director and calls him his "father", a vulgarity which causes a roar of laughter. The humiliated Director resigns in shame before he can follow through with exiling Bernard. Bernard, as "custodian" of the "savage" John who is now treated as a celebrity, is fawned on by the highest members of society and revels in attention he once scorned. Bernard's popularity is fleeting, though, and he becomes envious that John only really bonds with the literary-minded Helmholtz. Considered hideous and friendless, Linda spends all her time using soma, while John refuses to attend social events organised by Bernard, appalled by what he perceives to be an empty society. Lenina and John are physically attracted to each other, but John's view of courtship and romance, based on Shakespeare's writings, is utterly incompatible with Lenina's freewheeling attitude to sex. She tries to seduce him, but he attacks her, before suddenly being informed that his mother is on her deathbed. He rushes to Linda's bedside, causing a scandal, as this is not the "correct" attitude to death. Some children who enter the ward for "death-conditioning" come across as disrespectful to John until he attacks one physically. He then tries to break up a distribution of soma to a lower-caste group, telling them that he is freeing them. Helmholtz and Bernard rush in to stop the ensuing riot, which the police quell by spraying soma vapor into the crowd. Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are all brought before Mustapha Mond, the "Resident World Controller for Western Europe", who tells Bernard and Helmholtz that they are to be exiled to islands for antisocial activity. Bernard pleads for a second chance, but Helmholtz welcomes the opportunity to be a true individual, and chooses the Falkland Islands as his destination, believing that their bad weather will inspire his writing. Mond tells Helmholtz that exile is actually a reward. The islands are full of the most interesting people in the world, individuals who did not fit into the social model of the World State. Mond outlines for John the events that led to the present society and his arguments for a caste system and social control. John rejects Mond's arguments, and Mond sums up John's views by claiming that John demands "the right to be unhappy". John asks if he may go to the islands as well, but Mond refuses, saying he wishes to see what happens to John next. Jaded with his new life, John moves to an abandoned hilltop tower, near the village of Puttenham, where he intends to adopt a solitary ascetic lifestyle in order to purify himself of civilization, practising self-flagellation. This soon draws reporters and eventually hundreds of amazed sightseers, hoping to witness his bizarre behaviour; one of them is implied to be Lenina. At the sight of the woman he both adores and loathes, John attacks her with his whip. The onlookers are wildly aroused by the display and John is caught up in the crowd's soma-fuelled frenzy. The next morning, he remembers the previous night's events and is stricken with remorse. Onlookers and journalists who arrive that evening discover John dead, having hanged himself. Characters. Bernard Marx, a sleep-learning specialist at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. Although Bernard is an Alpha-Plus (the upper class of the society), he is a misfit. He is unusually short for an Alpha; an alleged accident with alcohol in Bernard's blood-surrogate before his decanting has left him slightly stunted. Bernard's independence of mind stems more from his inferiority complex and depressive nature than from any depth of philosophical conviction. Unlike his fellow utopians, Bernard is often angry, resentful, and jealous. At times, he is also cowardly and hypocritical. His conditioning is clearly incomplete. He doesn't enjoy communal sports, solidarity services, or promiscuous sex. He doesn't even get much joy out of soma. Bernard is in love with Lenina but he doesn't like her sleeping with other men, even though "everyone belongs to everyone else". Bernard's triumphant return to utopian civilisation with John the Savage from the Reservation precipitates the downfall of the Director, who had been planning to exile him. Bernard's triumph is short-lived; he is ultimately banished to an island for his non-conformist behaviour. John, the illicit son of the Director and Linda, born and reared on the Savage Reservation ("Malpais") after Linda was unwittingly left behind by her errant lover. John ("the Savage" or "Mr. Savage", as he is often called) is an outsider both on the Reservation—where the natives still practice marriage, natural birth, family life and religion—and the ostensibly civilised World State, based on principles of stability and happiness. He has read nothing but the complete works of William Shakespeare, which he quotes extensively, and, for the most part, aptly, though his allusion to the "Brave New World" (Miranda's words in "The Tempest") takes on a darker and bitterly ironic resonance as the novel unfolds. John is intensely moral according to a code that he has been taught by Shakespeare and life in Malpais but is also naïve: his views are as imported into his own consciousness as are the hypnopedic messages of World State citizens. The admonishments of the men of Malpais taught him to regard his mother as a whore; but he cannot grasp that these were the same men who continually sought her out despite their supposedly sacred pledges of monogamy. Because he is unwanted in Malpais, he accepts the invitation to travel back to London and is initially astonished by the comforts of the World State. However, he remains committed to values that exist only in his poetry. He first spurns Lenina for failing to live up to his Shakespearean ideal and then the entire utopian society: he asserts that its technological wonders and consumerism are poor substitutes for individual freedom, human dignity and personal integrity. After his mother's death, he becomes deeply distressed with grief, surprising onlookers in the hospital. He then ostracizes himself from society and attempts to purify himself of "sin" (desire), but is finally unable to do so and hangs himself in despair. Helmholtz Watson, a handsome and successful Alpha-Plus lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering and a friend of Bernard. He feels unfulfilled writing endless propaganda doggerel, and the stifling conformism and philistinism of the World State make him restive. Helmholtz is ultimately exiled to the Falkland Islands—a cold asylum for disaffected Alpha-Plus non-conformists—after reading a heretical poem to his students on the virtues of solitude and helping John destroy some Deltas' rations of soma following Linda's death. Unlike Bernard, he takes his exile in his stride and comes to view it as an opportunity for inspiration in his writing. Lenina Crowne, a young, beautiful fetus technician at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. She is part of the 30% of the female population that are not freemartins (sterile women). Lenina is promiscuous and popular but somewhat quirky in her society: she had a four-month relation with Henry Foster, choosing not to have sex with anyone but him for a period of time. She is basically happy and well-conditioned, using soma to suppress unwelcome emotions, as is expected. Lenina has a date with Bernard, to whom she feels ambivalently attracted, and she goes to the Reservation with him. On returning to civilisation, she tries and fails to seduce John the Savage. John loves and desires Lenina but he is repelled by her forwardness and the prospect of pre-marital sex, rejecting her as an "". Lenina visits John at the lighthouse but he attacks her with a whip, unwittingly inciting onlookers to do the same. Her exact fate is left unspecified. Mustapha Mond, Resident World Controller of Western Europe, "His Fordship" Mustapha Mond presides over one of the ten zones of the World State, the global government set up after the cataclysmic Nine Years' War and great Economic Collapse. Sophisticated and good-natured, Mond is an urbane and hyperintelligent advocate of the World State and its ethos of "Community, Identity, Stability". Among the novel's characters, he is uniquely aware of the precise nature of the society he oversees and what it has given up to accomplish its gains. Mond argues that art, literature, and scientific freedom must be sacrificed to secure the ultimate utilitarian goal of maximising societal happiness. He defends the caste system, behavioural conditioning, and the lack of personal freedom in the World State: these, he says, are a price worth paying for achieving social stability, the highest social virtue because it leads to lasting happiness. Fanny Crowne, Lenina Crowne's friend (they have the same last name because only ten thousand last names are in use in a World State comprising two billion people). Fanny voices the conventional values of her caste and society, particularly the importance of promiscuity: she advises Lenina that she should have more than one man in her life because it is unseemly to concentrate on just one. Fanny then, however, warns Lenina away from a new lover whom she considers undeserving, yet she is ultimately supportive of the young woman's attraction to the savage John. Henry Foster, one of Lenina's many lovers, he is a perfectly conventional Alpha male, casually discussing Lenina's body with his coworkers. His success with Lenina, and his casual attitude about it, infuriate the jealous Bernard. Henry ultimately proves himself every bit the ideal World State citizen, finding no courage to defend Lenina from John's assaults despite having maintained an uncommonly longstanding sexual relationship with her. Benito Hoover, another of Lenina's lovers. She remembers that he is particularly hairy when he takes his clothes off. The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning (DHC), also known as Thomas "Tomakin" Grahambell, he is the administrator of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, where he is a threatening figure who intends to exile Bernard to Iceland. His plans take an unexpected turn, however, when Bernard returns from the Reservation with Linda (see below) and John, a child they both realize is actually his. This fact, scandalous and obscene in the World State not because it was extramarital (which all sexual acts are) but because it was procreative, leads the Director to resign his post in shame. , John's mother, decanted as a Beta-Minus in the World State, originally worked in the DHC's Fertilizing Room, and subsequently lost during a storm while visiting the New Mexico Savage Reservation with the Director many years before the events of the novel. Despite following her usual precautions, Linda became pregnant with the Director's son during their time together and was therefore unable to return to the World State by the time that she found her way to Malpais. Having been conditioned to the promiscuous social norms of the World State, Linda finds herself at once popular with every man in the pueblo (because she is open to all sexual advances) and also reviled for the same reason, seen as a whore by the wives of the men who visit her and by the men themselves (who come to her nonetheless). Her only comforts there are "mescal" brought by Popé as well as "peyotl". Linda is desperate to return to the World State and to soma, wanting nothing more from her remaining life than comfort until death. The Arch-Community-Songster, the secular equivalent of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the World State society. He takes personal offense when John refuses to attend Bernard's party. The Director of Crematoria and Phosphorus Reclamation, one of the many disappointed, important figures to attend Bernard's party. The Warden, an Alpha-Minus, the talkative chief administrator for the New Mexico Savage Reservation. He is blond, short, broad-shouldered, and has a booming voice. Darwin Bonaparte, a "big game photographer" (i.e. filmmaker) who films John flogging himself. Darwin Bonaparte is known for two other works: "feely of the gorillas' wedding", and "Sperm Whale's Love-life". He has already made a name for himself but still seeks more. He renews his fame by filming the savage, John, in his newest release "The Savage of Surrey". His name alludes to Charles Darwin and Napoleon Bonaparte. Dr. Shaw, Bernard Marx's physician who consequently becomes the physician of both Linda and John. He prescribes a lethal dose of soma to Linda, which will stop her respiratory system from functioning in a span of one to two months, at her own behest but not without protest from John. Ultimately, they all agree that it is for the best, since denying her this request would cause more trouble for Society and Linda herself. Dr. Gaffney, Provost of Eton, an Upper School for high-caste individuals. He shows Bernard and John around the classrooms, and the Hypnopaedic Control Room (used for behavioural conditioning through sleep learning). John asks if the students read Shakespeare but the Provost says the library contains only reference books because solitary activities, such as reading, are discouraged. Miss Keate, Head Mistress of Eton Upper School. Bernard fancies her, and arranges an assignation with her. Background figures. These are non-fictional and factual characters who lived before the events in this book, but are of note in the novel: Sources of names and references. The limited number of names that the World State assigned to its bottle-grown citizens can be traced to political and cultural figures who contributed to the bureaucratic, economic, and technological systems of Huxley's age, and presumably those systems in "Brave New World". Critical reception. Upon publication, Rebecca West praised "Brave New World" as "The most accomplished novel Huxley has yet written", Joseph Needham lauded it as "Mr. Huxley's remarkable book", and Bertrand Russell also praised it, stating, "Mr. Aldous Huxley has shown his usual masterly skill in "Brave New World."" However, "Brave New World" also received negative responses from other contemporary critics, although his work was later embraced. In an article in the 4 May 1935 issue of the "Illustrated London News", G. K. Chesterton explained that Huxley was revolting against the "Age of Utopias". Much of the discourse on man's future before 1914 was based on the thesis that humanity would solve all economic and social issues. In the decade following the war the discourse shifted to an examination of the causes of the catastrophe. The works of H. G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw on the promises of socialism and a World State were then viewed as the ideas of naive optimists. Chesterton wrote: Similarly, in 1944 economist Ludwig von Mises described "Brave New World" as a satire of utopian predictions of socialism: "Aldous Huxley was even courageous enough to make socialism's dreamed paradise the target of his sardonic irony." Fordism and society. The World State is built upon the principles of Henry Ford's assembly line: mass production, homogeneity, predictability, and consumption of disposable consumer goods. While the World State lacks any supernatural-based religions, Ford himself is revered as the creator of their society but not as a deity, and characters celebrate Ford Day and swear oaths by his name (e.g., "By Ford!"). In this sense, some fragments of traditional religion are present, such as Christian crosses, which had their tops cut off to be changed to a "T", representing the Ford Model T. In England, there is an Arch-Community-Songster of Canterbury, obviously continuing the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in America "The Christian Science Monitor" continues publication as "The Fordian Science Monitor". The World State calendar numbers years in the "AF" era—"Anno Ford"—with the calendar beginning in AD 1908, the year in which Ford's first Model T rolled off his assembly line. The novel's Gregorian calendar year is AD 2540, but it is referred to in the book as AF 632. From birth, members of every class are indoctrinated by recorded voices repeating slogans while they sleep (called "hypnopædia" in the book) to believe their own class is superior, but that the other classes perform needed functions. Any residual unhappiness is resolved by an antidepressant and hallucinogenic drug called soma. The biological techniques used to control the populace in "Brave New World" do not include genetic engineering; Huxley wrote the book before the structure of DNA was known. However, Gregor Mendel's work with inheritance patterns in peas had been rediscovered in 1900 and the eugenics movement, based on artificial selection, was well established. Huxley's family included a number of prominent biologists including Thomas Huxley, half-brother and Nobel Laureate Andrew Huxley, and his brother Julian Huxley who was a biologist and involved in the eugenics movement. Nonetheless, Huxley emphasises conditioning over breeding (nurture versus nature); human embryos and fetuses are conditioned through a carefully designed regimen of chemical (such as exposure to hormones and toxins), thermal (exposure to intense heat or cold, as one's future career would dictate), and other environmental stimuli, although there is an element of selective breeding as well. Comparisons with George Orwell's " Nineteen Eighty-Four ". In a letter to George Orwell about "Nineteen Eighty-Four", Huxley wrote "Whether in actual fact the policy of the boot-on-the-face can go on indefinitely seems doubtful. My own belief is that the ruling oligarchy will find less arduous and wasteful ways of governing and of satisfying its lust for power, and these ways will resemble those which I described in Brave New World." He went on to write "Within the next generation I believe that the world's rulers will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging and kicking them into obedience." Social critic Neil Postman contrasted the worlds of "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and "Brave New World" in the foreword of his 1985 book "Amusing Ourselves to Death". He writes: Journalist Christopher Hitchens, who himself published several articles on Huxley and a book on Orwell, noted the difference between the two texts in the introduction to his 1999 article "Why Americans Are Not Taught History": Martin Kreutzberg, in his essay on the development of "Sexual Fantasies and Fantasies About Sex" during the 19th and 20th Centuries, noted that "Brave New World Revisited". Brave New World Revisited (Harper & Brothers, US, 1958; Chatto & Windus, UK, 1959), written by Huxley almost thirty years after "Brave New World", is a non-fiction work in which Huxley considered whether the world had moved toward or away from his vision of the future from the 1930s. He believed when he wrote the original novel that it was a reasonable guess as to where the world might go in the future. In "Brave New World Revisited", he concluded that the world was becoming like "Brave New World" much faster than he originally thought. Huxley analysed the causes of this, such as overpopulation, as well as all the means by which populations can be controlled. He was particularly interested in the effects of drugs and subliminal suggestion. "Brave New World Revisited" is different in tone because of Huxley's evolving thought, as well as his conversion to Hindu Vedanta in the interim between the two books. The last chapter of the book aims to propose action which could be taken to prevent a democracy from turning into the totalitarian world described in "Brave New World". In Huxley's last novel, "Island", he again expounds similar ideas to describe a utopian nation, which is generally viewed as a counterpart to "Brave New World". Censorship. The American Library Association ranks "Brave New World" as No. 34 on their list of most challenged books. The following list includes some incidents in which it has been censored, banned, or challenged: Influences and allegations of plagiarism. The English writer Rose Macaulay published "What Not: A Prophetic Comedy" in 1918. "What Not" depicts a dystopian future where people are ranked by intelligence, the government mandates mind training for all citizens, and procreation is regulated by the state. Macaulay and Huxley shared the same literary circles and he attended her weekly literary salons. George Orwell believed that "Brave New World" must have been partly derived from the 1921 novel "We" by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin. However, in a 1962 letter to Christopher Collins, Huxley says that he wrote "Brave New World" long before he had heard of "We". According to "We" translator Natasha Randall, Orwell believed that Huxley was lying. Kurt Vonnegut said that in writing "Player Piano" (1952), he "cheerfully ripped off the plot of "Brave New World", whose plot had been cheerfully ripped off from Yevgeny Zamyatin's "We"". In 1982, Polish author Antoni Smuszkiewicz, in his analysis of Polish science-fiction "Zaczarowana gra" ("The Magic Game"), presented accusations of plagiarism against Huxley. Smuszkiewicz showed similarities between "Brave New World" and two science fiction novels written earlier by Polish author Mieczysław Smolarski, namely "Miasto światłości" ("The City of Light", 1924) and "Podróż poślubna pana Hamiltona" ("Mr Hamilton's Honeymoon Trip", 1928). Smuszkiewicz wrote in his open letter to Huxley: "This work of a great author, both in the general depiction of the world as well as countless details, is so similar to two of my novels that in my opinion there is no possibility of accidental analogy." Kate Lohnes, writing for "Encyclopædia Britannica", notes similarities between "Brave New World" and other novels of the era could be seen as expressing "common fears surrounding the rapid advancement of technology and of the shared feelings of many tech-skeptics during the early 20th century". Other dystopian novels followed Huxley's work, including Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (1949). Legacy. In 1999, the Modern Library ranked "Brave New World" fifth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 2003, Robert McCrum writing for "The Observer" included "Brave New World" chronologically at number 53 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all time", and the novel was listed at number 87 on the BBC's survey The Big Read. On 5 November 2019, the "BBC News" listed "Brave New World" on its list of the 100 most influential novels. Adaptations. Television. In May 2015, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television would bring "Brave New World" to Syfy network as a scripted series, written (adapted) by Les Bohem. The adaptation was eventually written by David Wiener with Grant Morrison and Brian Taylor, with the series ordered to air on USA Network in February 2019. The series eventually moved to the Peacock streaming service and premiered on 15 July 2020.

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Quichotte (novel) Quichotte ( , ) is a 2019 novel by Salman Rushdie. It is his fourteenth novel, published on 29 August 2019 by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom and Penguin Books India in India. It was published in the United States on 3 September 2019 by Random House. Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' classic novel "Don Quixote", "Quichotte" is a metafiction that tells the story of an addled Indian American man who travels across America in pursuit of a celebrity television host with whom he has become obsessed. The novel received favourable reviews and was shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize. Plot. The protagonist, Sam DuChamp, is an Indian-born writer living in America and author of a number of unsuccessful spy thrillers. Hoping to write a book "radically unlike any other he had ever attempted", he creates the character of Ismail Smile. Smile, who was born in Bombay, is a travelling pharmaceutical salesman who has suffered a stroke in old age. He begins obsessively watching reality television and becomes infatuated with Salma R, a former Bollywood star who hosts a daytime talk show in New York City. Despite having never met her, he sends her love letters under the pen name "Quichotte". He begins a quest for her across America, driving in his Chevrolet Cruze with his imaginary son Sancho. The two experience contemporary issues of the United States, including racism, the opioid epidemic, familial love, and the impact of popular culture. The lives of the character Quichotte and the writer DuChamp intertwine as the story progresses. Inspiration of "Don Quixote". In 2015, Salman Rushdie was re-reading Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote" to write an introduction to a collection of stories inspired by Cervantes and William Shakespeare and prepare for a speech about the two writers. In an interview with Indian newspaper "Mint", Rushdie described its inspiration: ""Don Quixote" is astonishingly modern, even postmodern—a novel whose characters know they are being written about and have opinions on the writing. I wanted my book to have a parallel storyline about my characters' creator and his life, and then slowly to show how the two stories, the two narrative lines, become one." "Quichotte" features a story within a story, making it, similar to Cervantes' novel, a metafiction. The novel's protagonist writer Sam DuChamp has been compared to Cide Hamete Benengeli, a fictional Arab writer whose manuscripts Cervantes claimed to translate the majority of "Don Quixote" from as a metafictional trick to give a greater credibility to the text. In "Quichotte", Ismail Smile's obsession with Salma R and his subsequent adoption of the pseudonym "Quichotte" parallel that of Alonso Quijano, the fictional hidalgo who renames himself "Don Quixote" after falling into madness. "Quichotte" is the French spelling of "Quixote" and is a reference to French composer Jules Massenet's 1910 opera "Don Quichotte". Further, it is referenced within the novel that the word sounds like "key shot," which is a way to ingest drugs - one of the novel's themes. Quichotte's imaginary son Sancho was named after Sancho Panza, who similarly acts as squire to Don Quixote. Salma R is seen as similar to Don Quixote's Dulcinea del Toboso. Publication. "Quichotte" was published on 29 August 2019 by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom and Penguin Books India in India. It was published in the United States on 3 September 2019 by Random House. The novel debuted at number fifteen on "The New York Times" Hardcover Fiction best-sellers list on September 29, 2019. Reception. "Kirkus Reviews" called the novel "humane and humorous," adding that "Rushdie is in top form, serving up a fine piece of literary satire." "Publishers Weekly" called the novel "a brilliant rendition of the cheesy, sleazy, scary pandemonium of life in modern times." Claire Lowdon of "The Sunday Times" gave the novel a rave review, saying, ""Quichotte" is one of the cleverest, most enjoyable metafictional capers this side of postmodernism" and that "we are still watching a master at work." In her review for "The New York Times Book Review", author Jeanette Winterson said, "The lovely, unsentimental, heart-affirming ending of Quichotte, that "sane man," is the aslant answer to the question of what is real and what is unreal. A remembrance of what holds our human lives in some equilibrium — a way of feeling and a way of telling. Love and language." Writing for "Booklist", Donna Seaman said, "Rushdie's dazzling and provocative improvisation on an essential classic has powerful resonance in this time of weaponized lies and denials." Nicholas Mancusi, writing for "Time", praised the novel, saying, "As he weaves the journeys of the two men nearer and nearer, sweeping up a full accounting of all the tragicomic horrors of modern American life in the process, these energies begin to collapse beautifully inward, like a dying star." Writing for "The Times", Robert Douglas-Fairhurst praised the novel, calling it a "welcome return to form. More than just another postmodern box of tricks, this is a novel that feeds the heart while it fills the mind." Jude Cook of "i" called the novel a "wildly entertaining return to form" and said of Rushdie: "Now in his eighth decade, it is clear he still possesses the linguistic energy, resourcefulness and sheer amplitude of a writer half his age." Ron Charles, a book critic at "The Washington Post", gave the novel a mixed review and wrote, "Rushdie's style once unfurled with hypnotic elegance, but here it's become a fire hose of brainy gags and literary allusions — tremendously clever but frequently tedious." Johanna Thomas-Corr, writing for "The Observer", gave the novel a mixed review, finding Rushdie "swollen with the junk culture he intended to critique" but also saying he is "the best of his generation at writing women. Both Salma and Jack are witty, opinionated and complex." Christian Lorentzen wrote a similarly mixed review for the "Financial Times", calling it an "uneven but diverting and occasionally brilliant novel" and saying, "There's a strange contradiction at work when a book whose declared metafictional mission is to combat 'junk culture' is also overloaded with cultural detritus." Sukhdev Sandhu of "The Guardian" agreed as well, writing, "This is not uninteresting territory for a writer to delve into, but "Quichotte" is too restless and in love with itself to be anything other than a symptom of the malaise it laments." Writing for the "New Statesman", lead fiction writer Leo Robson panned the novel, calling it "draining" and saying, "We're simply stuck with an author prone to lapses in tact and taste, and a lack of respect for the reader's time or powers of concentration."

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Insatiability Insatiability () is a speculative fiction novel by the Polish writer, dramatist, philosopher, painter and photographer, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy). "Nienasycenie" was written in 1927 and was first published in 1930. It is Witkiewicz's third novel, considered by many to be his best. The novel consists of two parts: Przebudzenie (Awakening) and Obłęd (The madness). Summary. The novel takes place in the future, circa 2000. Following a battle, modeled after the Bolshevik revolution, Poland is overrun by the army of the last and final Mongol conquest. The nation becomes enslaved to the Chinese leader Murti Bing. His emissaries give everyone a special pill called "DAVAMESK B 2" which takes away their abilities to think and to mentally resist. East and West become one, in faceless misery fueled by sexual instincts. Witkiewicz's "Insatiability" combines chaotic action with deep philosophical and political discussion, and predicts many of the events and political outcomes of the subsequent years, specifically, the invasion of Poland, the postwar foreign domination as well as the totalitarian mind control exerted, first by the Germans, and then by the Soviet Union on Polish life and art. Influence and translation. Czesław Miłosz frames the first chapter of his book "The Captive Mind" around a discussion of "Insatiability", specifically the "Murti-Bing pill," which allows artists to contentedly conform to the demands of the equivalent of Socialist Realism. The novel was translated into English in 1977 by University of Toronto professor of Polish and Russian literature Louis Iribarne and published by Northwestern University Press.

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Go Ask Alice Go Ask Alice is a 1971 diary about a teenage girl who develops a drug addiction at age 15 and runs away from home on a journey of self-destructive escapism. Attributed to "Anonymous", the book is in diary form, and was originally presented as being the edited "real diary" of the unnamed teenage protagonist. Questions about the book's authenticity and true authorship began to arise in the late 1970s, and it is now generally viewed as a found manuscript-styled fictional work written by Beatrice Sparks, a therapist and author who went on to write numerous other books purporting to be real diaries of troubled teenagers. Some sources have also named Linda Glovach as a co-author of the book. Intended for a young adult audience, "Go Ask Alice" became a widely popular bestseller. It was initially praised for conveying a powerful message about the dangers of drug abuse, but more recently has been criticized as poorly written anti-drug propaganda and also as a literary hoax. Nevertheless, its popularity has endured, and as of 2014 it had remained continuously in print since its publication over four decades earlier. "Go Ask Alice" has also ranked among the most frequently challenged books for several decades due to its use of profanity and explicit references to sex and rape, as well as drugs. The book was adapted into the 1973 television film "Go Ask Alice", starring Jamie Smith-Jackson and William Shatner. In 1976, a stage play of the same name, written by Frank Shiras and based on the book, was also published. Title. The title was taken from a line in the 1967 Grace Slick-penned Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit" ("go ask Alice/ when she's ten feet tall"); the lyrics in turn reference scenes in Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland", in which the title character Alice eats and drinks various substances, including a mushroom, that make her grow larger or smaller. Slick's song is understood as using Carroll's story as a metaphor for a drug experience. Plot summary. In 1968, a 15-year-old girl begins keeping a diary, in which she records her thoughts and concerns about issues such as crushes, weight loss, sexuality, social acceptance, and relating to her parents. The dates and locations mentioned in the book place its events as occurring between 1968 and 1970 in California, Colorado, Oregon, and New York City. The two towns in which the diarist's family reside during the story are not identified, and are only described as being college towns. The diarist's father, a college professor, accepts a dean position at a new college, causing the family to relocate. The diarist has difficulty adjusting to her new school, but soon becomes best friends with a girl named Beth. When Beth leaves for summer camp, the diarist returns to her hometown to stay with her grandparents. She meets an old school acquaintance, who invites her to a party. There, glasses of cola—some of which are laced with LSD—are served. The diarist unwittingly ingests LSD and has an intense and pleasurable trip. Over the following days the diarist socializes with the other teens from the party, willingly uses more drugs, and loses her virginity while on LSD. She worries that she may be pregnant, and her grandfather has a minor heart attack. Overwhelmed by her worries, the diarist begins to take sleeping pills, first stolen from her grandparents, then later prescribed by her doctor upon returning home. Her friendship with Beth ends, as both girls have moved in new directions. The diarist befriends a hip girl, Chris, with whom she continues to use drugs. They date college students Richie and Ted, who deal drugs and persuade the two girls to help them by selling drugs at schools. When the girls walk in on Richie and Ted stoned and having sex with each other, they realize their boyfriends were just using them to make money. The girls report Richie and Ted to the police and flee to San Francisco. Chris gets a job in a boutique with a glamorous older woman, Shelia. Shelia invites both girls to lavish parties, where they resume taking drugs. One night Shelia and her new boyfriend introduce the girls to heroin and brutally rape them while they are under the influence of the drug. Traumatized, the diarist and Chris move to Berkeley where they open a jewelry shop. Although the shop is a success, they quickly grow tired of it and miss their families; they return home for a happy Christmas. Back at home, the diarist encounters social pressure from her drug scene friends, and has problems getting along with her parents. Chris and the diarist try to stay away from drugs, but their resolve lapses and they end up on probation after being caught in a police raid. The diarist gets high one night and runs away. She travels to several cities, hitchhiking partway with a girl named Doris who is a victim of child sexual abuse. The diarist continues to use drugs, supporting her habit through prostitution, and experiences homelessness before a priest reunites her with her family. Now determined to avoid drugs, she faces hostility from her former friends, especially after she calls the parents of one girl who shows up high for a babysitting job. The diarist's former friends harass her at school and threaten her and her family. They eventually drug her against her will; she has a bad trip resulting in physical and mental damage, and is sent to a psychiatric hospital. There she bonds with a younger girl named Babbie, who has also been a drug addict and child prostitute. Released from the hospital, the diarist returns home, finally free of drugs. She now gets along better with her family, makes new friends, and is romantically involved with Joel, a responsible student from her father's college. She is worried about starting school again, but feels stronger with the support of her new friends and Joel. In an optimistic mood, the diarist decides to stop keeping a diary and instead discuss her problems and thoughts with other people. The epilogue states that the subject of the book died three weeks after the final entry. The diarist was found dead in her home by her parents when they returned from a movie. She died from a drug overdose, either accidental or premeditated. Diarist's name. The anonymous diarist's name is never revealed in the book. In an episode where the diarist describes having sex with a drug dealer, she quotes an onlooker's remark indicating that her name may be Carla. Although a girl named Alice appears very briefly in the book, she is not the diarist, but a fellow runaway whom the diarist meets on the street in Coos Bay, Oregon. Despite the lack of any evidence in the book that the diarist's name is Alice, the covers of various editions have suggested that her name is Alice by including blurb text such as "This is Alice's true story" and "You can't ask Alice anything anymore. But you can do something—read her diary." Reviewers and commentators have also frequently referred to the anonymous diarist as "Alice", sometimes for convenience. In the 1973 television film based on the book, the protagonist played by Jamie Smith-Jackson is named "Alice". The protagonist is also named "Alice Aberdeen" in the 1976 stage play adaptation. Production. The manuscript that later became "Go Ask Alice" was initially prepared for publication by Beatrice Sparks, a Mormon therapist and youth counselor then in her early 50s, who had previously done various forms of writing. Sparks had reportedly noted that the general public at that time lacked knowledge about youth drug abuse, and she likely had both educational and moral motives for publishing the book. Sparks later claimed that the book was based on a real diary she received from a real teenage girl, although this claim was never substantiated and the girl has never been identified (see Authorship and veracity controversies). With the help of Art Linkletter, a popular talk show host for whom Sparks had worked as a ghostwriter, the manuscript was passed on to Linkletter's literary agent, who sold it to Prentice Hall. Linkletter, who had become a prominent anti-drug crusader after the 1969 suicide of his daughter Diane, also helped publicize the book. Even before its publication, "Go Ask Alice" had racked up large advance orders of 18,000 copies. Reception. Public reception. Upon its 1971 publication, "Go Ask Alice" quickly became a publishing sensation and an international bestseller, being translated into 16 languages. Its success has been attributed to the timing of its publication at the height of the psychedelic era, when the negative effects of drug use were becoming a public concern. Alleen Pace Nilsen has called it "the book that came closest to being a YA phenomenon" of its time, although saying it was "never as famous as [the later] "Harry Potter", "Twilight", and "Hunger Games" series". In addition to being very popular with its intended young adult audience, "Go Ask Alice" also attracted a significant number of adult readers. Libraries had difficulty obtaining and keeping enough copies of the book on the shelves to meet demand. The 1973 television film based on the book heightened reader interest, and librarians reported having to order additional copies of the book each time the film was broadcast. By 1975, more than three million copies of the book had reportedly been sold, and by 1979 the paperback edition had been reprinted 43 times. The book remained continuously in print over the ensuing decades, with reported sales of over four million copies by 1998, and over five million copies by 2009. The actual number of readers probably surpassed the sales figures, as library copies and even personal copies were likely circulated to more than one reader. "Go Ask Alice" has been cited as establishing both the commercial potential of young adult fiction in general, and the genre of young adult anti-drug novels, and has been called "one of the most famous anti-drug books ever published." Critical response. "Go Ask Alice" received positive initial reviews, including praise from Webster Schott in "The New York Times", who called it an "extraordinary work", a "superior work" and a "document of horrifying reality [that] possesses literary quality". It was also recommended by "Library Journal", "Publishers Weekly", and "The Christian Science Monitor", and ranked number 1 on the American Library Association's 1971 list of Best Books for Young Adults. Some reviews focused on the realism of the book's material, without further addressing the literary merit of the book. According to Nilsen and Lauren Adams, the book was not subjected to the regular forms of literary criticism because it was presumed to be the real diary of a dead teenager. Lina Goldberg has suggested that the publishers were motivated to list the author as "Anonymous" partly to avoid such criticism. Years after its publication, "Go Ask Alice" continued to receive some good reviews, often in the context of defending the book against censors (see Censorship). In a 1995 "Village Voice" column for Banned Books Week, Nat Hentoff described it as "an extraordinarily powerful account of what it's actually like to get hooked on drugs" that "doesn't preach". However, starting in the 1990s, the book began to draw criticism for its heavy-handedness, melodramatic style and inauthenticity, in view of the growing consciousness that it was fiction rather than a real teenager's diary (see Authorship and veracity controversies). Reviewing the book again for "The New York Times" in 1998, Marc Oppenheimer called it "poorly written", "laughably written", and "incredible", although some other writers have pointed to the material as being plausible or even appealing to young readers. The portrayal of the diarist's drug use, progressing from unwittingly ingesting LSD to injecting speed within a few days, and making a similar quick transition from her first use of marijuana to heroin, has been deemed unrealistic. The book has been criticized for equating homosexuality with "degradation", illness, sin, and guilt. More recent analyses have expressed ethical concerns with the book's presentation of fiction to young readers as a true story. Despite all these criticisms, the book is frequently called a young adult classic. Educational use. Although school boards and committees reached varying conclusions about whether "Go Ask Alice" had literary value, educators generally viewed it as a strong cautionary warning against drug use. It was recommended to parents and assigned or distributed in some schools as an anti-drug teaching tool. However, some adults who read the book as teens or pre-teens have written that they paid little attention to the anti-drug message and instead related to the diarist's thoughts and emotions, or vicariously experienced the thrills of her rebellious behavior. Reading the book for such vicarious experience has been suggested as a positive alternative to actually doing drugs. "Go Ask Alice" has also been used in curricula dealing with mood swings and death. Authorship and veracity controversies. Although "Go Ask Alice" has been credited to an anonymous author since its publication, and was originally promoted as the real, albeit edited, diary of a real teenage girl, over time the book has come to be regarded by researchers as a fake memoir written by Beatrice Sparks, possibly with the help of one or more co-authors. Despite significant evidence of Sparks' authorship, a percentage of readers and educators have continued to believe that the book is a true-life account of a teenage girl. Beatrice Sparks authorship controversy. "Go Ask Alice" was originally published by Prentice Hall in 1971 as the work of an unnamed author "Anonymous". The original edition contained a note signed by "The Editors" that included the statements, ""Go Ask Alice" is based on the actual diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user...Names, dates, places and certain events have been changed in accordance with the wishes of those concerned." The paperback edition first published in 1972 by Avon Books contained the words "A Real Diary" on the front cover just above the title, and the same words were included on the front covers of some later editions. Upon its publication, almost all contemporary reviewers and the general public accepted it as primarily authored by an anonymous teenager. According to Lauren Adams, "Publishers Weekly" magazine was the only source to question the book's authenticity on the grounds that it "seem[ed] awfully well written". Reviews described the book as either the authentic diary of a real teenage girl, or as an edited or slightly fictionalized version of her authentic diary. Some sources claimed that the girl's parents had arranged for her diary to be published after her death. However, according to Alleen Pace Nilsen, a "reputable source in the publishing world" allegedly said that the book was published anonymously because the parents had initiated legal action and threatened to sue if the published book could be traced back to their daughter. Not long after "Go Ask Alice"s publication, Beatrice Sparks began making public appearances presenting herself as the book's editor. (Ellen Roberts, who in the early 1970s was an editor at Prentice Hall, was also credited at that time with having edited the book; a later source refers to Roberts as having "consulted" on the book.) According to Caitlin White, when Sparks' name became public, some researchers discovered that copyright records listed Sparks as the sole author—not editor—of the book, raising questions about whether she had written it herself. Suspicions were heightened in 1979 after two newly published books about troubled teenagers ("Voices" and "Jay's Journal") advertised Sparks' involvement by calling her "the author who brought you "Go Ask Alice"". In an article by Nilsen, based in part on interviews with Sparks and published in the October 1979 issue of "School Library Journal", Sparks said that she had received the diaries that became "Go Ask Alice" from a girl she had befriended at a youth conference. The girl allegedly gave Sparks her diaries in order to help Sparks understand the experiences of young drug users and to prevent her parents from reading them. According to Sparks, the girl later died, although not of an overdose. Sparks said she had then transcribed the diaries, destroying parts of them in the process (with the remaining portions locked in the publisher's vault and unavailable for review by Nilsen or other investigators), and added various fictional elements, including the overdose death. Although Sparks did not confirm or deny the allegations that the diarist's parents had threatened a lawsuit, she did say that in order to get a release from the parents, she had only sought to use the diaries as a "basis to which she would add other incidents and thoughts gleaned from similar case studies," according to Nilsen. Nilsen wrote that Sparks now wanted to be seen as the author of the popular "Go Ask Alice" in order to promote additional books in the same vein that she had published or was planning to publish. (These books included "Jay's Journal", another alleged diary of a real teenager that Sparks was later accused of mostly authoring herself.) Nilsen concluded, "The question of how much of "Go Ask Alice" was written by the real Alice and how much by Beatrice Sparks can only be conjectured." Journalist Melissa Katsoulis, in her 2009 history of literary hoaxes "Telling Tales", wrote that Sparks was never able to substantiate her claim that "Go Ask Alice" was based on the real diary of a real girl and that copyright records continued to list her as the sole author of the work. Urban folklore expert Barbara Mikkelson of snopes.com has written that even before the authorship revelations, ample evidence indicated that "Go Ask Alice" was not an actual diary. According to Mikkelson, the writing style and content—including a lengthy description of an LSD trip but relatively little about "the loss of [the diarist's] one true love", school, gossip or ordinary "chit-chat"— seems uncharacteristic of a teenage girl's diary. The sophisticated vocabulary of the diary suggested that it had been written by an adult rather than a teen. Mikkelson also noted that in the decades since the book's publication, no one who knew the diarist had ever been tracked down by a reporter or otherwise spoken about or identified the diarist. In hindsight, commentators have suggested various motivations for the publishers to present "Go Ask Alice" as the work of an anonymous deceased teenager, such as avoiding literary criticism, lending validity to an otherwise improbable story, and stimulating young readers' interest by having the book's anti-drug advice come from a teenager rather than an adult. Sparks said that while there were "many reasons" for publishing the book anonymously, her main reason was to make it more credible to young readers. Although the book has been classified as fiction (see Treatment of book as fiction and non-fiction), the publisher has continued to list its author as "Anonymous". Controversies involving other works by Sparks. Sparks was involved in a similar controversy regarding the veracity of her second diary project, the 1979 book "Jay's Journal". It was allegedly the real diary, edited by Sparks, of a teenage boy who committed suicide after becoming involved with the occult. The publisher's initial marketing of the book raised questions about whether Sparks had edited a real teenager's diary or written a fictional diary, and recalled the same controversy with respect to "Go Ask Alice". Later, the family of real-life teenage suicide Alden Barrett contended that "Jay's Journal" used 21 entries from Barrett's real diary that the family had given to Sparks, but that the other 191 entries in the published book had been fictionalized or fabricated by Sparks, and that Barrett had not been involved with the occult or "devil worship". Sparks went on to produce numerous other books presented as diaries of anonymous troubled teens (including "Annie's Baby: The Diary of Anonymous, a Pregnant Teenager" and "It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager") or edited transcripts of therapy sessions with teens (including ""). Some commentators have noted that these books use writing styles similar to "Go Ask Alice" and contain similar themes, such as tragic consequences for spending time with bad companions, a protagonist who initially gets into trouble by accident or through someone else's actions, and portrayal of premarital sex and homosexuality as always wrong. Although Sparks was typically listed on these books as editor or preparer, the number of similar books that Sparks published, making her "arguably the most prolific Anonymous author in publishing", fueled suspicions that she wrote "Go Ask Alice". Linda Glovach authorship claims. In a 1998 "New York Times" book review, Mark Oppenheimer suggested that "Go Ask Alice" had at least one author besides Sparks. He identified Linda Glovach, an author of young-adult novels, as "one of the 'preparers'—let's call them forgers—of "Go Ask Alice"", although he did not give his source for this claim. "Publishers Weekly", in a review of Glovach's 1998 novel "Beauty Queen" (which told the story, in diary form, of a 19-year-old girl addicted to heroin), also stated that Glovach was "a co-author of "Go Ask Alice"". Treatment of book as fiction and non-fiction. Following Sparks' statements that she had added fictional elements to "Go Ask Alice", the book was classified by its publishers as fiction (and remains so classified as of 2016) and a disclaimer was added to the copyright page: "This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental." Despite the classification and the disclaimer, "Go Ask Alice" has frequently been taught as non-fiction in schools and sold as non-fiction in bookstores. The publishers also continued to suggest that the book was true by including the "Editors' Note" stating that the book was based on an actual diary, and listing the author as "Anonymous", with no mention of Sparks. As of 2011, a UK paperback edition published and marketed by Arrow Books contained the statement "This Is Alice's True Story" on the front cover. Censorship. "Go Ask Alice" has been a frequent target of censorship challenges due to its inclusion of profanity and references to runaways, drugs, sex and rape. Alleen Pace Nilsen wrote that in 1973, "Go Ask Alice" was ""the" book that teens wanted to read and that adults wanted to censor" and that the censors "felt the book did more to glorify sex and drugs than to frighten kids away from them." Challenges began in the early 1970s following the initial publication of the book, and continued at a high rate through the ensuing decades. Some challenges resulted in the removal of the book from libraries, or in parental permission being required for a student to check the book out of a library. According to "The New York Times", in the 1970s it became common practice for school libraries to keep "Go Ask Alice" off library shelves and make it available to students only upon request, a practice which was criticized as being a form of censorship. A 1982 survey of school librarians across the United States, co-sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English, found that "Go Ask Alice" was the most frequently censored book in high school libraries. Decades after its original publication, "Go Ask Alice" became one of the most challenged books of the 1990s and 2000s. On the American Library Association (ALA) list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the 1990s, "Go Ask Alice" was ranked at number 25; on the ALA list compiled for the 2000s, it rose to position 18. The likely authoring of the book by one or more adults rather than by an unnamed teenage girl has not been an issue in censorship disputes. Nilsen and others have criticized this on the basis that the dishonesty of presenting a probable fake memoir to young readers as real should raise greater concerns than the content. Adaptations. The ABC television network broadcast a made-for-television movie, "Go Ask Alice", based on the book. It starred Jamie Smith-Jackson, William Shatner, Ruth Roman, Wendell Burton, Julie Adams, and Andy Griffith. Also among the cast were Robert Carradine, Mackenzie Phillips, and Charles Martin Smith. The film was promoted as an anti-drug film based on a true story. The film was first aired as the "ABC Movie of the Week" on January 24, 1973. It was subsequently rebroadcast on October 24, 1973 and the network also made screening copies available to school, church and civic groups upon request. The film drew generally good reviews (with one critic calling it "the finest anti-drug drama ever presented by TV"), but was also criticized for lacking the complexity of the book and for not offering any solutions to the problem of teen drug addiction. The adaptation by Ellen Violett was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 1976, a stage play version of the book, adapted by Frank Shiras, was published by The Dramatic Publishing Company. The play has been produced by various high school and community theatre groups. In popular culture. Stand-up comedian Paul F. Tompkins' 2009 comedy album "Freak Wharf" contains a track titled "Go Ask Alice" in which he derides the book as "the phoniest of balonies" and jokingly suggests it was authored by the writing staff of the police drama series "Dragnet". The album title comes from a passage in the book in which the diarist refers to a mental hospital as a "freak wharf".

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The Midnight Line The Midnight Line is a novel by British writer Lee Child. This is the twenty-second book in the Jack Reacher series. The book was released on 7 November 2017. The plot finds Reacher once again in the Midwest, this time being thrust into an investigation involving the illegal opioid trade, the pharmaceutical companies that often turn a blind eye in the name of profits, and the people dependent on them. Plot summary. After spending the night with a woman named Michelle Chang (from "Make Me"), Jack Reacher is traveling through Wisconsin when he happens to stop at a pawnshop selling an unusual item: a 2005 West Point class ring. Unwilling to accept that such a priceless thing would be willingly sold, Jack suspects it to be stolen and decides against leaving town. He questions the pawnbroker and learns that the ring was sold to him by a biker named Jimmy Rat. Reacher beats up Rat's gang and learns that the ring originally belonged to a fence named Arthur Scorpio, who runs a laundromat in Rapid City, South Dakota. Reacher leaves town, aware that Rat has already warned Scorpio of his plans. In Rapid City, Reacher encounters two other people with an interest in Scorpio: Gloria Nakamura, a detective who has tried and failed for years to find incriminating evidence of Scorpio's criminal enterprise, and Terrence Bramall, a private investigator hired by Tiffany Jane Mackenzie, a woman searching for her missing twin sister Serena Rose Sanderson, who Reacher learns, through a sympathetic general at West Point, is the owner of the ring. Reacher allows himself to be picked up by Scorpio's men and then subdues them in less than three seconds. In turn, Scorpio provides him with the name of Seymour Porterfield, the man who originally gave him the ring, but secretly instructs an associate of his, Billy, to kill Reacher before he finds Seymour. Reacher travels to Mule Crossing, a rural town in Wyoming, where Porterfield last lived. A local shopkeep reveals that Sy has been dead for well over a year, supposedly killed by a wild bear. Bramall runs into Reacher at Billy's house, and the two agree to partner up, at least temporarily. They search Sy's house, and find evidence that a woman was living with him. Mackenzie shows up, having grown impatient with Bramall's lack of results, and Reacher reveals his growing suspicion that both Rose and Sy were involved with the illegal opioid trade, which is subsequently confirmed by Kirk Noble, a DEA agent who asks Reacher to keep him informed if he finds Rose or Billy. While looking for a new lead on Rose's location, three junkies try to scare the group off, but Reacher intimidates them into leaving. The men turn out to be friends of Rose, and when Reacher convinces them that they mean no harm, they are taken to see Rose, who has been in hiding since an IED in Afghanistan shredded her face, leaving her disfigured and in constant pain, making her dependent on opioids. Fearing that her sister will die, Mackenzie formulates a plan to move her to her home in Illinois, where her addiction can be treated in secret. Before they can leave, Stackley, a dealer who has taken over Billy's operation following the latter's disappearance, bribes the junkies to kill Reacher. One is accidentally shot and dies, and Reacher forces the others to lure Stackley into a trap; Rose manages to kill him with a rifle. As Rose will likely die without a new supply of opioids, Reacher, Bramall, and Mackenzie steal what she needs from Stackley's suppliers, and Reacher cuts a deal with Noble to protect Rose from having to testify against the dealers on the DEA's behalf. Nakamura attempts to arrest Scorpio, who she realizes is the head of the operation, but he chains her to a table. Reacher then confronts Scorpio and stuffs him in a mechanical dryer, while the DEA receives sufficient information to arrest a Col. Bateman, a corrupt Marine officer who had framed Seymour (driving him to commit suicide) for trying to expose his theft of military opioid supplies for resale to Scorpio. Reacher returns Rose's ring to her, and she promises to get clean before she, Bramall, and Mackenzie drive off. Reacher then hitches another ride out of South Dakota, heading towards Kansas.

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Cherry (novel) Cherry is a 2018 debut novel by American author Nico Walker. It concerns an unnamed narrator's time in college, as a soldier during the War in Iraq, and life as a drug addict and bank robber after returning from the war during the midst of the American opioid epidemic. It was published by Alfred A. Knopf on August 14, 2018. The book is an example of autofiction, as the author was a military veteran who struggled with drug addiction and robbed banks, but there are several differences between Walker's real-life actions and the book's contents. Plot summary. The unnamed narrator, a young man from Cleveland, drops out of college and enlists in the United States Army as a medic during the Iraq War. Suffering from PTSD, the narrator starts self-medicating with opiates while deployed and continues once back home. His opioid use quickly becomes a devastating addiction that hurts his attempts at furthering his education and his personal relationships. After entering into a relationship with a woman who enables his opioid abuse, the narrator begins to run out of money, and decides to start robbing banks to pay for his habit. Development. Writing. Walker had been in a federal prison in Ashland, Kentucky, for bank robbery since 2013, and wrote the book on a typewriter over the course of several years. He was released from prison early, in October 2019. Cover. Janet Hansen, a designer at Alfred Knopf, created the book cover, which features a skull originally by Swedish graphic designer Daniel Bjugård. Walker’s literary agent dismissed an earlier version as it "[looked] like it should be sold in Hot Topic". Reception. The book was published to positive reviews and "near-universal praise" as per the review aggregator website Book Marks and Vulture.com, respectively. Book Marks reported that 54% of critics gave the book a "rave" review, whilst 31% of the critics expressed "positive" impressions, based on a sample of 13 reviews. "Cherry" debuted at number 14 on "The New York Times" bestseller list. The book and the film adaptation have been criticized for presenting the bank robber sympathetically, while overlooking the innocent victims of the crime, such as the Black bank teller. Film adaptation. Because Walker only had limited phone access while in prison, the negotiations for a film adaptation were unusually long. Days after publication, filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, through their studio AGBO, bought the production rights for $1 million then signed on to direct and produce from a screenplay by Jessica Goldberg. In March 2019, it was confirmed that Tom Holland was cast in the lead role. Filming began in October 2019. Ciara Bravo, Bill Skarsgård, Jack Reynor, Jeff Wahlberg, Kyle Harvey, Forrest Goodluck and Michael Gandolfini were added in October. Filming wrapped on January 20, 2020. After early distribution talks with Netflix, the Russo brothers struck a deal with Apple TV+ in September 2020. "Cherry" was theatrically released February 26, 2021 and premiered on the streaming service on March 12, 2021.

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Porno (novel) Porno is a novel published in 2002 by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, the sequel to "Trainspotting". The book describes the characters of "Trainspotting" ten years after the events of the earlier book, as their paths cross again, this time with the pornography business as the backdrop rather than heroin use (although numerous drugs, particularly cocaine are mentioned throughout). A number of characters from "Glue" make an appearance as well. This sequel picks up ideas of the film adaptation of "Trainspotting". One example is the fact that "Spud" has received his share of the drug money, which is shown in the film, but only alluded to in the book. Plot summary. The novel is divided into three sections, each of which comprises chapters with different narrators. Unlike "Trainspotting" which had more narrational diversity, "Porno" is reduced to just five narrators: Sick Boy, Renton, Spud, Begbie and Nikki. Another difference from the format of "Trainspotting" is that each character has a defined chapter heading depending on what chapter it is. For instance, Sick Boy's chapters all begin with "Scam..." and then a number in front of a "#". Renton's all begin with "Whores of Amsterdam Pt..." Spud's chapters are just narrative, Begbie's are in capitals, and Nikki's are quotes from the chapter, for example "...A SIMON DAVID WILLIAMSON PRODUCTION...". Each narrator is associated with a distinctive prose style. Renton, Sick Boy, and Nikki's chapters are written almost entirely in "standard" English while Begbie and Spud's chapters are in Scots. For example, in Chapter 25, Spud narrates, "So ah'm downcast git intae the library, thinkin tae masel" ("So I'm downcast when I get into the library thinking to myself"). He also repeats certain words when talking such as "catboy" or "cat", "likes" or "likesay", and "ken?" Begbie often swears a lot during his chapters. Sick Boy's returning grandiose nature is featured in imagined interviews with John Gibson of the "Evening News" and Alex McLeish. Section 1: Stag. Simon 'Sick Boy' Williamson leaves the London crack scene and returns to Leith when he comes into ownership of his aunt's pub. Convinced that the area is destined to become a social and cultural hub, Simon decides to focus his energy into making the pub an upper class establishment. Nikki Fuller-Smith is a university student who works part-time in a massage parlour. Rab, a university acquaintance, introduces her to his friend Terry Lawson and his underground, home-made pornography operation. The scene interests Nikki. Danny 'Spud' Murphy has been regularly attending group sessions in an attempt to kick his drug habit. His relationship with his partner Alison is estranged and Spud feels like he has become a burden on her. He considers his life insurance policy and contemplates suicide. Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, Mark Renton is co-owner of a successful nightclub. One night, a DJ from his hometown (Carl Ewart from Welsh's previous novel "Glue") plays at one of his clubs and recognises him. When Sick Boy learns of Terry's operation, he offers the use of the upstairs bar to shoot some scenes. During their first meeting, the group begins planning to shoot a full length adult film. The first section concludes with "OOTSIDE", a chapter noting the release into society of Francis Begbie. Section 2: Porno. While in prison, Begbie received anonymous packages of gay porn sent from Sick Boy. He was determined to find the culprit upon his release. While accompanying an old friend on a debt collection errand, he meets Kate and begins a relationship with her. When Alison begins working at Sick Boy's pub and Sick Boy deliberately attempts to end her relationship with Spud, the friendship between Spud and Sick Boy is over. During one heated argument, Spud reveals that he received his share of the money from Renton. He also unveils his recent ambition, to write a history of Leith. Begbie visits Sick Boy's pub. As the two converse, Sick Boy considers the merciless trait of opportunity and threat accompanying Begbie's release. Soon after, Terry, Rab and several other friends arrive and begin discussing their upcoming road trip to Amsterdam, a bachelor celebration for Rab. Sick Boy is initially reluctant to attend but changes his mind after Carl, a DJ, mentions that Renton works at a club there. Section 3: Exhibition. Sick Boy's "Porno" shoot becomes a slow demolition of his so-called mates. Spud ends their friendship when Sick Boy tells him he was using him for the purpose of a scam, Nikki becomes disillusioned with him after realising that he really has no loving side and really is the cold-hearted, deceitful man that she tried desperately to ignore. Begbie grows tired of Sick Boy being 'smarmy', although Begbie becomes angry with everyone in due course. Spud tries to provoke Begbie into killing him so his wife Alison will profit from his life insurance. As Begbie is angrily beating Spud, Alison and the couple's young son burst in, stopping them. Spud is severely injured, but his last narration implies that he can see life getting better. The biggest departure Sick Boy has from his life is Renton. After promising to meet Sick Boy in Cannes, Renton instead goes to Zurich to empty their joint account and then start a new life in San Francisco. This deception is the biggest blow to Sick Boy as he obviously treasured their unconventional friendship and cannot believe he was tricked by Renton again. Begbie later discovers Renton while visiting Leith and is hit by a car while running across the road to assault him. While Renton would have expected to feel happy by this he is heartbroken and comforts Begbie while he is taken to hospital. It is indicated that as Begbie slips into a coma he may have forgiven Renton. After learning that Begbie has fallen into a coma, Renton flees the country with Nikki and Diane, as well as Sick Boy's £60,000 made from a financial fraud. The book ends with Begbie suddenly coming awake as Sick Boy confesses everything in hope that Begbie will resume his bloodthirsty hunt for Renton. Major themes. Welsh picks up upon ways in which Edinburgh has changed. Film adaptation. Danny Boyle stated his wish to make a sequel to "Trainspotting" based on "Porno" which takes place nine years later. He was reportedly waiting until the original actors themselves age visibly enough to portray the same characters, ravaged by time; Boyle joked that the natural vanity of actors would make it a long wait. On 10 September 2009, Robert Carlyle revealed that Boyle was "edging closer" to making "Porno". Carlyle, who played Begbie in the film, said he would "jump through hoops of fire backwards" for the filmmaker and would "do "Porno" tomorrow for nothing." Ewan McGregor, who played anti-hero Renton, expressed his reluctance to do a sequel saying it would be a "terrible shame". Boyle and McGregor had not worked together since 1997's "A Life Less Ordinary", when McGregor was passed over in favour of Leonardo DiCaprio for the lead role in Boyle's big screen adaptation of Alex Garland's novel, "The Beach". In 2013, McGregor noted that he was "ready to work" on the film with Boyle after reconciling. In 2013 Boyle said that any sequel to "Trainspotting" would be loosely based on "Porno". On 6 May 2014, Welsh confirmed that he had spent a week with Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and the creative team behind "Trainspotting" to discuss the sequel. Welsh stated that the meeting was in order to "explore the story and script ideas. We're not interested in doing something that will trash the legacy of "Trainspotting"... we want to do something that's very fresh and contemporary." On 17 November 2014, Welsh revealed that McGregor and Boyle had resolved their differences and had held meetings about the film, saying "I know Danny and Ewan are back in touch with each other again. There are others in the cast who’ve had a rocky road, but now also reconciled. With the "Trainspotting" sequel the attention is going to be even more intense this time round because the first was such a great movie - and Danny’s such a colossus now. We’re all protective of the Trainspotting legacy and we want to make a film that adds to that legacy and doesn’t take away from it." Filming on a sequel to "Trainspotting" began in May 2016, with all the major cast members reprising their roles and Danny Boyle directing. It was released on 27 January 2017.

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Miss MacIntosh, My Darling Miss MacIntosh, My Darling is a novel by Marguerite Young. She has described it as "an exploration of the illusions, hallucinations, errors of judgment in individual lives, the central scene of the novel being an opium addict's paradise." The novel is one of the longest ever written. Writing the novel. Young began writing the novel in 1947, expecting it would take two years. She worked on it daily, and did not finish until 1964. Young has said that had she known it would have taken her so long she would never have started. Young had been encouraged by Maxwell Perkins, when she submitted a 40-page initial manuscript for the novel, then named "Worm in the Wheat". Over the years, staff at Scribner's had read portions of the work-in-progress. Nevertheless, the full manuscript was something of a surprise when delivered in February 1964: The book was typeset by computer and consumed "38 miles of computer tape". According to the dust jacket, In a 1993 interview, Young confirmed the story. During the interview, Young stated that Miss MacIntosh was the only invented character in the novel, the rest having all been based on real people. She also said that she had thought that What Cheer, Iowa was a fictional place. Character summary. The following brief summaries refer to the "core" descriptions, which are frequently questioned and contradicted. Some are inconsistent, as in dreams. Sources. Minna K. Weissenbach, a rich patron of Edna St. Vincent Millay, also known as the opium lady of Hyde Park, was the inspiration for Catherine Cartwheel. Harriet Monroe, the founding editor of "Poetry", was the inspiration for Hannah Freemount-Snowden. Howard Mitcham, a deaf Greenwich Village artist and bohemian, was the inspiration for the stone-deaf man. Influence and reception. As she worked on "The Accidental Tourist", Anne Tyler cured spells of writer's block by reading pages from "Miss MacIntosh" at random. "Whatever page I turned to, it seemed, a glorious wealth of words swooped out at me." Tyler made Young's novel a traveling companion for her main character Macon Leary. A hardcover edition of the book was used as a prop in William Hurt's suitcase in the film adaptation. Anaïs Nin, a friend and neighbor of Young, apparently the novel's first reader, wrote a review for the "Los Angeles Times". This review also appeared in the sixth volume of her diaries after their publication It served as an introduction to the 1979 Harcourt Brace Jovanovich paperback edition. A number of writers have given the work high praise. Further reading. Wakeman, John (ed.) "World Authors 1950-1970", H. W. Wilson, New York (1975). Fuchs, Miriam (ed) "Marguerite Young, Our Darling" (Dalkey Archive Press, 1994)

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A Million Little Pieces A Million Little Pieces is a book by James Frey, originally sold as a memoir and later marketed as a semi-fictional novel following accusations of literary forgery. It tells the story of a 23-year-old alcoholic and abuser of other drugs and how he copes with rehabilitation in a twelve steps-oriented treatment center. While initially promoted as a memoir, it later emerged that many of the events described in the book never happened. Summary. A badly tattered James wakes up on a commercial flight to Chicago, with injuries that he has no recollection of having sustained or of how he ended up on the plane. He is met by his parents at the airport, who take him to a rehabilitation clinic. It is revealed that James is 23 years old, and has been an alcoholic for ten years, and a crack addict for three. He is also wanted by the police in three states on several charges. As he checks into the rehab clinic, he is forced to quit his substance abuse, a transition that later probably saves his life, whilst also an agonizing process. As part of this, he is forced to undergo a series of painful root canals, without any anesthesia because of possible negative reactions to the drugs. He copes with the pain by squeezing tennis balls until his nails crack. The book follows Frey through the painful experiences that lead up to his eventual release from the center, including his participation in the clinic's family program with his parents, despite his strong desire not to. Throughout the novel, Frey speaks of the "Fury" he is fighting, which he sees as the cause of his desire to drink alcohol and use other drugs. The "Fury" could be seen as the antagonist of the novel, because he believes that he will not be able to recover until he learns to ignore it or "kill" it. Frey meets many interesting people in the clinic, with whom he forms relationships and who play an important role in his life both during and after his time in the clinic. These people include a mafia boss who plays a vital role in his recovery (subject of Frey's subsequent book "My Friend Leonard"), and a female drug addict with whom he falls in love, despite strict rules forbidding contact between men and women at the clinic. James finally recovers and never relapses. Style. A notable feature of "Pieces" is its lack of quotation marks to indicate direct quotes or dialogue. Instead, a new line is started each time someone speaks. The fact that the author uses this same style to indicate his internal thoughts, often interspersed between direct dialogue from himself and others, gives the book a unique and sometimes confusing writing style, purportedly reflecting the nature of his experience in the treatment center. Frey makes frequent use of this stream of consciousness writing technique, which is intended to allow the reader to better understand his version of the events. Frey's unique writing style also involves capitalizing nouns throughout the book for unclear reasons. Frey also uses heavy repetition of words throughout the text. Reception. The book was released on April 15, 2003, by Doubleday Books, a division of Random House, and received mixed feedback. While some critics, such as Pat Conroy, praised the book, calling it "the "War and Peace" of addiction", others were not as impressed by the gruesome nature of the book and Frey's overall attitude that sets the tone for the book. For example, critic Julian Keeling, a recovering addict, stated that "Frey's stylistic tactics are irritating...none of this makes the reader feel well-disposed towards him". Also, author Heather King said that ""A Million Little Pieces" rings false". Poet and author John Dolan roundly criticized the book, saying: He was also scathing about the writing style, which he described as a "childish impersonation of the laconic Hemingway style", and referred to it as a "novel" several times. In September 2005, the book was picked as an Oprah's Book Club selection, and shortly thereafter became the number one paperback non-fiction book on Amazon.com, and topped The New York Times Best Seller list for fifteen straight weeks. By January 28, 2006, it had fallen to number four on the Amazon.com list with Winfrey's following selection, "Night" by Elie Wiesel, taking over the top position. The book garnered international attention in January 2006 after it was reported that it contained fabrications and was not, as originally represented by the author and publisher, a completely factual memoir. In October 2017, it was announced that director Sam Taylor-Johnson and actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson were working on a film adaptation of the novel. Controversy. After a six-week investigation, "The Smoking Gun" published an article on January 8, 2006, called "A Million Little Lies". The article described fabrications in Frey's account of his drug abuse experiences, life, and criminal record. According to CNN, "The Smoking Gun"'s editor, William Bastone, said "the probe was prompted after the Oprah show aired". He further stated, "We initially set off to just find a mug shot of him... It basically set off a chain of events that started with us having a difficult time finding a booking photo of this guy". The Minneapolis "Star Tribune" had questioned James Frey's claims as early as 2003. Frey responded at that time by saying, "I've never denied I've altered small details." Stories surfaced about Random House, publisher of "A Million Little Pieces", deciding to give full refunds to anyone who had purchased the book directly through it. According to a Gawker.com report, customers could have a claim to money if they truly felt deceived by Frey. In an article detailing the book, Frey is quoted saying he "stands by the book as being the essential truth of my life". However, on January 26, 2006, Frey once again appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and this time admitted that the same "demons" that had made him turn to alcohol and other drugs had also driven him to fabricate crucial portions of his "memoir", it first having been shopped as being a novel but declined by many, including Random House itself. Winfrey told Frey that she felt "really duped" but that, "more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers." She also apologized for her previous telephoned statement to "Larry King Live"—during Frey's appearance on that show on January 11, 2006—that what mattered was not the truth of Frey's book, but its value as a therapeutic tool for addicts. She said, "I left the impression that the truth is not important." During the show, Winfrey interrogated Frey about everything from the number of root canals he had to the existence of his girlfriend, Lilly. Winfrey then brought out Frey's publisher, Nan Talese, to defend her decision to classify the book as a memoir, and forced Talese to admit that she had done nothing to check the book's veracity, despite the fact that her representatives had assured Winfrey's staff that the book was indeed non-fiction and described it as "brutally honest" in a press release. David Carr of "The New York Times" wrote, "Both Mr. Frey and Ms. Talese were snapped in two like dry winter twigs." "Oprah annihilates Frey", proclaimed Larry King. "The New York Times" columnist Maureen Dowd wrote, "It was a huge relief, after our long national slide into untruth and no consequences, into swiftboating and swift bucks, into W.'s delusion and denial, to see the Empress of Empathy icily hold someone accountable for lying", and "The Washington Post"'s Richard Cohen was so impressed by the confrontation that he crowned Winfrey "Mensch of the Year". All of Winfrey's reactions, as well as video clips of her interview with Frey, are found within her book club's website. On January 13, 2006, Steven Levitt, co-author of the book "Freakonomics", stated in his blog that, having searched the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database of mortality detail records, he was unable to identify a single death that reasonably closely matched Frey's description of the circumstances of the death of "Lilly", Frey's alleged girlfriend in the book. Following Frey's admission to Winfrey that he had altered Lilly's method of suicide in the book from cutting her wrists to hanging, on January 27, 2006, Levitt recorded on his blog that he was again unable to find a recorded death consistent with Frey's revised description, having previously written, "Frey's primary defense has been to say that his criminal history is a minor part of the book and these inconsistencies do not substantively change the meaning of the story. Of course, his criminal history is the only thing that thesmokinggun.com actually looked into. Given that virtually nothing checked out, it doesn't bode well for the veracity of the rest of the book." Reactions to controversy. The publishers of the book, Doubleday and Anchor Books, initially stood by Frey, but further examination of the evidence eventually caused the publishers to alter their stances. They released a statement noting, "When the Smoking Gun report appeared, our first response, given that we were still learning the facts of the matter, was to support our author. Since then, we have questioned him about the allegations and have sadly come to the realization that a number of facts have been altered and incidents embellished." As a consequence, the publishers decided to include a publisher's note and an author's note from Frey as disclaimers to be included in future publications. According to the source at the company, there had been some disagreement among editors at the publishing house about Mr. Frey's authenticity, but the early dissenters had been silenced by the book's commercial success, both pre- and post-Oprah. Random House issued a statement regarding the controversy. It noted that future editions of the book would contain notes from both the publisher and Frey on the text, as well as prominent notations on the cover and on their website about the additions. On September 12, 2006, Frey and publisher Random House, Inc. reached a tentative legal settlement, where readers who felt that they had been defrauded by Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" would be offered a refund. In order to receive the refund, customers must submit a proof of purchase, pieces of the book itself (page 163 from the hard cover edition or the front cover from the paperback), and complete a sworn statement indicating that they purchased the book under the assumption that it was a memoir. In Frey's note to readers, which will be included in future editions of the book, he apologized for fabricating portions of his book and for having made himself seem "tougher and more daring and more aggressive than in reality I was, or I am." He added, Frey admitted that he had literary reasons for his fabrications, as well: Nevertheless, he defended the right of memoirists to draw upon their memories, not simply upon documented facts, in creating their memoirs. Additionally, Frey has discussed the controversy and stated his side of the argument on his blog. Shortly after Frey's return to the Oprah Winfrey show, the Brooklyn Public Library went as far as recataloging Frey's book as fiction, although it appears most other libraries have not followed suit. The New York Times Best Seller list still includes it on the Paperback Nonfiction List as of September 2006. Regardless of this controversy, the book has been published in twenty-nine languages worldwide and has sold over 5 million copies. The majority of these sales occurred after Oprah announced it as the new Oprah's Book Club book. On January 18, 2006, Marty Angelo, prison minister and author of the book "Once Life Matters: A New Beginning", came to the defense of James Frey in a press release. While Angelo did not condone the inclusion of fictional elements in a book marketed as non-fiction, he stated, "The controversy surrounding the recent accusations that Frey embellished some of his statements in his book is relatively minor compared to the fact this man claims he cleared one of the biggest hurdles in his life—his substance abuse. That's the bottom line issue." "Right now the media seems to be negatively attacking the messenger instead of concentrating on promoting the positive message of redemption..." Angelo added. "In terms of the benefit to readers as a self-help book, the message is the key issue, not the minor story details. One needs to stay focused on what the real message is—overcoming addiction." On July 28, 2007, at a literary convention in Texas, Nan Talese spoke of Oprah Winfrey as having been "mean and self-serving" and having had a "holier-than-thou attitude" and "fiercely bad manners" during Winfrey's debate with Talese and James Frey on January 26, 2006. Talese said she and Frey were led to believe the show was going to be a panel discussion on "Truth in America". Just before air time, both Talese and Frey were told the topic of the show had been changed to "The James Frey Controversy", thus the ambush began. Talese stated that Oprah needed to apologize for her behavior on the show. However Joyce Carol Oates said "This is an ethical issue which can be debated passionately and with convincing arguments on both sides. In the end, Oprah Winfrey had to defend her own ethical standards of truth on her television program, which was courageous of her." Talese was unapologetic about publishing Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" and commented the book has great value for anyone who must deal with a loved one who is an addict. Film adaptation. A film version directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson premiered in 2018, with general release in 2019, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson starring.

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The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer is a 1990 spin-off novel from the television series "Twin Peaks" by Jennifer Lynch. Lynch, then aged 22, is the daughter of series co-creator David Lynch. It was published between the airing of the first and second season. The novel is said to be "As seen by Jennifer Lynch," and is written in a matter-of-fact tone from the point of view of Laura Palmer, a small-town teenager —a "good girl gone bad"— who is abused and terrorized by the demonic entity BOB. Lynch says she was told by her father and Mark Frost, co-creator of the series, to "be Laura Palmer," and that she "knew Laura so well it was like automatic writing." Contents. The book begins on Laura's 12th birthday in 1984, and steadily matures in writing style and vocabulary. It recounts standard teenage concerns of her first period, her first kiss, and her relationship with her parents, alongside experiences of sexual abuse, promiscuity, cocaine addiction, and her obsession with death. Laura's poetry foreshadows her murder. In her third diary entry dated 23 July 1984, Laura originally states that she had her first nightmare foreshadowing BOB and his crimes in 1983, at the age of 10 or 11. Two years later, in entries dated 24 April and 22 June 1986, she ambiguously writes that she now "suddenly remembers many things" in detail that she does not want to remember, and cannot tell whether they are real, imagined, or implanted. Eventually, however, she starts to believe her new memories: "I think it's real. I think it's real!". (The concept of repressed vs. false memories is later revisited in "The Secret History of Twin Peaks".) She also writes of having obsessive thoughts and urges about sex and drug use, and expresses fear that God will damn her to Hell. Laura's two new entries in April and June 1986 leave it unclear whether these newly found memories of what BOB has done to her or their implantation at his hands relate to a time after her 1984 entry, or even what she originally thought to be her first dream of BOB in 1983. She indicates several times that her ordeal began "when I stopped skipping the rope", an allusion to the end of childhood and the beginning of adolescence. In two entries a few months later, on 10 and 11 September 1986, she again considers the possibility that BOB is not real, and in the latter states that BOB denies her "adult joys" that her distressing desires demand. In a 10 December 1986 entry, she desperately tries to dispel the notion nagging at her that her sinful "thoughts" are BOB's machinations and tries to claim her desires as her own to take responsibility for them. She is first introduced to cocaine in October 1986, and soon becomes an addict. She notes that, on 10 January 1987, she has a disturbing vision or "dream" in which her father Leland angrily questions her about her recent visits to the local brothel, One-Eyed Jack's. On 3 February 1987, while she is suffering of acute cocaine withdrawal, BOB begins conversing with her through her diary notes; throughout the "conversation", she switches back and forth between her own personality and BOB's. She relapses into addiction on 2 April 1987, shamefully admitting that she "loves sex and drugs". She blames BOB for her relapse and, on 24 June 1987, writes that the demonic entity has taken over her life and robbed her of the ability to think and act for herself. On 12 November 1987, her lovers and drug dealers Leo Johnson and Bobby Briggs find her lying in her pony's stall, too drunk and high to walk. She expresses surprise in her diary that her best friend Donna Hayward is worried about her, thinking that she does not deserve to be loved "because I believe too much in BOB by now". According to that night's entry, the trio spends the rest of the night ("just like Bonnie and Clyde", as Bobby puts it) to drive out with Leo's truck to Low Town a few miles out of Twin Peaks to steal a kilo of cocaine from the local drug syndicate, an undertaking which before long ends in a gang shootout before they arrive home with their new supply. In a cocaine-induced vision, Laura relives the death of her cat Jupiter four years earlier, and runs Leo's truck over another cat that looks just like her deceased pet. The cat's owner, a little girl who resembles a pre-teen Laura, is more shocked by Laura's emotional reaction than the death of her own cat, and she quickly forgives Laura, who is stunned and shamed by the girl's selflessness. She decides to turn her life around and look for a job in the morning. She asks Leo to take her home, but he refuses and forces her to participate in an orgy. When she arrives home in the morning, she discovers BOB in her room. She tries to convince herself that BOB only exists in her head, but he only mocks and verbally abuses her and threatens to return soon. Later, she starts working two jobs for local hotelier Benjamin Horne - babysitting his mentally handicapped son Johnnie and apprenticing in Horne's boutique. In her spare time, she volunteers for Meals on Wheels. She soon falls back into her drug and sex addictions, however, and starts working as a prostitute at One-Eyed Jacks. While at Horne's mansion, she meets therapist Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, who agrees to take her on as a patient. Eventually, they become lovers. Her slow realisation of BOB's identity is described, although pages are 'missing' from the end of the diary (i.e. the text is lacunose), which ends with an undated entry in late 1989, leaving the reader unable to reach a firm conclusion. Lynch said that "the careful reader will know the clues and who the killer is." (Laura's father Leland is revealed to be the killer in the show's second season, as well as the spinoff film "".) Commercial success and editions. The book reached number four on "The New York Times" paperback fiction best seller list in October 1990, though some US book stores refused to stock it due to the graphic content. It was published in the UK by Penguin Books in November 1990. "Entertainment Weekly" called it "gratifyingly faithful to the spirit of "Peaks"." On June 10, 2011, "Twin Peaks" co-creator Mark Frost announced that a new edition of the diary would be published in the fall of 2011, featuring a new foreword by himself and David Lynch. An audiobook was released in May 2017. It is narrated by Sheryl Lee, who played Laura in the TV series.

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Acidity (novelette) Acidity is a dystopian, cyber novelette written by Pakistani journalist and writer, Nadeem F. Paracha. Written exclusively for the website Chowk.com in 2003, it has gone on to become a controversial cult favorite among many young Pakistanis and Indians. Plot summary. While recovering from his addictions, Paracha spent time rearranging these notes using the cut-up method and surrealist automatism. He then turned it all into a work of fiction in which a heroin addict narrates his story set in future Pakistan and India that have turned into capitalist and theistic dystopias. He is a traveler who is always moving up and down both the countries looking for drugs and in the process having hallucinatory dialogues with a Pakistani cleric/Islamic extremist (called in the book as "The Mufti"), a group of Hindu fundamentalists (called "The pundits"), a group of young neoliberals (referred to as "the fun young people" and the "polite voids"), and an aging Indian Christian (called the "Holy Father"). There are also many other characters, but much of the story revolves around these main characters as Paracha constructs his dystopia in which capitalism and organized religion have been fused together as a new totalitarian system. "Acidity" makes a clear comment this way on the rapid economic, political and social changes taking place in India and Pakistan, especially after the end of the Cold War.

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Requiem for a Dream (novel) Requiem for a Dream is a 1978 novel by American writer Hubert Selby Jr., that concerns four New Yorkers whose lives spiral out of control as they succumb to their addictions. Plot. This story follows the lives of Sara Goldfarb, her son Harry, his girlfriend Marion Silver, and his best friend Tyrone C. Love, who are all searching for the key to their dreams in their own ways. In the process, they fall into devastating lives of addiction. Harry and Marion are in love and want to open their own business; their friend Tyrone wants to escape life in the ghetto. To achieve these dreams, they buy a large amount of heroin, planning to get rich by selling it. Sara, Harry's lonely widowed mother, dreams of being on television. When a phone call from a reality show casting company gets her hopes up, she goes to a doctor, who gives her diet pills to lose weight. She spends the next few months on the pills, wanting desperately to look thin on TV and fit into a red dress from her younger days. However, the casting company does not notify her about the details of her show. She becomes addicted to the diet pills and eventually develops amphetamine psychosis after her life continues to go downhill. She eventually ends up in a mental institution, where she undergoes electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Harry, Marion, and Tyrone become addicted to their own product. Eventually, when heroin becomes scarce, they turn on each other, slowly hiding the drugs they obtain from the other two members. On their way to Miami, Harry and Tyrone are arrested, convicted, and sentenced to jail. Harry's arm has become infected from repeated injections, and has to be amputated. Left alone, Marion becomes a prostitute to support her addiction. In jail, Tyrone faces frequent abuse from the guards due to his race. Film adaptation. The novel was later adapted into a critically acclaimed eponymous film, released in 2000. The film was directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans and Ellen Burstyn. Burstyn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Sara.

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Third Girl Third Girl is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1966 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings (18/-) and the US edition at $4.50. It features her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and the recurring character Ariadne Oliver. The novel is notable for being the first in many years in which Poirot is present from beginning to end. It is uncommon in that the investigation includes discovering the first crime, which happens comparatively late in the novel. Plot summary. Norma Restarick seeks help from Poirot, believing she may have committed murder. When she sees him in person, she flees, saying he is too old. He pursues the case finding that Ariadne Oliver sent Norma to him. He believes there is a murder that prompted Norma's fears. Poirot and Mrs Oliver gather information, visiting her parents’ home and her apartment building. Norma does not return home after a weekend visit to her father and stepmother. Mrs Oliver finds her in a café by chance with her boyfriend David. Poirot meets Norma at the café, where she mentions the death again. After describing the odd times where she cannot recall what has happened she leaves in fear again. Mrs Oliver trails David, ending up in the hospital after being coshed on the head upon leaving his art studio. Poirot arranges for Dr Stillingfleet to follow Norma; he pulls her to safety from a close call with speeding traffic and brings her to his place for treatment and for safety. Norma's father Andrew abandoned her and her mother Grace when Norma was about 5 years old. Andrew had run off with a woman in a relationship that ended soon after. He travelled in Africa in financially successful ventures. Norma lived with her mother until Grace's death two and a half years before. Andrew returned to England after his brother Simon died a year earlier, to work in the family firm, arriving with a new young wife. Norma can recognize nothing familiar in this man, but accepts him. Norma is the third girl in her flat in the fashion of young women advertising for a third girl to share the rent. The main tenant is secretary to her newfound father; the other girl, Frances, travels often for the art gallery that employs her. Mrs Oliver learns that a woman in the apartment building had recently died by falling from her window. A week passes before she tells Poirot, who feels this is what bothers Norma. The woman was Louise Charpentier. Norma says that her father ran off with Louise Birell. Later, Mrs Oliver finds a piece of paper linking Louise Charpentier to Andrew. Mary Restarick has been ill from poison in her food. Sir Roderick engages Poirot to find documents missing from his files which encounter brings young Sonia under suspicion. Norma is lured from Dr Stillingfleet by an ad in the newspaper to meet David, and is again drugged. Frances kills David. She sets it up to appear that Norma did it, but the blood on the knife was congealed when Norma found herself holding it. With police and family gathered in the flat, Poirot announces that Andrew did die in Africa. Robert Orwell is posing as her father to gain the wealth of the family. He had David paint portraits of him and his late wife in the style of a painter popular 20 years earlier as part of the ruse. Most cruelly, he and his wife have been giving Norma various drugs that give her hallucinations and an altered sense of time, to set her up as guilty. Further, the wife had poisoned herself hoping to pin that on Norma, too. Louise wrote to Andrew on learning he was back in England, so Frances killed Louise; this is the murder Norma feared she did. The woman posing as her stepmother was also Frances, who used a blonde wig to cover her dark hair when changing roles. Poirot takes the wig from her bag to make that point. Murder of the two who could expose the imposters was just one of her crimes. Sonia is exonerated when she finds the papers Sir Roderick misplaced, and the two will marry. Poirot had chosen Dr Stillingfleet to help him with Norma in hopes the two would marry, and they will. Characters. "Residing at Sir Roderick's home at Long Basing:" "Residing at Borodene Mansions:" Literary significance and reception. Unusually for this period, "The Guardian" did not carry a review of the novel. Maurice Richardson in "The Observer" of 13 November 1966 concluded, "There is the usual double-take surprise solution centring round a perhaps rather artificial identity problem; but the suspense holds up all the way. Dialogue and characters are lively as flies. After this, I shan't be a bit surprised to see A.C. wearing a mini-skirt." Robert Barnard: "One of Christie's more embarrassing attempts to haul herself abreast of the swinging 'sixties. Mrs Oliver plays a large part, detection a small one." References to other works. The novel reintroduces Stillingfleet, a character from the short story "The Dream" and first published in book form in the UK in "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" in 1960, and Mr Goby, whose previous appearance had been in "After the Funeral" in 1953. In Chapter 4, while Poirot is pretending he shares a military history with Sir Roderick, he makes reference to Colonel Race from novels such as Death on the Nile and Cards on the Table, as well as Inspector Giraud from Murder on the Links. Adaptations for television. A television adaptation by Peter Flannery for the series "Agatha Christie's Poirot" starring David Suchet as Poirot and Zoë Wanamaker as Ariadne Oliver was filmed in April and May 2008. It aired on 28 September 2008 on ITV. The adaptation took major liberties with the novel, including the following changes: The novel was also adapted as a 2017 episode of the French television series "Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie". Publication history. Magazine publication. In the US a condensed version of the novel appeared in the April 1967 (Volume 128, Number 6) issue of "Redbook" magazine with a photographic montage by Mike Cuesta. International titles. This novel has been translated to various languages other than its original English. Over 20 are listed here. This is in keeping with the author's reputation for being the most translated author.

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Naked Lunch Naked Lunch (sometimes The Naked Lunch) is a 1959 novel by American writer William S. Burroughs. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes. Burroughs stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order. The reader follows the narration of junkie William Lee, who takes on various aliases, from the U.S. to Mexico, eventually to Tangier and the dreamlike Interzone. The vignettes (which Burroughs called "routines") are drawn from Burroughs' own experiences in these places and his addiction to drugs: heroin, morphine and, while in Tangier, majoun (a strong hashish confection), as well as a German opioid with the brand name Eukodol (oxycodone), of which he wrote frequently. The novel was included in "Time"'s "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005". In 1991, David Cronenberg directed a film of the same name based on the novel and other Burroughs writings. Title origin. The book was originally published with the title "The Naked Lunch" in Paris in July 1959 by Olympia Press. Because of US obscenity laws, a complete American edition (by Grove Press) did not follow until 1962. It was titled "Naked Lunch" and was substantially different from the Olympia Press edition because it was based on an earlier 1958 manuscript in Allen Ginsberg's possession. The article "the" in the title was never intended by the author, but added by the editors of the Olympia Press 1959 edition. Nonetheless "The Naked Lunch" remained the title used for the 1968 and 1974 Corgi Books editions, and the novel is often known by the alternative name, especially in the UK where these editions circulated. Burroughs states in his introduction that Jack Kerouac suggested the title. "The title means exactly what the words say: "naked" lunch, a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork." In a June 1960 letter to Allen Ginsberg, Kerouac said that he was pleased that Burroughs had credited him with the title. He states that Ginsberg misread "Naked Lust" from the manuscript, and only he noticed. Kerouac did not specify which manuscript and critics could only speculate until 2003 when Burroughs scholar Oliver Harris established that, in his Lower East Side apartment in fall 1953, Ginsberg had been reading aloud to Kerouac from the manuscript of "Queer", which Burroughs had just brought with him from Mexico City. For the next five years, Burroughs used the title to refer to a three-part work made up of "Junk", "Queer" and "Yage", corresponding to his first three manuscripts, before it came to describe the book later published as "Naked Lunch", which was based largely on his 1957 "Interzone" manuscript. Editions. Upon publication, Grove Press added to the book supplementary material regarding the censorship battle as well as an article written by Burroughs on the topic of drug addiction. In 2001, a "restored text" edition of "Naked Lunch" was published with some new and previously suppressed material added. Plot summary. "Naked Lunch" is a non-linear narrative without a clear plot. The following is a summary of some of the events in the book that could be considered the most relevant. The book begins with the adventures of William Lee (also known as "Lee the Agent"), who is Burroughs' alter ego in the novel. His journey starts in the U.S. where he is fleeing the police in search of his next fix. There are short chapters describing the different characters he travels with and meets along the way. Eventually he gets to Mexico where he is assigned to Dr. Benway; for what, he is not told. Benway appears and he tells about his previous doings in Annexia as a "Total Demoralizator." The story then moves to a state called Freeland, a form of limbo, where we learn of Islam Inc. Here, some new characters are introduced, such as Clem, Carl, and Joselito. A short section then jumps in space and time to a marketplace. The Black Meat is sold here and compared to "junk", i.e. heroin. The action then moves back to the hospital where Benway is fully revealed as a manipulative sadist. Time and space again shift the narrative to a location known as Interzone. Hassan, one of the notable characters of the book and "a notorious liquefactionist", is throwing a violent orgy. AJ crashes the party and wreaks havoc, decapitating people and imitating a pirate. Hassan is enraged and tells AJ never to return, calling him a "factualist bitch," a term which is enlarged much later when the apparently "clashing" political factions within Interzone are described. These include the Liquefactionists, the Senders, the Factualists, and the Divisionists (who occupy "a midway position"). A short descriptive section tells of Interzone University, where a professor and his students are ridiculed; the book moves on to an orgy that AJ throws. The book then shifts back to the market place and a description of the totalitarian government of Annexia. Characters including the County Clerk, Benway, Dr. Berger, Clem and Jody are sketched through heavy dialogue and their own sub-stories. After the description of the four parties of Interzone, we are told more stories about AJ. After briefly describing Interzone, the novel breaks into sub-stories and heavily cut-up influenced passages. In a sudden return to what seems to be Lee's reality, two police officers, Hauser and O'Brien, catch up with Lee, who kills both of them. Lee then goes out to a street phone booth and calls the Narcotics Squad, saying he wants to speak to O'Brien. A Lieutenant Gonzales on the other end of the line claims there's no one in their records called O'Brien. When Lee asks for Hauser instead, the reply is identical; Lee hangs up, and goes on the run once again. The book then becomes increasingly disjointed and impressionistic, and finally simply stops. Literary significance and reception. "Naked Lunch" is considered Burroughs' seminal work. Extremely controversial in both its subject matter and its use of obscene language (something Burroughs recognized and intended), the book was banned in Boston and Los Angeles in the United States, and several European publishers were harassed. It was one of the more recent American books over which an obscenity trial has been held. The book was banned in Boston in 1962 due to obscenity (notably child murder and acts of pedophilia), making it among the last works to be banned in that city, but that decision was reversed in 1966 by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The Appeals Court found the book did not violate obscenity statutes, as it was found to have some social value. The hearing included testimony in support of the work by Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer. Sections of the manuscript were published in the Spring 1958 edition of Robert Creeley's "Black Mountain Review" and in the Spring 1958 edition of the University of Chicago student-run publication "Chicago Review". The student edition was not well received, and caused the university administration to discuss the future censorship of the Winter 1959 edition of the publication, resulting in the resignation of all but one of the editors. When the editor Paul Carroll published "BIG TABLE" Magazine (Issue No. 1, Spring 1959) alongside former "Chicago Review" editor Irving Rosenthal, he was found guilty of sending obscene material through the U.S. mail for including "Ten Episodes from "Naked Lunch"", a piece of writing the Judicial Officer for the United States Post Office Department deemed "undisciplined prose, far more akin to the early work of experimental adolescents than to anything of literary merit" and initially judged it as non-mailable under the provisions of . On a more specific level, "Naked Lunch" also protests the death penalty. In Burroughs's "Deposition: A Testimony Concerning A Sickness", "The Blue Movies" (appearing in the vignette "A.J.'s Annual Party") is deemed "a tract against capital punishment." Fans of Beat Generation literature, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker named their band Steely Dan after a "revolutionary" steam-powered dildo mentioned in the novel. Film adaptation. From the 1960s, numerous film-makers considered adapting "Naked Lunch" for the screen. Antony Balch, who worked with Burroughs on a number of short film projects in 1960s, considered making a musical with Mick Jagger in the lead role, but the project fell through when relationships soured between Balch and Jagger. Burroughs himself adapted his book for the never-made film; after Jagger dropped out, Dennis Hopper was considered for the lead role, and at one point game-show producer Chuck Barris was considered a possible financier of the project. In May 1991, rather than attempting a straight adaptation, Canadian director David Cronenberg took a few elements from the book and combined them with elements of Burroughs' life, creating a hybrid film about the writing of the book rather than the book itself. Peter Weller starred as William Lee, the pseudonym Burroughs used when he wrote "Junkie". Comic book adaptation. Italian comics artist Gianluca Lerici, better known under his artistic pseudonym Professor Bad Trip, adapted the novel into a graphic novel titled "Il Pasto Nudo" (1992), published by Shake Edizioni.

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Fiddle City Fiddle City is a novel by Julian Barnes writing under the pseudonym of Dan Kavanagh. It is the second of a four-novel series featuring Duffy, a bisexual private detective with a 'phobia of ticking watches and a penchant for Tupperware'. Originally published by Jonathan Cape in 1981, it was republished by Orion books in 2014. Plot introduction. Heathrow Airport has the nickname of Fiddle City, but for Roy Kendrick who runs a transport business out of the airport, petty thievery has got out of hand as a number of shipments have gone astray and he employs Duffy to investigate. Conveniently McKay, one of Kendrick's employees has recently had a near-fatal car crash on the M4 and Duffy steps into his shoes and works undercover in Kendrick's warehouse. Duffy feels himself being watched by Mrs Boseley the dour HR manager as he uncovers evidence of cocaine smuggling. Reception. David Montrose found the novel less impressive than "Duffy", though interesting in some ways. Richard Brown praised the way in which "Fiddle City" provides 'vivid low-life detail'.

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Nova (novel) Nоva (1968) is a science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany. Nominally space opera, it explores the politics and culture of a future where cyborg technology is universal (the novel is one of the precursors to cyberpunk), yet making major decisions can involve using tarot cards. It has strong mythological overtones, relating to both the Grail Quest and Jason's "Argonautica" for the golden fleece. "Nova" was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1969. In 1984, David Pringle listed it as one of the written since 1949. After Delany completed "Nova" at the age of 25, his published output stopped for several years, although his writing continued. Delany completed the first draft of "Tides of Lust" (author's title, "Equinox") in September 1968 (it appeared in 1973). He first completed "Hogg" in June 1969 (though the novel itself would not appear until 1995). With the publication of his next major novel, "Dhalgren" (1975), however, his style had moved on in experimental directions notably different from that of his earlier work. Synopsis. By the year 3172, political power in the galaxy is split between two factions: the older Earth-based Draco and the historically younger Pleiades Federation. Both have interests in the even newer Outer Colonies, where mines produce trace amounts of the prized power source Illyrion, the superheavy material essential to starship travel and terraforming planets. Caught in a feud between aristocratic and economically powerful families, a scarred and obsessed captain from the Pleiades, Lorq Von Ray, recruits a disparate crew of misfits to aid him in the race with his arch-enemy, Prince Red from Draco's Red Shift Ltd., to gain economic leadership by securing a vastly greater amount of Illyrion directly from the heart of a stellar nova. In doing so, Von Ray will shift the balance of power of the existing galactic order, which will bring about the downfall of the Red family as well as end Earth's dominance over interstellar politics. As the title indicates, the central metaphor for the novel is a nova: the destructive implosion/explosion of an entire sun, which, paradoxically, while it destroys most of a solar system, also creates new elements. In the book, at the eruption of a nova, not only do the laws of physics break down, but so do the laws of politics and psychology. This idea permeates the entire plot and storyline. The characters follow a quest plot line, in which they visit several worlds to gain information necessary to achieve their goal, all the while pursued by the Red family. Although the novel does not indulge the literary experimentation found in Delany's later books, it maintains a high level of innovation. Some chapters end or begin in mid-sentence. Also, the point of view regularly shifts between Lorq, Katin, and the Mouse. Each page in the book carries a header that gives the year and location of the scene on the page itself (e.g., "Draco, Earth, Paris, 3162"). This is useful because of the flashbacks in the long journey around the galaxy. Reception. Algis Budrys, describing Delany as "the best science-fiction writer in the world," praised "Nova" as "highly entertaining to read" and commended Delany's integration of his sociopolitical extrapolation into his story, his accomplished characterization, and his "virtuosity" in presenting the novel's "classically posed scientific puzzle." Characters. The book's third chapter (of seven) is basically a long flashback that shows Lorq and Prince's childhoods and the political background against which the story takes place. Lorq first meets Prince and Ruby when they are all youngsters, during an attempt by their parents to end the feud between the families. The meeting ends, however, in disaster and embarrassment, and the fundamentally cruel natures of both Prince and his father Aaron—as well as the senior Von Ray's innate love of violence—become clear. Motifs. Nova has a number of character motifs in common with Delany's later literary and literary-pornographic works: the Mouse, a damaged artist who wears one shoe as does the Kid in the later "Dhalgren"; Katin, an intellectual and writer who attempts to record the events around him; the twins Lynceos and Idas, one black, the other albino; and Dan, a barefoot derelict, with a rope holding up his pants. The novel, storyline, and themes of "Nova" are multilayered and complex, and lend themselves to numerous interpretations. As the critic Judith Merrill wrote at the book's publication: Space opera. "Nova" takes place in a standard space opera setting with many of the features and tropes peculiar to the genre. Conscientiously the novel emulates many earlier and popular science fiction works. Delany makes an offhand reference to Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy (a random planet is named "Trantor"). Additionally, in one scene, a character has a false tooth with poison hidden in it, a classical trope from many espionage stories, which Frank Herbert's "Dune" had employed three years before. (Unlike in "Dune", in "Nova" it doesn't work.) There is also a strong similarity in names between the scientist, Ashton Clark, who, in "Nova", has invented the cyborg plugs and sockets centuries before, which pervade the novel, and the name of the fantasy and science fiction writer from the 'thirties and 'forties, Clark Ashton Smith. Prince's ability to squeeze sand into glass and quartz fragments strongly parallels the power of many action heroes (most notably Superman), and the idea of aristocratic families feuding in space is found in numerous other space opera novels. The character of Katin is partially written to resemble the classic "bore" in science fiction literature—a character who constantly gives lectures and explanations to describe the universe of the book. In "Nova", however, Katin is constantly ridiculed for filling this role and on occasion is used for comic relief. In keeping with this sort of game-playing, in a scene that takes place in a vast museum, the Alkane, in the city of Phoenix on the planet Vorpis, at one point Lorq and Katin hurry through the "FitzGerald Salon," clearly based on the actual "Rubens Salon" in the Louvre Museum in Paris—after the "Mona Lisa" and the "Raft of the Medusa," probably the Louvre's most impressive holdings. The artist Russell FitzGerald was a good friend of Delany's and did a number of book and magazine covers for him (including the cover for the first edition of "Nova" and the cover for the "Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" edition of "We, in Some Strange Power's Employ, Move on a Rigorous Line" [1968]) and the three covers for the English paperback edition of the three volumes of Delany's Fall of the Towers trilogy. He is thanked at the beginning of "Nova", along with their mutual friend, the poet Helen Adam, for helping with "Grail and Tarot lore." FitzGerald had a basement studio on East 2nd Street in New York City's East Village, modeled after a similar studio used by the Victorian artist and illustrator Aubrey Beardsley and known to FitzGerald's friends as "the Black Studio." There FitzGerald worked on a series of large canvases similar in size to the ones by Rubens that line the walls of the Rubens Salon. Delany often visited the Black Studio and even worked there on "Nova" in his notebook, while FitzGerald worked on his great hyperreal paintings, the two of them drinking white wine together. The museum lamp in "Nova" that allows paintings to be viewed under the same order of light in which they were created grew out of their studio conversations. Eventually FitzGerald did an entire tarot deck, which his friends referred to as "the "Nova" tarot." FitzGerald and "the Black Studio" are the model for the character "Proctor" and "his" studio—and the art objects contained in it—in Delany's novel "Equinox" (1973). For many years Delany hoped that a FitzGerald painting called "Götterdämarung", which he'd painted over the same months as Delany wrote "Nova", would eventually make a color cover for the novel. Alas, it never happened. Those interested in FitzGerald's colorful bisexual life can learn more about him in the biography of the San Francisco poet Jack Spicer, "Poet Be Like God" (Weslyan University Press; Hanover: 1998), by Lewis Ellingham and Kevin Killian. By the time FitzGerald and his wife and family left New York for Vancouver, B.C., the building housing the Black Studio had been taken over by the New York chapter of the Hells Angels (with whom FitzGerald was on good terms), who stayed on there for many years afterward. The tarot and the grail. Within the future society, reading the Tarot is considered both scientific and accurate. The Mouse is actually ridiculed as old-fashioned and uneducated for his skepticism about such things. Much of the story revolves around a tarot reading Tyÿ gives Lorq at the beginning of the second mission, in which she rather successfully predicts the stakes and outcome. For example, "The Tower" appears, indicating that a powerful family (presumably the Reds or Von Rays) will fall, and the large number of pentacles indicates wealth. Prince and Ruby are represented by the "King of Swords" and the "Queen of Swords", respectively. An anomaly in the reading, however, occurs when Tyÿ drops "The Sun"—which Lorq considered to represent a nova—and the Mouse pockets it, thus making it impossible for Tyÿ's reading to include this card. Smaller Tarot readings dot the rest of the novel. As a young child, Lorq receives a reading indicating a death in his family: within a month, his Uncle Morgan is assassinated. Likewise, Lorq's Aunt Cyana (Morgan's widow) has Lorq choose a single Tarot card for insight: it is "The Hanged Man", reversed, indicating that Lorq will succeed in his quest, but at a very high price. Delany makes it clear that the Tarot should not be used for outright prediction. As Katin tells the highly skeptical Mouse: "[T]he cards don't actually predict anything. They simply propagate an educated commentary on present situations[.]" ("Nova", 112). "[Tarot cards] only become superstitious when they are abused, employed to direct rather than guide and suggest." ("Nova", 113) But, as the plot develops, sometimes it's difficult to distinguish clearly between useful "guiding" and abusive (superstitious) "directing." The story of scarred Captain Von Ray's obsessive quest for a nova with his crew of outcasts recalls Melville's tale of wounded Captain Ahab's search for the white whale in "Moby-Dick". (In a 1971 article about the current state of Science Fiction, "Time Magazine" writer R. Z. Shepherd wrote, "["Nova"] suggests "Moby-Dick" at a strobe-light show.") In "Nova", the events are interpreted by Katin as a quest for the Holy Grail, with Illyrion playing the part of the Grail itself. As in the Grail story, there is a failed attempt to gain it, and someone must make a major self-sacrifice (in "Nova", his sanity and senses) in order to succeed. Katin is constantly trying to find a plot for his novel, and finally decides to use Lorq's adventures with Prince and Ruby—immediately noticing the correspondences with the Grail archetype. By the end of the novel, it becomes clear that "Nova" is the book Katin will eventually write. Creativity, art, change, and stagnation. Although the novel takes place in the 32nd century, the society within it is described as highly stagnant, even taking into account the spread of interstellar travel and cyborging. Often, however, the book suggests that those minor characters who repeatedly make this judgment are simply looking for symptoms of change and vitality in the wrong parts of society—a theme "Nova" shares with Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination". Cyana Von Ray Morgan, who is Lorq's aunt and a curator at humanity's largest museum, remarks that one-fourth of the displays at her museum are devoted to the Twentieth century, much the way major museums in Europe and the United States for the last hundred or so years might seem—to some—to have devoted a disproportionate amount of their space to Greek and Roman artifacts. She justifies this by saying that, despite all the progress made by mankind, the Twentieth Century encompasses the greatest change in humanity's fundamental situation: "At the beginning of that amazing century, mankind was many societies living on one world; at its end, it was basically what we are now: an informatively unified society that lived on several worlds." ("Nova", 156) In short, within the fictional future of "Nova", humanity began to colonize space by the end of the Twentieth Century. A few centuries later, and cyborg implants were invented. The combination of increasingly cheap Illyrion (the fuel of starships) and universally adaptable implants has created, by the time of the novel, a highly mobile and transient work force and population. This mobile population has a drawback, however. In a pseudo-intellectual argument raised throughout the novel, characters make reference to a "lack of cultural solidarity" (a concept that vaguely resembles the idea of cultural capital). Because the population is constantly on the move, there is no shared culture, nor have there been any successful attempts to create new broad-based artistic and cultural movements since the end of the Twentieth Century. Characters make frequent references to 20th century culture: at Prince's party in Paris (which takes place in the year 3162), a group of entertainers start performing a song by The Mamas & the Papas. Katin makes an offhand remark that indicates the board game Monopoly (which was invented during the early 20th century) is still in existence, and has even been adapted to the future society. When he needs to name a "Renaissance Man," Katin mentions Bertrand Russell, despite the passage of more than a millennium since Russell died. In Cyana Morgan's museum, in addition to the predominance of Twentieth Century-based exhibits, within a hall of paintings, Katin notices that many of the works share the same subjects—and, in many cases, the same names—even though the tags clearly indicate the paintings were created centuries apart, and on different planets. The most famous art collection in the museum is actually a forgery of an existing set of works, and the forgeries are considered more popular and valuable than the originals. A main interest of the book—unusual for a science fiction novel—is the two approaches to art characterized by the Mouse and Katin. In playing on his sensory syrynx, the Mouse is spontaneous, improvisatory, highly personal and immediately emotional. While he uses whatever material is around him as the basis for his art, the Mouse's creations on his syrynx are, however beautiful, ephemeral and disposable. In Nietzsche's terms, he is a Dionysian artist. Katin on the other hand is (again in Nietzsche's terms) an Apollonian artist. He is deeply intellectual, highly theoretical, largely impersonal, and concerned with the richness and complexity of the statement his artwork will make in terms of history. The irony of his approach is that, for all the hundreds of thousands of words he has dictated into his recorder about his theory of what the novel should be and do, he is still looking for a subject—a story—that is important enough in historical terms to stand up under all his theorizing. When the Mouse's approach gets out of control, as the novel dramatizes in one climactic sequence, the instruments of art become murderous weapons. When Katin's approach gets out of hand, the result is paralysis and silence. The conclusion the Mouse arrives at to Katin's problem—and for the reader appreciating the book on this level, it should be no surprise—is that Lorq's quest itself, which will revise the power structure of the entire galaxy, "is" the historically proper subject for Katin's novel, at the same time that Katin realizes he must learn how to employ some of the Mouse's immediacy, spontaneity, and energy. It does not hurt that, by the end of "Nova", Lorq's quest has achieved the shape of a classical tragedy: Lorq has had to sacrifice his senses in the same way that Dan—at the start of the book—has already lost his; and in the way that the Mouse has been so afraid might happen to him. In many ways the novel is about perception itself—its value, its pleasures, the information it allows us to access, the sense it allows us to make of the rich and colorful social universe. The novel refers repeatedly to a historic "Vega Republic," presumably among the worlds circling the star Vega, which flourished several centuries prior to the novel's beginning. At one point, apparently, the Republic staged an uprising and attempted to declare both political and cultural autonomy from Earth. During those years the Vegans created a new and different style in furniture, fabrics, and architecture. Many of their artists, musicians, and writers produced highly distinctive work that, in later years, caught the imagination of intellectuals in both Draco and the Pleiades. Before "Nova" begins, however, the Vega Republic uprising was violently suppressed, and Katin claims that the ability to identify remnants of Vegan culture has become nothing but an intellectual "parlor game." As the quest continues, soon Lorq drops the rationalizations for the Red/Von Ray vendetta, except for the fact that his actions, for better or worse, will produce a major cultural shift in humanity, even though nobody can tell what that change will be, or if it will be a positive or negative one. Race. The story's main character, Lorq, is Afropean. His father is of Norwegian descent, and his Earth-born mother is Senegalese. The residents of the Pleiades Federation (and the Outer Colonies) overall are an extremely mixed racial population. In addition to appearances, characters from the Pleiades sometimes have names that indicate a mixed racial heritage. For example, one of Lorq's childhood friends is named “Yorgos Satsumi,” which contains a clearly Japanese last name, but a first name that is decidedly Greek. This is in sharp contrast to the Earth-centered Draco society, where the leaders tend to be uniformly Caucasian. Individuals from Earth also tend to have extremely "WASPish" names. For example, a character named "Brian" is eventually revealed (at least, in the 2002 edition) to have the full name "Brian Anthony Sanders." Moreover, according to the Mouse, Earth still has problems with racism: he recalls seeing Gypsies lynched when he was younger. Ironically, although this racial diversity is considered one of the novel's most innovative features, at the time of its first publication (1968), the inclusion of minority characters proved to be a liability due to the racism ingrained in American culture at the time (see "Publishing Status" below). Man and machine, society and alienation. The society of "Nova" is in a pre-revolutionary state. Economic tensions have created a feud between the "new money" Von Ray family and the "old money" Red family, both of whom have a large stake in intergalactic transportation. Shortly before the novel's events (within the lifetime of Lorq's father), the Pleiades region achieved political autonomy from Earth/Draco, and is now an independent federation. At the time of the novel, citizens of the Outer Colonies are beginning to support the idea of independence as well. In a passage in Chapter Three, the elder Von Ray interprets the tensions in terms of social class, with each major galactic region representing one of the three traditional social classes: One thing all characters have in common is their cyborging. Individuals who cannot or will not accept these implants are effectively removed from society. The Mouse, for instance, mentions that his people (the Gypsies) refused the implants and, as a result, were treated with intolerance and even killed on Earth. Prince's anger over his artificial arm, while irrational on the surface, is eventually hypothesized to have been caused by its effect on his ability to cyborg. Generally, a person has a total of five implants, two of which are located in the wrists. Since Prince was born with only one arm, he cannot fully connect himself with a machine. Although the society seems on the edge of a revolution (or some other unspecified major change), the future of the novel is optimistic. As Katin reveals in one of his expository monologues, the problem of labor alienation has been overcome through the use of technology: practically all humans have cyborg socket implants that allow them to interface directly with the machines they use. These sockets are highly adaptable. Characters plug them into everything from small vacuum cleaners to the navigational systems of starships. By directly interfacing with the machines, workers are able to identify with their work, and the result is greater psychological wellbeing and less labor alienation. Sex and incest. "Nova" was written prior to Delany's turn to sexuality as a major focus of his work. Nevertheless, the novel suggests several sexual subtexts. In the same way that a homoerotic current informs the relationship Melville describes between Captain Ahab and the cabin boy Pip in "Moby-Dick", a similar undercurrent vibrates through the scenes between Captain Von Ray and the Mouse. Throughout the novel, the intelligent and beautiful Ruby remains both loyal and subservient to her brother, Prince, even to the extent of going against her own feelings. Their relationship strongly suggests an incestuous nature. Prince refuses to allow her to interact with Lorq. In turn, Ruby maintains a close emotional attachment to Prince, one that, in a suggestive scene near the novel's end, proves disastrous. Assassination, pain, and violence. In "Nova", a culturally iconic political assassination has taken place. The advanced technology at the time allowed millions of people throughout the universe to experience the sensations and emotions of the victim (Secretary Morgan, the leader of the Pleiades Federation) as he died—and, directly afterwards, the emotions of his widow (and Lorq Von Ray's aunt), Cyana Von Ray Morgan. The murder was brutal: Morgan was publicly garroted at his second inauguration, and almost decapitated. Although the assassination was eventually revealed to be the work of a single man, ("Underwood"), for a period of time afterwards, many popular conspiracy theories were developed. To deal with her grief—and that of Pleiades citizens—Cyana Morgan adopted an extremely stoic posture and slowly retreated from the public eye. This death is clearly a dramatic rewriting of the November 1963 "televised" assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, which had taken place only five years before "Nova" was published. Cyana Von Ray Morgan, the widow, strongly resembles Kennedy's wife Jacqueline Bauvier Kennedy in her responses, her appearance, and her interest in art. Lorq, Prince, and Ruby—all heirs of wealthy clans who grew up in luxury—live what Lorq refers to as "meaningless" lives, indulging in sex, expensive hobbies (e.g. space-yacht racing), and partying. Lorq's transformation begins when, in a physical fight, Prince scars Lorq's face deeply with his artificial hand. Later in the novel, both Lorq and the Mouse attack Prince and Ruby, causing them great pain. As the novel nears completion, Ruby remarks that, prior to that event, neither she nor her brother had a true concept of what pain was really like; neither of them truly fathomed the importance of their actions and the feud until they were personally hit by it. Practically all the socially powerful characters have violent natures, which often they try to hide or repress. Despite the elder Von Rays' attempts to end the feud, make peace with Aaron Red, and have their children become friends, the Von Rays cannot escape the fact that the family wealth and status were based on piracy and murder. Although outwardly Aaron Red appears harmless (he is described as bald, portly, and easily embarrassed) and he seems to be friends with members of the Von Ray family, events can bring out his natural violence and reveal him as an abusively indulgent father. The novel hints at these buried emotions, when, for example, the Von Ray and Red families meet in the Outer Colonies at a reconciliatory reception. Seven-year-old Prince uses his artificial arm and its strength to kill Lorq's mother's pet bird in front of Lorq and Ruby. Later that night, the adults leave to watch the future equivalent of a cock fight, but with winged reptiles rather than roosters. The novel's violence gathers force in an unexpected eruption from Prince against Lorq at his party in Paris; much of the novel tries to explain the origins of this rage. Both rage and pain are eventually recognized by the mature characters to have been a necessary component of their lives. Lorq realizes that, without Prince's attack to 'wake him up,' he would have gone on with a carefree life; he maintains his scar as a reminder of this. The successful completion of Lorq's quest has an extremely painful outcome for Lorq personally. As well, now that the need for Illyrion mines is gone, we know, the Outer Colonies will collapse socially and economically. The Red heirs fought for the status quo; only near the end of the novel do they experience the pain that goes along with the realization of what Lorq is trying to do. "Nova"'s influence. "Nova" is considered one of the major forerunners of the cyberpunk movement. It prefigures, for instance, cyberpunk's staple trope of human interfacing with computers via implants. While the New Wave of science fiction was concentrating on near-future science fiction stories and the highly subjective exploration of "inner space," in 1968, the year it was published, "Nova" seemed a deliberate throw-back to traditional space opera—and space opera at its grandest and most operatic. While reviews in the American professional science fiction magazines, "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" and "Galaxy", by Judith Merril and Algis Budrys, respectively, were highly praiseful, the review in the New Wave outlet, England's "New Worlds", by M. John Harrison, while acknowledging the skill and energy with which it had been written, called the book a "waste of time and talent." The novel has always been popular with readers, many of whom have found it, for all its social subtleties, a roller-coaster of a read; but it took a decade-and-a-half for cyberpunk writers and readers to begin praising its handling of drugs, tarot cards, and its off-hand presentation of racial variety, its narrative energy and sense of historical sweep, and finally its exploration of the relationship between politics and art—indeed, for the cyberpunk writers it soon became an iconic text. Characters like the Mouse, Lynceos, Idas, Tyÿ, Sebastian, and even Katin can be seen as hippies, with itinerant lifestyles and drugs. As well, the design and effect of the Mouse's sensory syrynx has an overall feel of an expanded 1960s light show, of the sort that had then begun to accompany traditional rock concerts. Writer William Gibson claimed to be greatly influenced by Delany, and his novel "Neuromancer" includes allusions to "Nova." While Delany's vision of the future is optimistic, however, the cyberpunk movement has a distinctly dystopic outlook. Gibson's novel includes a character, Peter Riviera, introduced (like the Mouse) in Istanbul, with the same holographic projection powers (although via implants) as the Mouse in "Nova"; but Gibson's character is a psychopath. Likewise, Gibson includes a character who awkwardly wears only one shoe; this character (Ashpool) is an insane killer. Several episodes of "Futurama" feature the "holophoner," a musical instrument that is very difficult to play, and projects holographic imagery to accompany the music. Publishing status. Despite its status, reputation, and influence on science-fiction as a genre, for a dozen years after 1990 (the date of Bantam Books' final 14th printing), "Nova" was out of print. Hardcover copies were highly prized. Not until 2002 did Vintage Books rerelease it. Over the years before "Nova" appeared, Delany had already won the Nebula Award twice for best science fiction novel of the year: "Babel-17" had gained the award in 1967 (in a tie for best novel of 1966 with Daniel Keyes's "Flowers for Algernon", a.k.a. "Charly"). "The Einstein Intersection" won him the award the following year in 1968 (for best novel of 1967). While awaiting publication by Doubleday, "Nova" was submitted to "Analog" editor John W. Campbell for potential serialization. Campbell rejected the novel, saying in a telephone conversation with Delany's agent that, though he'd enjoyed the book, he did not feel his magazine's readership "would be able to relate to a black main character." Because there was no magazine serialization, however, in its first six months the novel did not get the initially wide exposure to readers that might have helped gain it a Hugo Award—though it was nominated and soon regularly referred to as "the perfect science fiction novel". In the pages of "Galaxy Magazine" ("Analog"'s rival), the August after it appeared, resident critic Algis Budrys would write, "Samuel R. Delany, right now, as of this book, "Nova", not as of some future book or some accumulated body of work, is the best science-fiction writer in the world, at a time when competition for that status is intense. I don't see how a writer can do more than wring your heart while explaining how it works. No writer can"—heady praise for the work of a young man completed before his twenty-sixth birthday. The Vintage edition of the novel corrects some minor mistakes in the original version. It also adds an entire passage that does not appear in any of the older published versions. In the Vintage edition, Delany includes a passage in which Prince Red brags about how he is responsible for the death of Brian, a character who disappears, in earlier editions, after a single chapter. In the Vintage edition, toward the end of the book Prince describes how, using his wealth and power, and with no more provocation than a careless comment Brian once made about Prince's arm, Prince systematically destroyed Brian's life, until Brian became homeless and died of exposure. Prince claims that he has killed some two dozen others in a similar manner for similar reasons. This passage significantly alters Prince's characterization. In earlier editions, the worst that could be said of Prince is that he had been "spoiled" and had a violent temper. The new material turns him into a remorseless murderer and adds a moral component to Lorq's quest absent in the earlier versions. If Prince defeats Lorq, the most powerful man in the galaxy will be a psychopathic killer. The above passage is in the original typescript of "Nova", however. It is also in Delany's handwritten version of the novel in his notebooks from 1967. Both are in the Delany Holdings on store in the Howard Gottlieb Archives at the Mugar Memorial Library of Boston University. Initially the writer omitted it before publication of the first edition, when a friend who had read the manuscript found that section too extreme. In later years Delany decided to return it to the novel, because he felt readers needed to know what happened to Brian, after he seems to vanish from the book. Additionally, in the first edition of "Nova" it is unclear whether or not Lorq's parents are still alive by the time the novel ends: When Lorq begins his quest, his mother is already dying of a degenerative disorder, but at the end he makes no mention of them, nor does he try to contact them. However, in another (much briefer) passage added in the Vintage Books edition, related to the above, Lorq has a memory that implies both of his parents and Aaron Red (as did Dan and Brian) died during the past ten years. This is in neither the original typescript nor in the notebook version, and is a true addition.

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A Scanner Darkly A Scanner Darkly is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, published in 1977. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994, and includes an extensive portrayal of drug culture and drug use (both recreational and abusive). The novel is one of Dick's best-known works and served as the basis for a 2006 film of the same name, directed by Richard Linklater. Plot summary. The protagonist is Bob Arctor, member of a household of drug users, who is also living a double life as an undercover police agent assigned to spy on Arctor's household. Arctor shields his identity from those in the drug subculture and from the police. (The requirement that narcotics agents remain anonymous, to avoid collusion and other forms of corruption, becomes a critical plot point late in the book.) While posing as a drug user, Arctor becomes addicted to "Substance D" (also referred to as "Slow Death", "Death" or "D"), a powerful psychoactive drug. A conflict is Arctor's love for Donna, a drug dealer, through whom he intends to identify high-level dealers of Substance D. When performing his work as an undercover agent, Arctor goes by the name "Fred" and wears a "scramble suit" that conceals his identity from other officers. Then he is able to sit in a police facility and observe his housemates through "holo-scanners", audio-visual surveillance devices that are placed throughout the house. Arctor's use of the drug causes the two hemispheres of his brain to function independently or "compete". When Arctor sees himself in the videos saved by the scanners, he does not realize that it is him. Through a series of drug and psychological tests, Arctor's superiors at work discover that his addiction has made him incapable of performing his job as a narcotics agent. They do not know his identity because he wears the scramble suit, but when his police supervisor suggests to him that he might be Bob Arctor, he is confused and thinks it cannot be possible. Donna takes Arctor to "New-Path", a rehabilitation clinic, just as Arctor begins to experience the symptoms of Substance D withdrawal. It is revealed that Donna has been a narcotics agent all along, working as part of a police operation to infiltrate New-Path and determine its funding source. Without his knowledge, Arctor has been selected to penetrate the organization. As part of the rehab program, Arctor is renamed "Bruce" and forced to participate in cruel group-dynamic games, intended to break the will of the patients. The story ends with Bruce working at a New-Path farming commune, where he is suffering from a serious neurocognitive deficit, after withdrawing from Substance D. Although considered by his handlers to be nothing more than a walking shell of a man, "Bruce" manages to spot rows of blue flowers growing hidden among rows of corn and realizes that the blue flowers are "Mors ontologica", the source of Substance D. The book ends with Bruce hiding a flower in his shoe to give to his "friends"—undercover police agents posing as recovering addicts at the Los Angeles New-Path facility—on Thanksgiving. Autobiographical nature. "A Scanner Darkly" is a fictionalized account of real events, based on Dick's experiences in the 1970s drug culture. Dick said in an interview, "Everything in "A Scanner Darkly" I actually saw." Between mid-1970 (when his fourth wife Nancy left him) and mid-1972, Dick lived semi-communally with a rotating group of mostly teenage drug users at his home in Marin County, described in a letter as being located at 707 Hacienda Way, Santa Venetia. Dick explained, "[M]y wife Nancy left me in 1970 ... I got mixed up with a lot of street people, just to have somebody to fill the house. She left me with a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house and nobody living in it but me. So I just filled it with street people and I got mixed up with a lot of people who were into drugs." During this period, the author ceased writing completely and became fully dependent upon amphetamines, which he had been using intermittently for many years. "I did take amphetamines for years in order to be able to—I was able to produce 68 final pages of copy a day," Dick said. The character of Donna was inspired by an older teenager who became associated with Dick sometime in 1970; though they never became lovers, the woman was his principal female companion until early 1972, when Dick left for Canada to deliver a speech to a Vancouver science fiction convention. This speech, "The Android and the Human", served as the basis for many of the recurring themes and motifs in the ensuing novel. Another turning point in this timeframe for Dick is the alleged burglary of his home and theft of his papers. After delivering "The Android and the Human", Dick became a participant in X-Kalay (a Canadian Synanon-type recovery program), effortlessly convincing program caseworkers that he was nursing a heroin addiction to do so. Dick's recovery program participation was portrayed in the posthumously released book "The Dark Haired Girl" (a collection of letters and journals from this period, most of a romantic nature). It was at X-Kalay, while doing publicity for the facility, that he devised the notion of rehab centers being used to secretly harvest drugs (thus inspiring the book's New-Path clinics). In the afterword Dick dedicates the book to those of his friends—he includes himself—who suffered debilitation or death as a result of their drug use. Mirroring the epilogue are the involuntary goodbyes that occur throughout the story—the constant turnover and burn-out of young people that lived with Dick during those years. In the afterword, he states that the novel is about "some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did", and that "drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to move out in front of a moving car". Background and publication. "A Scanner Darkly" was one of the few Dick novels to gestate over a long period of time. By February 1973, in an effort to prove that the effects of his amphetamine usage were merely psychosomatic, the newly clean-and-sober author had already prepared a full outline. A first draft was in development by March. This labor was soon supplanted by a new family and the completion of "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said" (left unfinished in 1970), which was finally released in 1974 and received the prestigious John W. Campbell Award. Additional preoccupations were the mystical experiences of early 1974 that would eventually serve as a basis for "VALIS" and the "Exegesis" journal; a screenplay for an unproduced film adaptation of 1969's "Ubik"; occasional lectures; and the expedited completion of the deferred Roger Zelazny collaboration "Deus Irae" in 1975. Because of its semi-autobiographical nature, some of "A Scanner Darkly" was torturous to write. Tessa Dick, Philip's wife at the time, once stated that she often found her husband weeping as the sun rose after a night-long writing session. Tessa has given interviews stating that "when he was with me, he wrote "A Scanner Darkly" [in] under two weeks. But we spent three years rewriting it" and that she was "pretty involved in his writing process [for "A Scanner Darkly"]". Tessa stated in a later interview that she "participated in the writing of "A Scanner Darkly"" and said that she "consider[s] [her]self the silent co-author". Philip wrote a contract giving Tessa half of all the rights to the novel, which stated that Tessa "participated to a great extent in writing the outline and novel "A Scanner Darkly" with me, and I owe her one half of all income derived from it". There was also the challenge of transmuting the events into "science fiction", as Dick felt that he could not sell a mainstream or literary novel after several previous failures. Providing invaluable aid in this field was Judy-Lynn del Rey, head of Ballantine Books' SF division, which had optioned the book. Del Rey suggested the timeline change to 1994 and emphasized the more futuristic elements of the novel, such as the "scramble suit" employed by Fred (which, incidentally, emerged from one of the mystical experiences). Yet much of the dialogue spoken by the characters used hippie slang, dating the events of the novel to their "true" time-frame of 1970–72. Upon its publication in 1977, "A Scanner Darkly" was hailed by ALA Booklist as "his best yet!" Brian Aldiss lauded it as "the best book of the year", while Robert Silverberg praised the novel as "a masterpiece of sorts, full of demonic intensity", but concluded that "it happens also not to be a very successful novel... a failure, but a stunning failure". Spider Robinson panned the novel as "sometimes fascinating, sometimes hilarious, [but] usually deadly boring". Sales were typical for the SF genre in America, but hardcover editions were issued in Europe, where all of Dick's works were warmly received. It was nominated for neither the Nebula nor the Hugo Award but was awarded the British version (the BSFA) in 1978 and the French equivalent (Graouilly d'Or) upon its publication there in 1979. It also was nominated for the Campbell Award in 1978 and placed sixth in the annual Locus poll. The title of the novel refers to the Biblical phrase "Through a glass, darkly", from the King James Version of 1 Corinthians 13. Passages from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play "Faust" are also referred to throughout the novel. The same-titled film by Ingmar Bergman has also been cited as a reference for the book, the film depicting the similar descent into madness and schizophrenia of its lead character portrayed by Harriet Andersson. Adaptations. Film. The rotoscoped film "A Scanner Darkly" was authorized by Dick's estate. It was released in July 2006 and stars Keanu Reeves as Fred/Bob Arctor and Winona Ryder as Donna. Rory Cochrane, Robert Downey, Jr., and Woody Harrelson co-star as Arctor's drugged-out housemates and friends. The film was directed by Richard Linklater. Audiobook. An unabridged audiobook version, read by Paul Giamatti, was released in 2006 by Random House Audio to coincide with the release of the film adaptation. It runs approximately 9.5 hours over eight compact discs. This version is a tie-in, using the film's poster as cover art.

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Inexcusable Inexcusable is a 2005 novel written by Chris Lynch in the young adult genre. Through first-person narration, it chronicles the life of high school senior Keir Sarafian. A sequel, "Irreversible", was published on September 6, 2016. Plot summary. The novel begins with Keir arguing with Gigi about the events which occurred the night before. It continues with Keir's first-person narration of his senior year in high school. Keir is crushed when he learns that Gigi has accused him of date rape. He goes on to tell Gigi that he loves her, and would never do such a thing. One of Keir's main problems is his home life. His father treats him more like a friend than a son. The big question throughout the novel is this: "Could a self-proclaimed 'good guy' be capable of such a heinous act?" Keir goes over the events of his senior year that led to this night, and how this could have happened. The novel never mentions Gigi's point of view, so her feelings and thoughts are not taken into consideration through the use of dialogue. As the novel unfolds, Keir becomes more unpopular because of his substance abuse, school behavior, and his infamous tackle on the football field giving him the nickname "Killer." Keir's self-image dissipates after he accidentally paralyzes an opponent, participates in bullying classmates, and then tries cocaine. First, he leans on Gigi because she listens to him and doesn't judge him. Once he learns about Gigi and her new boyfriend, he is angry and leans on his two sisters, Fran and Mary. Keir's older sisters have mixed feelings about his behavior. He leans on Fran the most because she sees the "good" in Keir despite his terrible actions. One night close to graduation, after a night of partying and substance abuse, Gigi decides to accompany Keir on a visit to Fran's college and they end up in her dorm room alone. In addition to all of this, Gigi tells Keir that her boyfriend could not go to the dance and she needed him to come with her to the dance. When they were both in that cabin there were two beds and when Keir saw how beautiful Gigi looked he went to her bed and something inexcusable happened. Then, the setting reverts to the opening with the two arguing about what happened while they were sleeping next to each other.

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Drug of Choice Drug of Choice is a novel written by Michael Crichton, as his eighth published novel, and the sixth to feature his pseudonym John Lange. It was originally published in 1970. Hard Case Crime republished the novel under Crichton's name in November 2013. Proposed film adaptation. Film rights were optioned in 1970 by the actor Robert Forster and his agent David de Silva, to produce a film starring Forster called "High Synch". John Neufeld was hired to write a screenplay. "Unlike the book, our script will not have a happy ending", said Forster. "We think the movie ought to serve as a warning." However, the film was never made.

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Mala onda Mala onda () is a Chilean Bildungsroman novel and social commentary by Alberto Fuguet. It is also Fuguet's debut novel, first published in 1991. "Mala onda" is set in Chile during a ten-day period in September, 1980, around the time of the Chilean constitutional referendum. The protagonist is Matías Vicuña, a maladjusted, upper class, 17-year-old boy who is jaded and frustrated by what he perceives as the folly and blandness of his family and peers. Matías lives a loveless, meaningless life, and indulges in sex, drugs, alcohol, and rock music. The novel examines the Chilean emulation of American consumerism and pop culture, in the context of a growing opposition to the dictatorial rule of Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Time and Place. The novel takes place in 1980 in Santiago, Chile during the political referendum of the country's future with Pinochet. The protagonist visits Rio, Brazil briefly in the beginning of the novel. He also goes to Reñaca, a resort in the region on Valparaiso. Other than these, the main location is the urban setting of Santiago. The neighborhoods mentioned in the novel within Santiago include Providencia, Ñuñoa, and Las Condes. Matías finds comfort in J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye", relating to Holden Caulfield's cynicism and teenage angst. The novel culminates with Matías attempting to replicate Holden's self-inflicted isolation by fleeing his family, friends, and academics. He even purchases a red hunting hat to complete the persona. Ultimately, however, Matías is reunited with his father. Despite familial bouleversements, Matías finds peace and learns to embrace change: symbolizing the trepidation Chile faces as it undergoes a transition of power.

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The Coffee Trader The Coffee Trader is a historical novel by David Liss, set in 17th-century Amsterdam. The story revolves around the activities of commodity trader Miguel Lienzo, who is a Jewish refugee from the Portuguese Inquisition. Recovering from near financial ruin, he embarks on a coffee trading scheme with a Dutch woman, kept secret because it is forbidden by his community council. Miguel navigates the social structures of the Amsterdam business world, the politics of the council, and the plots of competitors bringing this new import to Europe. The character of Miguel Lienzo is the great-uncle of Benjamin Weaver, the protagonist of Liss's first novel, "A Conspiracy of Paper". This novel is set about 60 years earlier, but is not a prequel; as stated by Liss, Miguel Lienzo is a very different kind of character from the English great-nephew whom he would never meet. The book has been published in translation into Chinese, Danish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish. Plot summary. The year is 1659. Miguel Lienzo is in financial trouble as a result of some trades in sugar that have gone poorly. He is being pursued by his creditors and is looking for a way out of his current problems. His friend Geertruid persuades him to invest in coffee, a little-known commodity in Europe. After trying coffee for himself at a Turkish coffee house, he is convinced that there could be a market for the beverage in Europe. He devises a scheme to manipulate the price of coffee by buying up as much as possible on several exchanges around Europe simultaneously. Miguel gets Geertruid to front the money for the initial purchases, and he arranges for most of the foreign trades, ordering 90 barrels of coffee through an Amsterdam broker named Isaiah Nunes. Meanwhile, Miguel is living with his younger brother Daniel and his young wife, Hannah, who is pregnant. Miguel owes money to Daniel as well as to other creditors, but his coffee scheme will take months to pay off, and he is on the verge of losing more money on some bad investments in brandy futures contract. His long-time enemy Solomon Parido approaches him with overtures of friendship and an offer to connect Miguel with a buyer for the brandy futures. Though skeptical, Miguel goes through with the trade, only to see the price of brandy rise just before close of trading. The trade mitigated Miguel's potential losses, but cost him money he might have earned if he had retained them. On the advice of Alonzo Alferonda, Miguel is able to earn a significant profit on whale oil futures, which costs Parido considerably and allows Miguel to pay off many of his debts and regain some standing in the community. Several intrigues follow. Miguel finds a mutual attraction with his sister-in-law Hannah. Parido catches wind of Miguel's interest in coffee, and appears to have coffee interests of his own. Parido uses his influence with the Jewish ruling council, the Ma'amad, to censure Miguel. Miguel receives threats from creditors still waiting to be paid, even as he is himself waiting to be paid for his profits in the whale oil trade. He begins to have suspicions about Geertruid's trustworthiness and takes some of her coffee-investment money to pay some of his creditors. Miguel and Daniel's relationship is strained by many of these events. When Nunes's coffee shipment arrives in Amsterdam, it appears that Nunes has promised it to both Parido and Miguel Lienzo. Parido and Lienzo place a wager on the final price of coffee for the day and both attempt to manipulate the price in their favor. Miguel wins the wager and a considerable sum, but betrays Geertruid in the process, believing Geertruid to having been Parido's spy. He repays her initial investment but cuts her out of the profits she was expecting. Hannah deceives Daniel by informing him that their baby is actually Miguel's and, along with his bankruptcy, he informs her he is leaving the city and will grant her a divorce. She goes to Miguel's house and they plan to marry. Miguel learns that Geertruid was working for Alferonda, not Parido; he tries too late to make amends. Geertruid leaves the city with her companion, Hendrick, but not before Hendrick beats Miguel's sometime-friend Joachim in retribution for Miguel's betrayal. Miguel and Hannah have a son, Samuel, and later another boy. His prosperous future now lies securely in the coffee trade. Critical reception. "The Coffee Trader" was published in 2003 to generally positive reviews. Several reviewers noted the novel's depth of historical detail, including mention of the three pages of bibliography at the end of the book. Others mention the intricacy of the plot; writing for "The New York Times", Thomas Mallon described "the book's commercial plot to be as complicated as it is expert", requiring occasional narrative recaps to help the reader keep track of its intricacies. Despite the "careful attention" to setting, Mallon wished for a bit more "time and place" as a break from the rapid and intricate plot. Writing in the "Jewish Quarterly Review", Adam Sutcliffe identified "The Coffee Trader" as among "the underinvestigated emerging genre of the 'port Jew novel,'" citing as other examples "In an Antique Land" by Amitav Ghosh, "The Nature of Blood" by Caryl Phillips, and "The Moor’s Last Sigh" by Salman Rushdie. Historical accuracy. The novel shows considerable attention to historical detail. In the "historical note" appended to the novel, the author notes that many modern business methods, especially those having to do with the stock market, came into being in 17th-century Holland. "New York Times" reviewer Thomas Mallon writes that the Amsterdam of the novel is "a kind of information age, where wealth follows from what one knows or can trick others into believing." Historian Adam Sutcliffe also sees the seeds of modernity in the novel's portrayal of Amsterdam "as a crucible of modernity is based above all in the easy contact between Jews and non-Jews," but finds that Liss goes too far in this portrayal, saying that "there appears to be almost no cultural distance between... an intensely Calvinist [Dutch] society... [and] the Sephardim... steeped in their very different Iberian sensibility." Sutcliffe concludes, "The commercial, cultural, and political modernity of this Amsterdam milieu underpins the familiar fascination of "The Coffee Trader". The less recognizably modern aspects of Sephardic life are marginal to Liss's narrative, but they Liss has said that the novel was originally focused on the chocolate trade, but he switched the focal commodity because "coffee was a better fit" and that ""coffee and business go so naturally together." In an interview, Liss was asked whether Miguel was based on a particular historical figure; her replied that Miguel "is entirely made up based on the sort of character I wanted to see in that situation."

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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream is a 1971 novel by Hunter S. Thompson, illustrated by Ralph Steadman. The book is a roman à clef, rooted in autobiographical incidents. The story follows its protagonist, Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they descend on Las Vegas to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze, all the while ruminating on the failure of the 1960s countercultural movement. The work is Thompson's most famous book, and is noted for its lurid descriptions of illegal drug use and its early retrospective on the culture of the 1960s. Its popularization of Thompson's highly subjective blend of fact and fiction has become known as gonzo journalism. The novel first appeared as a two-part series in "Rolling Stone" magazine in 1971, and was published as a book in 1972. It was later adapted into a film of the same title in 1998 by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro who portrayed Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, respectively. Origins. The novel "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is based on two trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, that Hunter S. Thompson took with attorney and Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta in March and April 1971. The first trip resulted from an exposé Thompson was writing for "Rolling Stone" magazine about the Mexican-American television journalist Rubén Salazar, whom officers of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had shot and killed with a tear gas grenade fired at close range during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War in 1970. Thompson was using Acosta—a prominent Mexican-American political activist and attorney—as a central source for the story, and the two found it difficult for a brown-skinned Mexican to talk openly with a white reporter in the racially tense atmosphere of Los Angeles, California. The two needed a more comfortable place to discuss the story and decided to take advantage of an offer from "Sports Illustrated" to write photograph captions for the annual Mint 400 desert race being held in Las Vegas from March 21–23, 1971. Thompson wrote that he concluded their March trip by spending some 36 hours alone in a hotel room "feverishly writing in my notebook" about his experiences. These writings became the genesis of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream." What originally was a 250-word photo caption assignment for "Sports Illustrated" grew to a novel-length feature story for "Rolling Stone"; Thompson said publisher Jann Wenner had "liked the first 20 or so jangled pages enough to take it seriously on its own terms and tentatively scheduled it for publication—which gave me the push I needed to keep working on it." He had first submitted a 2,500-word manuscript to "Sports Illustrated" that was "aggressively rejected." Weeks later, Thompson and Acosta returned to Las Vegas to report for "Rolling Stone" on the National District Attorneys Association's Conference on Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs being held from April 25–29, 1971, and to add material to the larger "Fear and Loathing" narrative. Besides attending the attorneys' conference, Thompson and Acosta looked for ways in Vegas to explore the theme of the American Dream, which was the basis for the novel's second half, to which Thompson referred at the time as "Vegas II". On April 29, 1971, Thompson began writing the full manuscript in a hotel room in Arcadia, California, in his spare time while completing "Strange Rumblings in Aztlan," the article chronicling the death of Salazar. Thompson joined the array of Vegas experiences within what he called "an essentially fictional framework" that described a singular free-wheeling trip to Vegas peppered with creative licenses. In November 1971, "Rolling Stone" published the combined texts of the trips as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream" as a two-part story, illustrated by Ralph Steadman, who two years before had worked with Thompson on an article titled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved". Random House published the hardcover edition in July 1972, with additional illustrations by Steadman; "The New York Times" said it is "by far the best book yet on the decade of dope," with Tom Wolfe describing it as a "scorching epochal sensation." Plot. The basic synopsis revolves around journalist Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson) and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo (Oscar Zeta Acosta), as they arrive in Las Vegas in 1971 to report on the Mint 400 motorcycle race for an unnamed magazine. However, this job is repeatedly obstructed by their constant use of a variety of recreational drugs, including LSD, ether, cocaine, alcohol, mescaline, and cannabis. This leads to a series of bizarre hallucinogenic experiences, during which they destroy hotel rooms, wreck cars, and have visions of anthropomorphic desert animals, all the while ruminating on the decline of both the "American Dream" and the '60s counterculture in a city of greed. The "wave speech". The "wave speech" is an important passage at the end of the eighth chapter that captures the hippie zeitgeist and its end. Thompson often cited this passage during interviews, choosing it when asked to read aloud from the novel. Title. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is Thompson's most famous work, and is known as "Fear and Loathing" for short; however, he later used the phrase "Fear and Loathing" in the titles of other books, essays, and magazine articles. Moreover, "Fear and Loathing", as a phrase, has been used by many writers, the first (possibly) being Friedrich Nietzsche in "The Antichrist". In a "Rolling Stone" magazine interview, Thompson said: "It came out of my own sense of fear, and [is] a perfect description of that situation to me, however, I have been accused of stealing it from Nietzsche or Kafka or something. It seemed like a natural thing." He first used the phrase in a letter to a friend written after the Kennedy assassination, describing how he felt about whoever had shot President John F. Kennedy. In "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved", he used the phrase to describe how people regarded Ralph Steadman upon seeing his caricatures of them. Jann Wenner claims that the title came from Thomas Wolfe's "The Web and the Rock". Another possible influence is "Fear and Trembling", a philosophical work by existentialist Søren Kierkegaard published in 1843. The title is a reference to a line from a Bible verse, Philippians 2:12. Reactions to the novel. When it was published in fall of 1971, many critics did not like the novel's loose plot and the scenes of drug use; however, some reviewers predicted that "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" would become an important piece of American literature. In "The New York Times", Christopher Lehmann-Haupt told readers to not "even bother" trying to understand the novel, and that "what goes on in these pages make[s] Lenny Bruce seem angelic"; instead, he acknowledged that the novel's true importance is in Thompson's literary method: "The whole book boils down to a kind of mad, corrosive prose poetry that picks up where Norman Mailer's "An American Dream" left off and explores what Tom Wolfe left out". As the novel became popular, the reviews became positive; Crawford Woods, also in "The New York Times", wrote a positive review countering Lehmann-Haupt's negative review: the novel is "a custom-crafted study of paranoia, a spew from the 1960s and—in all its hysteria, insolence, insult and rot—a desperate and important book, a wired nightmare, the funniest piece of American prose"; and "this book is such a mind storm that we may need a little time to know that it is also literature... it unfolds a parable of the nineteen-sixties to those of us who lived in them in a mood—perhaps more melodramatic than astute—of social strife, surreal politics and the chemical feast." About Thompson, Woods said he "trusts the authority of his senses, and the clarity of a brain poised between brilliance and burnout". In any event, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" became a benchmark in American literature about U.S. society in the early 1970s. In "Billboard" magazine, Chris Morris said, "Through Duke and Gonzo's drug-addled shenanigans amid the seediness of the desert pleasure palaces, it perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the post–'60s era". In "Rolling Stone" magazine, Mikal Gilmore wrote that the novel "peers into the best and worst mysteries of the American heart" and that Thompson "sought to understand how the American dream had turned a gun on itself". Gilmore believes that "the fear and loathing Thompson was writing about—a dread of both interior demons and the psychic landscape of the nation around him—wasn't merely his own; he was also giving voice to the mind-set of a generation that had held high ideals and was now crashing hard against the walls of American reality". Cormac McCarthy has called the book "a classic of our time" and one of the few great modern novels. As a work of gonzo journalism. In the book "The Great Shark Hunt", Thompson refers to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" as "a failed experiment in the gonzo journalism" he practiced, which was based on William Faulkner's idea that "the best fiction is far more "true" than any kind of journalism—and the best journalists have always known this". Thompson's style blended the techniques of fictional story-telling and journalism. He called it a failed experiment because he originally intended to record every detail of the Las Vegas trip as it happened, and then publish the raw, unedited notes; however, he revised it during the spring and summer of 1971. For example, the novel describes Duke attending the motorcycle race and the narcotics convention in a few days' time; the actual events occurred a month apart. Later, he wrote, "I found myself imposing an essentially fictional framework on what began as a piece of straight/crazy journalism". Nevertheless, critics call "Fear and Loathing" Thompson's crowning achievement in gonzo journalism. For example, journalist and author Mikal Gilmore said the novel "feels free wheeling when you read it [but] it doesn't feel accidental. The writing is right there, on the page—startling, unprecedented and brilliantly crafted". Changes in the book version. The original version of the novel was published in "Rolling Stone" magazine under the byline "Raoul Duke". The book was published with Thompson's name as the author. In chapter 8 of part I, Thompson tells a story about his neighbor, "a former acid guru who later claimed to have made that long jump from chemical frenzy to preternatural consciousness". In the "Rolling Stone" article the neighbor was identified as "Dr. Robert De Ropp on Sonoma Mountain Road". In the book version, the name and the street were redacted "at insistence of publisher's lawyer". In chapter 12 of part 2, Thompson tells of a belligerent drunk confronting Bruce Innes, of Canadian folk band The Original Caste, at a club in Aspen. The drunk was identified in the "Rolling Stone" version as "Wally Schirra, the Astronaut". In the book version he is only identified as "a former Astronaut" and his name is, again, redacted "at insistence of publisher's lawyer". Illustrations. British artist Ralph Steadman added his unique and grotesque illustrations to the "Rolling Stone" issues and to the novel. Steadman had first met Thompson when "Scanlan's Monthly" hired Steadman to do the illustrations for Thompson's first venture into gonzo journalism called "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved." Many critics have hailed Steadman's illustrations as another main character of the novel and companion to Thompson's disjointed narrative. "The New York Times" noted that "Steadman's drawings were stark and crazed and captured Thompson's sensibility, his notion that below the plastic American surface lurked something chaotic and violent. The drawings are the plastic torn away and the people seen as monsters." Steadman has expressed regret at selling the illustrations, at the advice of his agent, to "Rolling Stone" founder Jann Wenner for the sum of $75, which remained in Wenner's possession until he sold them in 2016. As a result of that transaction Steadman has largely refused to sell any of his original artwork and has been quoted as saying "If anyone owns a Steadman original, it's stolen." While there are original pieces held outside his archive, they are exceedingly rare. The artist has kept possession of the vast bulk of his artwork. Audio adaptation. An audiobook version was released by Margaritaville Records and Island Records in 1996, on the 25th anniversary of the book's original publication. It features the voice talents of Harry Dean Stanton as the narrator/an older Hunter S. Thompson, Jim Jarmusch as Raoul Duke, and Maury Chaykin as Dr. Gonzo, with Jimmy Buffett, Joan Cusack, Buck Henry and Harry Shearer in minor roles. Sound effects, period-appropriate music and album-like sound mixing are used extensively to give it the surreal feeling characteristic of the book. Quotes from Thompson himself bookend the album. The album is presumably out-of-print, due to its relative rarity, but is sought after by fans for its high production values and faithfulness to the book's tone. Excerpts of it were included in the Criterion Collection release of the movie. Film adaptation. The novel's popularity gave rise to attempted cinematic adaptations; directors Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone each unsuccessfully attempted to film a version of the novel. In the course of these attempts, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando were considered for the roles of Duke and Dr. Gonzo but the production stalled and the actors aged beyond the characters. Afterwards, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were considered, but Belushi's death ended that plan. Art Linson's 1980 film "Where the Buffalo Roam" starring Bill Murray and Peter Boyle is based on a number of Thompson's stories, including "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". In 1989, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was almost made by director Terry Gilliam when he was given a script by illustrator Ralph Steadman. Gilliam, however, felt that the script "didn't capture the story properly". In 1995, Gilliam received a different script he felt worth realising; his 1998 film features Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro as Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo respectively. However, criticism was mixed and the film was a box office failure. Graphic novel adaptation. A graphic novel adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", adapted by Canadian artist Troy Little, was released in October 2015. In interviews, Little said "We decided right off the bat not to go the Steadman route, or be too influenced by the movie either, and draw Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro. So we wanted to make it its own unique thing... For me, capturing the manic energy and spirit of the book, and staying true to the feel of "Fear and Loathing" was my big goal." Other references. "Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson," an episode of the ABC/Marvel Studios superhero series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", first broadcast on May 24, 2019, not only takes its title from the novel, it also incorporates plot elements from the novel and 1998 film, particularly around characters having to navigate a casino (in this case a casino on an alien planet) while under the influence of a psychedelic drug. The 2013 album Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! by Panic! at the Disco (originally from Las Vegas) was named after a line from the book. The music videos for Lil Wayne's "No Worries" and The Weeknd's song "Heartless" draw heavy inspiration from the 1998 film. Japanese electronicore band Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas is named after the book and film.

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My Year of Rest and Relaxation My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a 2018 novel by American author Ottessa Moshfegh. Moshfegh's second novel, it is set in New York City in 2000 and 2001 and follows an unnamed protagonist as she gradually escalates her use of prescription medications in an attempt to sleep for an entire year. Background and publication. "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" is Ottessa Moshfegh's second novel, following "Eileen" (2015, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize), as well as a novella ("McGlue", 2014) and a short story collection ("Homesick for Another World", 2017). Moshfegh initially planned "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" to be focused primarily on the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, even reaching out to terrorism expert Paul Bremer, though she called off the interview and the project took a different tack. Of her experience writing the novel, Moshfegh said: I feel like the book was successful in that I graduated out of a lot of those concerns by writing the book. When I wrote the book, my passion and anger were located much more outwardly and so the tone of the narrator, who I think a very angry person, is not something I relate to anymore. "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" was published on July 10, 2018, by Penguin Press. Plot. The unnamed narrator, a slender and beautiful blonde from a wealthy WASP family, is a recent graduate of Columbia University, where she majored in art history. During her senior year in college, both of her parents died—first her father from cancer, then her mother in a suicide caused by an interaction between psychiatric medications and alcohol. Now living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and increasingly dissatisfied with her post-collegiate life, the narrator finds a conveniently incompetent psychiatrist, Dr. Tuttle, who freely prescribes a variety of sleeping, anti-anxiety, and anti-psychotic medications for the insomnia the narrator reports as her complaint; in fact, the narrator hopes to spend as few hours of the day awake as possible, lulling herself with pills and middle-brow movies she plays on repeat on her VCR, until the aging machine breaks down. When the narrator is fired from her job in an art gallery, she chooses to live off a combination of unemployment payments and her inheritance, while attempting to sleep for a year in an effort to reset her life. But her "year of rest and relaxation" is regularly interrupted. Her college roommate Reva (who unabashedly envies the narrator's wealth and appearance) makes frequent unannounced visits, which the narrator allows despite her disdain for Reva's social-climbing and annoyance at having to listen to Reva's problems—her own mother's terminal cancer, a frustrating affair with her married boss. The narrator is also occasionally in contact with an older boyfriend Trevor (a banker who works in the World Trade Center), though he frequently cuts off their relationship to date women his own age, returning when one of them has dumped him or occasionally in response to the narrator's pleading. The narrator initially makes trips out of her apartment only to a local bodega, Dr. Tuttle's office, and the Rite Aid to fill her prescriptions. But as she takes stronger and stronger medications, she begins leaving the apartment in her sleep, among other things to go to nightclubs (or so she gathers from Polaroid photographs and glitter she discovers when she awakes from her multi-day blackout). She also wakes up on a train headed toward the funeral of Reva's mother on New Year's Eve 2000. Convinced these activities—which have no appeal to the narrator in her conscious hours—are disrupting her efforts at complete rest, she decides she needs to sleep locked inside her apartment. She contacts Ping Xi, an artist represented by the gallery where she used to work, who agrees to bring her food and other necessities for four months in exchange for being allowed to make any kind of art project he wishes while she is unconscious: the only requirement is that all trace of him be gone when she wakes every three days to eat, bathe, and take another pill to put her under again. To prepare, she empties her apartment, giving her designer clothes to the ever-covetous Reva, who has just been dumped by her boss—unaware that she is pregnant, he arranged a promotion that would transfer her out of his office and to the company's office in the World Trade Center. Reva plans to have an abortion; the narrator sleeps until June 1. When she wakes, she finds the plan has worked. She readjusts to life slowly, spending hours over the summer of 2001 sitting in a park and refurnishing her once-expensively decorated apartment with mismatched, used furniture from Goodwill. But as she hoped, her world view has been transformed by her rest: her contempt for Reva has evaporated and for the first time she earnestly reciprocates her friend's previously-insistent declarations that "I love you", though now Reva is the one who has become distant. The narrator calls Reva once more, on her birthday in August, but Reva brushes off the call. They never speak again; on September 11, Trevor is in Barbados on his honeymoon but Reva dies in the terror attack on the World Trade Center. The narrator goes out to buy a new VCR to tape the news coverage, returning as time passes to watch the video, in particular footage of a woman leaping out of the tower. Style and themes. "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" is narrated in the first person, establishing a personage critics describe as "an antihero...[who] resists every stereotype of the female nurturer" and "hypnotically unlikeable", perhaps even "an attempt to see just how 'unlikeable' characters can get." Reviewing the novel in "Pacific Standard", Rebecca Stoner called the narrator's "acid insights into the various aspects of life that disgust her...one of the primary pleasures of the novel" and in the "Chicago Review of Books", Lincoln Michel similarly finds the "narrator...an enjoyable hater whose observations are both caustic and insightful." In "The New Yorker", Jia Tolentino read the novel differently: though she too notes the novel's "withering attention to the gleaming absurdities of pre-9/11 New York City, an environment...beset with delusional optimism, horrifically carefree," Tolentino felt "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" departed from Moshfegh's earlier work featuring "characters who are repulsed by themselves, or who are themselves repulsive." She argued that this novel "instead builds a façade of beauty and privilege around her characters, forcing the reader to locate repulsion somewhere deeper: in effort, in daily living, in a world that swings between tragic and banal." Told in the present tense (while the narrator includes some memories of her past, she recounts them as thoughts occurring to her in the present rather than as flashbacks), the novel is "tuned to a hyper-contemporary frequency," Tolentino wrote, with the narrator's indifference to real-life events highlighting the way her plan for self-improvement by tuning out the world contrasts with "the oft-preached mandates of authenticity or engagement". (At the same time, Tolentino suggests, "There is something in this liberatory solipsism that feels akin to what is commonly peddled today as wellness.") Critics frequently comment on the "blackly funny" tone of the novel, though in "The Guardian", Anthony Cummins notes that "by the end, this comically adversarial narrative" has expanded well beyond comedy, "hitting multiple marks at once: as an art-school prank, a between-the-lines tale of displaced grief and a pitiless anatomy of gender injustice, it also offers (via the inevitable 9/11 ending) a dark state-of-America fable." Accordingly, critics vary widely in their interpretation of the novel's themes. While some read it as a critique of capitalism or an examination of "self-care", Stoner also points to "an anachronistic belief in the sanctity of art...a faith in the power of art to rouse us, to make us believe that, though the world may feel intolerable, it remains worthwhile to '[dive] into the unknown ... wide awake.'" Reception. According to literary review aggregator Literary Hub, the novel received very positive reviews. In "Slate", Laura Miller praised the novel, saying, "Moshfegh excels here at setting up an immediately intriguing character and situation, then amplifying the freakishness to the point that some rupture feels inevitable." The "Publisher's Weekly" review found the book "captivating and disquieting...showcas[ing] Moshfegh's signature mix of provocation and dark humor." Several reviews, including Miller and "Publishers Weekly", felt "the novel drags a bit in the middle", though the ending was widely praised, with Miller saying Moshfegh "found a more satisfying way to resolve the plot" in "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" than in her first novel, "Eileen". Reviewing the novel in "The New Yorker", Jia Tolentino wrote, "Ottessa Moshfegh is easily the most interesting contemporary American writer on the subject of being alive when being alive feels terrible." In "The New York Times", Dwight Garner was more hesitant in his praise, but ultimately concluded: "Moshfegh writes with so much misanthropic aplomb, however, that she is always a deep pleasure to read. She has a sleepless eye and dispenses observations as if from a toxic eyedropper."

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Les Chemins de Katmandou Les Chemins de Katmandou ("the roads to Kathmandu") is a 1969 novel by the French writer René Barjavel. It tells the story of a man who joins a group of hippies who live and travel in Nepal, where they take drugs and practice free love in the belief that it will free them from materialism, only to meet disappointment. Adaptation. The novel was the adaptation of the 1969 film "The Pleasure Pit", directed by André Cayatte and starring Renaud Verley and Jane Birkin. The film had 1,635,664 admissions in French cinemas.

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Bongwater (novel) Bongwater is a 1995 American debut novel by Michael Hornburg. Utilizing two different narrative perspectives, it follows a drug dealer and his counterculture friends in Portland, Oregon, as well as his tempestuous ex-girlfriend who has fled to New York City after the dissolution of their short-lived relationship. The novel was adapted into a 1998 film of the same name starring Luke Wilson, Alicia Witt, and Brittany Murphy. Plot. The novel shifts from first-person narration by David, a marijuana dealer and aspiring filmmaker in Portland, Oregon, to third-person narration by Courtney, his ex-girlfriend who has left Portland and is living in the East Village in New York City, where she has moved into a squat. Prior to leaving, she had caught David's house on fire and left it to burn down. After Courtney leaves, David moves in with their mutual friends, Robert and Tony, a gay couple, and begins dating Mary, a stripper, but still reminisces of Courtney. David and Mary go to visit David's childhood friend Phil, who grows marijuana in the mountains, while in New York, Courtney's friend Jennifer comes to visit and they attend a party in Brooklyn. Conception. The novel was based in part on Hornburg's own experiences living in Portland, Oregon in the 1980s, where he was attending Portland State University. The novel's female character, Courtney, was inspired by Courtney Love, whom Hornburg purportedly had a relationship with. Reception. "Alternative Press" called the novel "one of coolest books of the year. Hornburg explodes the whole grunge mythos by taking it out of the realm of the flash photo spread and giving us the seamy, unimaginative days upon days of fear and hopelessness." Karen Karbo in reviewing the book, wrote: "No one writing today walks the line between glamour and pathos better than Michael Hornburg. Being young and lost in America has never looked so good, or so terrifying. "Bongwater" is at once gorgeous, witty, and sad." In their review of the novel, "The Seattle Weekly" said: "There is no grunge bodice-ripper [in the novel]; it sticks close to the theory that life is never simple and people always suck. "Bongwater" is written from first-hand experience, simple prose touched with just enough witty embroidery to seize the imagination. The music is peripheral, the real sound a silent scream." Leslie Holdcroft of "The Seattle Times", however, gave the novel a negative review, writing: "Hornburg brings us the struggling-artists' guide to Portland, including cheap sex, drugs, strippers, drag queens, an accidental house fire and air that "smells like worms." Hornburg's version of Manhattan's East Village looks even worse: Take all those bad things, add violence and concrete...The end result is like a bad tourist guide: plenty of street addresses, building names, and insider's tips, but little reason to stay and explore."

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Vurt Vurt is a 1993 science fiction novel written by British author Jeff Noon. The debut novel for both Noon and small publishing house Ringpull, it went on to win the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke Award and was later listed in "The Best Novels of the Nineties". Plot summary. "Vurt" tells the story of Scribble and his "gang", the Stash Riders, as they search for his missing sister Desdemona. The novel is set in an alternate version of Manchester, England, in which society has been shaped by Vurt, a hallucinogenic drug/shared alternate reality, accessed by sucking on colour-coded feathers. Through some (never explained) mechanism, the dreams, mythology, and imaginings of humanity have achieved objective reality in the Vurt and become "real". Before the novel begins, Scribble and his sister take a shared trip into a vurt called English Voodoo, but upon awakening Scribble finds his sister has disappeared. Out of that trip comes an amorphous semi-sentient blob which Mandy, a fellow Stash Rider, nicknames "The Thing from Outer Space". From that point on, Scribble is on a mission to find a rare and contraband Curious Yellow feather so that he might find his sister. Literary significance and reception. "Vurt" achieved both critical and commercial success, attracting praise from the science fiction community as well as the literary arena. It has been stylistically compared to William Gibson's cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer", as well as Anthony Burgess's "A Clockwork Orange". In "High Anxieties", a book exploring the modern concept of addiction, Scribble is used as an example of a character who has traded addiction for a chance at transcendence. Brodie "et al." liken Scribble's incorporation of Vurt technology into his biological body as a metaphor for the revelation potentially gained through drug use. They point out that the exchange rate between the real and the Vurt is tempered by Hobart's Constant, or "H"—which is "not incidentally", Brodie argues, "slang for heroin." The book has attracted criticism due to its implausible science and "wild and kaleidoscopic" yet unsatisfying plot. "Entertainment Weekly" felt "Vurt" was undeserving of receiving the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke Award, saying the book's "sentimental incest and adolescent self-congratulation ... is never really startling or disturbing." Allusions and references. Jeff Noon says "Vurt" originally began as an adaptation of Octave Mirbeau's "The Torture Garden", an anti-authoritarian novel written at the turn of the 20th century. Noon, recently exposed to virtual reality technology by the magazine Mondo 2000, depicts the torture garden as a virtual world. Noon also credits Joseph Campbell's book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" for inspiring the narrative structure of "Vurt". The character of Desdemona is based on the character of the same name from William Shakespeare's play "Othello". The Curious Yellow feather is a possible allusion to the 1967 Swedish film "I Am Curious (Yellow)", which uses non-linear narrative structures and postmodern techniques like the novel. It might also be a reference to computer worms (the Vurt is riddled with virtual reality serpents which propagate from game to game, like computer worms replicate themselves by hijacking computer programs). "Vurt" has been described as a retelling of Orpheus' visit to the Underworld. Orpheus and Scribble are both poets and musicians, and each attempts to rescue their idealised lovers from an alternate reality. As Joan Gordon points out, cyberspace represents "the underside of the human condition" and therefore the journey to virtual reality is comparable to the mythic journey to commune with the dead. In addition, the myth of Orpheus, like "Vurt", explores what it means to be human in relation to the non-human; Orpheus encountered the dead, and Scribble the virtual simulations created by computers. There are multiple allusions to stories by Lewis Carroll, such as a club the main character walks into, referred to as the Slithy Tove, which is a quote from Carroll's poem, the Jabberwocky. Adaptations. Comic books. There have been a few comic adaptations of the novel, most notably "Vurt – The Comic Remix", with art by Lee O'Connor. Games. In August 2015, Ravendesk Games conducted a Kickstarter campaign, successfully funding a tabletop role-playing game version of "Vurt". The campaign reached its goal in only ten days, suggesting an ongoing public awareness and cult-like fondness for the novel. Featuring all-new material by Jeff Noon himself, the RPG was officially released in October 2017 to critical praise. Film and television. Although Noon began the screenplay for the film version of "Vurt" in 2002, with Iain Softley scheduled to direct, in 2005 he stated on his public website that "Of the Vurt film, all has gone silent at the moment. Don't hold your breath." Stage. In 2000, Liam Steel directed "Vurt: The Theatre Remix", which ran for three weeks at Contact Theatre in Manchester. 20th anniversary edition. In 2013, 20th anniversary edition of the novel was published, featuring three new stories and a foreword by Lauren Beukes.

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The Rules of Attraction The Rules of Attraction is a satirical black comedy novel by Bret Easton Ellis published in 1987. The novel follows a handful of rowdy and often sexually promiscuous, spoiled bohemian students at a liberal arts college in 1980s New Hampshire, including three who develop a love triangle. The novel is written in first person narrative, and the story is told from the points of view of various characters. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 2002. Ellis himself has remarked that among film adaptations of his books, "The Rules of Attraction" came closest to capturing his sensibility and recreating the world of his novels. Plot summary. The novel is written in the first-person, continuing the aesthetic of Ellis' earlier "Less Than Zero", and is told from the points of view of multiple characters. The main narrators are three students: Paul, Sean, and Lauren. A number of other characters also provide first-hand accounts throughout the story, which takes place at the fictional Camden College, a liberal arts school on the East Coast of the United States. The three main characters (who rarely attend class) end up in a love triangle within a sequence of drug runs, "Dressed to Get Screwed" parties, and "End of the World" parties. The story begins and ends midway through a sentence (the first word in the book being 'and', the last words are 'and she') in order to give the effect that it begins somewhere closer to the middle, rather than at a true beginning (in medias res). Another interpretation is that the story has neither a beginning nor an ending, signifying the endless cycle of debauchery in which the characters of the novel engage. This is sometimes mistaken by readers as a typographical error or the result of a missing page, but was purposely written by Ellis. The novel ends in a similar fashion, with the last sentence cut off before its end. Characters. Sean Bateman. Sean is a twenty-one-year-old student from a wealthy family. He is very promiscuous and a heavy substance abuser, as well as a drug dealer in the employ of Rupert Guest. He becomes romantically involved with Lauren, a relationship he considers to be true love. It is also implied that Sean is bisexual, as he apparently becomes involved in a sexual relationship with Paul Denton. However, whether these encounters are real or simply a product of Paul's imagination is left ambiguous; Paul narrates sexual incidents between himself and Sean, while such incidents are absent from Sean's own narration. Sean is very bitter, cynical, and rather dim-witted, and is prone to self-loathing as well. He is also heavily implied to be somewhat of a sociopath, showing incredibly impulsive behavior (sleeping with Lauren's friend Judy, and at one point, breaking a box of singles he owns for no reason at all) and having no consideration for other people. He attempts suicide at multiple points in the book, first by hanging, then by slashing his wrist with a dull razor, and then by overdose after a falling out with Lauren. A major subplot in the novel is Sean's debt to Rupert, a violent townie drug dealer who often threatens to kill him. The character is the brother of the notorious Patrick Bateman and has also appeared in Ellis's other novels, "American Psycho", "The Informers" and "Glamorama". Lauren Hynde. Lauren is a painter and poet who has sexual relations with several boys on campus, all the while pining for Victor, her boyfriend who left Camden and headed to Europe. She is often depressed and very emotional. She is in her senior year at Camden. At the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that Lauren lost her virginity at a party during her freshman year at Camden, where she got so intoxicated that she passed out in bed with another student only to awaken and find herself being raped by a pair of townies. She becomes romantically involved with Sean Bateman halfway through the book, even though she holds Sean in contempt and considers the relationship nothing but a way to pass the time before Victor comes back from Europe. She was also in a relationship with Paul before the events of the book take place. The character reappears as a main character in "Glamorama", in which she becomes reacquainted with Victor after having become a successful model and actress. Paul Denton. Paul is a young bisexual man who used to date Lauren. He is extremely attracted to Sean and claims that in bed Sean is "crazed, an untamed animal, it was almost scary" yet these thoroughly described accounts are entirely absent from Sean's entries. For example, the night Paul writes an account of his and Sean's first sexual encounter after the two talk in Paul's bedroom, Sean writes in his own account that he simply went home after talking to Paul, the two entries therefore lying in contradiction to one another. However, the true details of this relationship remain ambiguous and open to the reader's interpretation. Paul also had relationships with two other important characters, Mitchell and Richard (Dick). Paul is highly intelligent and passionate, but is not above obscuring these facts in the course of seduction. Several characters in the book remark upon his physical attractiveness, brought out by Roman features and soft blond hair. Paul's relationship with his mother, Eve, is complex; she yearns to reach out to him but is led towards iciness by Paul's flippancy, which in turn feeds their animosity. Setting of the novel. The story is set at Camden College, a fictional liberal arts college in northeastern New Hampshire. In many ways, Camden mirrors Ellis' alma mater, Bennington College, and Hampden College, the setting of Donna Tartt's novel "The Secret History". Both books contain cross-references to each other's story lines and characters, as well as mention of actual campus buildings. Tartt mentions the suicide of a freshman girl in passing, while Ellis repeatedly mentions a group of classics majors who "dress like undertakers" and are suspected of staging pagan rituals and slaying farmers in the countryside (a reference to "The Secret History"). There is also mention of a "nice girl from Rockaway" in one of Lauren's narrations. This is possibly Alex from Jill Eisenstadt's novel "From Rockaway", who attended Camden College in the novel. Film. "The Rules of Attraction" was adapted into a film of the same name in 2002. It was directed by Roger Avary and starred James Van Der Beek as Sean, Shannyn Sossamon as Lauren, Ian Somerhalder as Paul, and Kip Pardue as Victor.

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The Nexus Trilogy The Nexus Trilogy is a postcyberpunk thriller novel trilogy written by American author Ramez Naam and published between 2012-2015. The novel series follows the protagonist Kaden Lane, a scientist who works on an experimental nano-drug, Nexus, which allows the brain to be programmed and networked, connecting human minds together. As he pursues his work, he becomes entangled in government and corporate intrigue. The story takes place in the year 2040. "Nexus" tied for Best Novel in the 2014 Prometheus Awards given out by the Libertarian Futurist Society. It was also shortlisted for the 2014 Arthur C. Clarke award. "Nexus" was published in 2012. Its sequel, "Crux", was published in 2013. The third volume of the trilogy, "Apex", was published in 2014, and won the 2015 Philip K. Dick Award. The film rights to "Nexus" were purchased by Paramount in 2013. Plot summary. Nexus. Samantha Cataranes (Sam), an agent for the Emerging Risks Directorate (ERD) of the United States government, arrives undercover at a party looking for Kaden Lane. Kaden is there testing Nexus 5, an illegal, experimental nano-drug for direct input and output of brain signals. Sam talks with Kaden about his work and he invites her to be a part of a Nexus 5 study. Sam goes to the study and meets Kaden's close friends and colleagues: Rangan Shankari, Ilya Alexander, and Watson Cole (Wats). Sam takes Nexus 5, connecting her mind with the others, and they discover who she is and Kade uses Nexus to knock her out. When Sam awakes she threatens the group with prison, and promises a pardon in exchange for Kade's help. Wats escapes before the ERD extracts the group. The ERD describe a mission to spy on Su-Yong Shu, a brilliant Chinese neuro-scientist who is implicated in murder and brain control coercion. Kade agrees to work with the ERD and hands over Nexus 5. Kade and the group are sent to retrieve the Nexus 5 data, and on the way, they install a backdoor into the Nexus 5 operating system. Sam is required to have permanent integration with Nexus 5, despite her disagreement with Warren Becker, the Enforcement Division Deputy Director at the ERD. Kade and Sam, now with the pseudonym of Robyn Rodriguez, travel to Bangkok for a conference that Kade is invited to by Shu. Wats follows in hopes of setting Kade free and spreading Nexus 5 to the general public. At registration, Kade hears an inspiring talk from Somdet Phra Ananda, discussing a Nexus-like topic, and meets Narong, a PHD student. Narong invites Kade to a student mixer the following night. After returning to the hotel Kade finds a secret note left by Wats, informing him of the possibility of escape if needed. Kade recognizes that he needs to stay and attempts to notify Wats, who however never receives the message. At the opening night reception Sam discovers Narong is a known associate of Suk Prat-Nung, a nephew of Thanom Prat-Nung, a Thai Drug Dealer. Sam decides it is important to continue to track Narong in hopes of catching the Thai drug ring leaders. Kade finds Shu and is invited for lunch the following day, later changed to a dinner as she meets first with Ananda. Kade also discovers that Professor Ananda is under the influence of Nexus. After returning to the hotel, Sam reviews tapes from the day and discovers the interaction between Ananda and Kade and that Ananda also followed Kade home. Sam also discovers that a note has been passed to Kade, however she does not know that it was from Wats. Kade meets with Shu for dinner where she reaches into his mind to discover what he knows. Kade fights back and employs a mantra to rearrange his memories. Shu reverses the effect and discovers that Kade is working with the ERD. Kade discovers that Shu is the first mind uploaded to a computer system. She is trans-human and attempts to convince Kade to join her in fighting humans. Kade asks for time to think about her proposal. She creates false memories so that Sam and the ERD will not discover their true conversation. Kade and Sam attend the student mixer to meet with Narong. He invites them to an after party in another area. On the way they go to Sukchai, an underground black market for everything trans-human. Kade realizes that legalizing these products would protect people, while Sam struggles with what is right. At the after party, Kade and Sam are invited to a Synchronicity party with Narong to try Nexus and another drug, Empathek. While leaving the party Sam and Kade are attacked. Sam defeats the attackers and calls for backup. The ERD backup arrives and extracts them. Sam confronts Kade about the interaction with Ananda, which Kade denies and arranges his memories to cover it up. The following day, Kade is approached by Shu at the conference. He recounts the previous nights events and Shu denies it was her people. Shu again tries to convince Kade that he should join the trans-humans. Kade takes a call from Ilya that reminds him that technology in the hands of only the elite is dangerous. Kade talks privately with Ananda. Ananda describes Buddhism as a democracy and how technology and knowledge must be shared. Meanwhile, Wats discovers that Suk Prat-Nung set up the ambush on Kade and Sam. He also discovers a plot to ambush them again during their Synchronicity party and sends an email to Kade to warn him. Sam sees the email and notifies ERD to be available in case of an ambush. At the Synchronicity party, Sam and Kade take Nexus and Empathek. They both use their mantras to change their memories. Sam, believing she is now Robyn Rodriguez, talks with Mai, a young girl that was born with Nexus abilities. Mai unlocks Sam's true memories and contributes to a great change inside Sam. Sam, overwhelmed by her sudden realization of the power of these drugs and released from her horrible past, talks with Kade. She releases his true memories and recounts her dark past. They both fall asleep. Upon waking they find Thanom Prat-Nung and his guards in the room. Narong, under the influence of Nexus 5 and the ERD, draws a gun on Thanom. Narong is killed by Thanom's guards and the ERD sends three team of men into the building, open firing despite Sam's warnings of civilians. Mai and the other members of the party are killed. Sam kills several ERD agents. Kade fights the ERD soldiers. Wats joins the fight and is killed. The ERD detonate explosions in the skulls of the soldiers. Sam and Kade escape. Suk Prat-Nung still alive, with a few of his men, continues to fight Sam and Kade. Kade is captured while Sam defeats some of Suk's men. Kade uses Nexus 5 to control the actions of his captor, Suk, to escape. Suk is killed. Feng, Shu's driver and a super soldier clone, rescues Kade and Sam, bringing them to a monastery. Sam and Kade spend some time recovering at the monastery while the ERD searches for them. An ERD recon spider robot discovers Sam and Kade's location, and the ERD sends a team to retrieve them. On her way to the monastery, Shu and Feng discover the ERD helicopters going to the monastery. They get a message to the monastery. Kade decides to mass distribute the Nexus 5 instructions. The ERD capture Kade placing him bound on a helicopter. Sam forces her way onto the helicopter, along with Feng. Shu takes control of the helicopter with her mind and forces it to return to the monastery. Before arriving two Thai fighter jets destroy the helicopters just as Kade, Sam, and Feng leap into a nearby lake. After returning to the monastery, the ERD recon spider robots shoots a neuro toxin at Kade and Shu. Feng cuts Kades right arm off to prevent the spreading of the toxin. Shu is killed. Nexus 5 is spread around the world, despite the efforts of government forces. Warren Becker, the Enforcement Division Deputy Director at the ERD, commits suicide. Kade uses gecko genes to grow back his arm. Crux. Six months after the upload of the construction plan of the Nexus, a nano drug, which allows the brain to be programmed and networked, connecting human minds together, the world faces terrorism and massive abuse of the new technology. The Liberation Front, a terror cell secretly created and headed by the US-American government, spread terror in the name of posthumanism, to prevent people from using the new technology and bring up an atmosphere of two 'n' eight to take drastic measures against Nexus. In the meantime, our protagonist Kade and his new friend, clone warrior Feng, are fleeing from the CIA, which want see them both killed. On the elopement Kade is trying to stem the misuse of the nano drug to prevent a war between posthumans and humans. He has a code to the Nexus system that he can use to hack it. The secret services are very interested in the code. Ilya Aleander dies as prisoner because she didn't give the code to her turnkeys. Rangan Shankari can escape. Su-Yong Shu died in Nexus and now lives on as a computer intelligence and prisoner on a server belonging to the Chinese government. Ling Shu, her daughter, tries to help her mother escape. At the end of the book, the mother uses Ling Shus Nexus system to hack her brain and take over the body of her daughter. In Thailand, Samantha Cataranes helps in a protectory. Apex. Previous. A new nano cyber drug called Nexus is released in the year 2040. It connects human minds and allows the brain to be programmed. The protagonist Kaden Lane works on the illegal drug and is suddenly entangled in government intrigue. The nanomedicine is the breakthrough to posthumanism which governments and corporations fear and try to stop. Su-Yong Shu, a brilliant Chinese neuroscientist, with a mind uploaded to the network, tries to start a posthuman revolution. Soon Kaden Lane, who is summoned to spy on her, becomes her ally. The US American government hunts both and at the end Su-Yong Shu's physical body dies while her mind is isolated in a Chinese data center. Kaden Lane flees with his friends and makes the nano drugs available for all of humanity. As a result global unrest spreads with terrorists using the nano drug for assassination and governments trying to assassinate Nexus users. Meanwhile, Su-Yong Shu is nearly killed by the Chinese government by cutting off power to the data center. In the end she is rescued by her daughter. Apex. The United States and China in particular and the Earth in general are aroused by disturbances. Unrest and riots spread with Nexus-upgraded protesters and police. Su-Yong Shu, the former dead neuroscientist who stole her daughter's body by downloading herself into it, tries to take over all electronic systems and with them the entire world, recreating it to fit her imagination. The posthumans are called Apex, the climax, and reinstatement of humankind. Film adaptions. The film rights to the novel series were purchased by Paramount in 2013. Futurism themes. The novel is heavily based in, and extends concepts in the author Ramez Naam's 2007 non-fiction work "More Than Human: Embracing the promise of biological enhancement," in which the author argues for a technology like the fictional drug Nexus. Genetic enhancements. The genetic enhancements to boost strength, speed, and stamina, as described in "Nexus", are likely already possible, argued so by Ramez Naam. Operating system backdoor. The Nexus backdoor that is created by Kade and Rangan in the novel is based on the Karger and Schell Multics backdoor, implemented experimentally by Ken Thompson, co-inventor of the Unix operating system.

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The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is a 1965 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965. Like many of Dick's novels, it utilizes an array of science fiction concepts, explores the ambiguous slippage between reality and unreality. It is one of Dick's first works to explore religious themes. The novel takes place in a future 2016 where humankind has colonized every habitable planet and moon in the Solar System. To cope with the difficult life away from Earth, colonists rely on the illegal hallucinogen Can-D, secretly distributed by corporate head Leo Bulero. New tensions arise with the rumor that merchant explorer Palmer Eldritch has returned from an expedition in possession of a new alien hallucinogen to compete with Can-D. Plot summary. The story begins in a future world where global temperatures have risen so high that in most of the world it is unsafe to be outside without special cooling gear during daylight hours. In a desperate bid to preserve humanity and ease population burdens on Earth, the UN has initiated a "draft" for colonizing the nearby planets, where conditions are so horrific and primitive that the unwilling colonists have fallen prey to a form of escapism involving the use of an illegal drug (Can-D) in concert with "layouts." Layouts are physical props intended to simulate a sort of alternative reality where life is easier than either the grim existence of the colonists in their marginal off-world colonies, or even Earth, where global warming has progressed to the point that Antarctica is prime vacation resort territory. The illegal drug Can-D allows people to "share" their experience of the "Perky Pat" (the name of the main female character in the simulated world) layouts. This "sharing" has caused a pseudo-religious cult or series of cults to grow up around the layouts and the use of the drug. Up to the point where the novel begins, New York City-based Perky Pat (or P.P.) Layouts, Inc., has held a monopoly on this product, as well as on the illegal trade in the drug Can-D which makes the shared hallucinations possible. The novel opens shortly after Barney Mayerson, P.P. Layouts' top precog, has received a "draft notice" from the UN for involuntary resettlement as a colonist on Mars. Mayerson is sleeping with his assistant, Roni Fugate, but remains conflicted about the divorce, which he himself initiated, from his first wife Emily, a ceramic pot artist. Meanwhile, Emily's second husband tries to sell her pot designs to P.P. Layouts as possible accessories for the Perky Pat virtual worlds—but Barney, recognizing them as Emily's, rejects them out of spite. Meanwhile, the UN rescues Palmer Eldritch's ship from a crash on Pluto. Leo Bulero, head of P.P. Layouts and an "evolved" human (meaning someone who has undergone expensive genetic treatments by a German "doctor" which are supposed to push the client "forward" on an evolutionary scale, and which result in gross physical, as well as mental, modifications), hears rumors that Eldritch discovered an alien hallucinogen in the Prox system with similar properties to Can-D, and that he plans to market it as "Chew-Z," with UN approval, on off-world colonies. However Chew-Z does not require the prop of the external layouts and seems to have certain undefined qualities that make the use of Chew-Z even more addictive than Can-D has been. This would effectively destroy P.P. Layouts. Bulero tries to contact Eldritch but he is quarantined at a UN hospital. Both Mayerson and Fugate have precognitions of reports that Bulero is going to be responsible for murdering Eldritch. Under the guise of a reporter, Bulero travels to Eldritch's estate on the Moon, where Eldritch holds a press conference. Bulero is kidnapped and forced to take Chew-Z intravenously. He enters a psychic netherworld over which both he and Eldritch seemingly have some control. After wrangling about business with Eldritch, Bulero travels to what appears to be Earth at some time in the not-too-distant future. Evolved humans identify him as a ghost and show him a monument to himself commemorating his role in the death of Eldritch, an "enemy of the Sol System." Bulero returns to Earth and fires Mayerson because Mayerson was afraid to travel to the Moon to rescue him. Mayerson, in despair, accepts his UN conscription to Mars but Bulero recruits him as a double agent. Mayerson is to inject himself with a toxin after taking Chew-Z in a plot to deceive the UN into thinking Chew-Z is harmful and cause them to ban it. On Mars, Mayerson buys some Chew-Z from Eldritch, who appears in holographic form. Mayerson tries to hallucinate a world where he is still with Emily but finds that he does not control his apparent hallucination. Like Bulero, he finds himself in the future. Mayerson arrives in New York two years hence where he speaks with Bulero, Fugate and his future self about the death of Palmer Eldritch. He also encounters several manifestations of Eldritch, identifiable by their robotic right hand, artificial eyes, and steel teeth. Eldritch offers to help Mayerson become whatever he wants, but is so controlling of the Chew-Z alternative reality that Mayerson ultimately decides he'd rather be dead than continue to be manipulated by Eldritch. When a despairing Mayerson chooses death, he finds himself apparently forced into Eldritch's body right at the point in the timeline where Bulero is ready to shoot a torpedo at Eldritch's ship. It appears that Eldritch's plan is to preserve his own life essence housed in Mayerson's body while allowing Mayerson himself to die in Eldritch's place. Eldritch, meanwhile, intends to live on in Mayerson's form and enjoy the simple if arduous life of a Martian colonist. Mayerson, stuck in Eldritch's body and mistaken for him, is indeed nearly killed by Bulero in the near future, but before the fatal shot can be fired he is awakened from his Chew-Z trance in the present by Bulero, who has just arrived on Mars. Bulero is willing to take Mayerson back to Earth but refuses to after learning that Mayerson did not inject himself with the toxin. Mayerson is now confident that Bulero will kill Eldritch, so the sacrifice of taking the toxin in order to ruin Eldritch's business is unnecessary; but he does not try to convince Bulero of this. Later, Mayerson discusses his experience with a neo-Christian colonist and they conclude that either Eldritch became a god in the Prox system or some god-like being has taken his place. Mayerson is convinced some aspect of Eldritch is still inside him, and that as long as he refuses to take Chew-Z again, it is Eldritch who will actually be killed by Bulero in the near future; Mayerson is half-resigned, half-hopeful about taking on the life of a Martian colonist without reprieve. Mayerson considers the possibility of Eldritch being what humans have always thought of as a god, but inimical, or perhaps merely an inferior aspect of a bigger and better sort of god. The novel has an ambiguous ending, with Bulero heading back toward Earth, and apparent proliferation of Eldritch's cyborg body 'stigmata', which may mean that Bulero is still trapped in Eldritch's hallucinatory domain, or that Chew-Z is becoming increasingly popular among Terrans and Martian colonists. Reception and legacy. Algis Budrys of "Galaxy Science Fiction" described the novel as "an important, beautifully controlled, smoothly created book which will twist your mind if you give it the least chance to do so". He praised Dick's accomplishment, saying "the whole creation resonates to the touch of the only present science-fiction writer who could possibly have done it" and characterizes the result as "a witty, sometimes lighthearted, and always fascinating piece of fiction". Budrys later named the book the best science-fiction novel of his first year as reviewer for the magazine, reporting that others "are calling it some kind of half-conscious failure". Weird fiction writer China Mieville listed this book in one of his top weird fiction books of all time, saying "It's infuriating to have to choose just one of Dick's works - he is the outstanding figure in SF. In the end I went for Stigmata because I remember how I felt when I put it down. Hollow and beaten. I kept thinking: "That's it. It's finished. Literature has been finished." In a 2003 retrospective review, sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock criticized "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" as thematically "incoherent", complaining about Dick's lack of an "idiosyncratic structure or style".

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Glamorama Glamorama is a 1998 novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis. "Glamorama" is set in and satirizes the 1990s, specifically celebrity culture and consumerism. "Time" describes the novel as "a screed against models and celebrity." Development. Ellis wanted to write a Stephen King-style ghost story novel, which would eventually become "Lunar Park"; finding it difficult at the time, he began work on the other novel which he had in mind. This was a Robert Ludlum-style thriller, with the intention of using one of his own vapid characters who lack insight as the narrator. Ellis composed the book between December 1989 and December 1997. Literary devices, plot, and themes. The novel is a satire of modern celebrity culture; this is reflected in its premise, which features models-turned-terrorists. A character remarks, "basically, everyone was a sociopath ... and all the girls' hair was chignoned." The novel plays upon the conspiracy thriller conceit of someone "behind all the awful events", to dramatize the revelation of a world of random horror. The lack of resolution contributes to Ellis' artistic effect. The obsession with beauty is reflected in consistent namedropping; this satirizes (the main character) Victor's obsession with looks, and perhaps is indicative of the author's own attraction to glamor. Ellis drops names in "Glamorama" so often that "Entertainment Weekly" describes "Nary a sentence ... escapes without a cameo from someone famous, quasi-famous, or formerly famous. In fact, in some sentences, Ellis cuts out those pesky nouns and verbs and simply lists celebrities." Namedropping and commoditization have a depersonalizing effect (a world reduced to "sheen and brands"); as the reviewer for "The Harvard Crimson" observes, "When Victor undergoes a transformation to a law student, we know he is different because he now wears a Brooks Brothers suit and drinks Diet Coke. London and Paris become nothing more than a different collection of recognizable proper nouns (Notting Hill and Irvine Welsh in the first case; "Chez Georges" and Yves Saint Laurent in the second)." A writer for the "New York Times" observes "much of his prose consists of (intentionally) numbingly long lists of his characters' clothes and accouterments ... out of which his loft-dwellers somewhat hopefully attempt to assemble something like an identity". In speech, his writing demonstrates the ways in which his characters, too, have internalized the language of consumerist advertising and marketing. According to the "Lakeland Ledger", "Glamorama" is something of a "Through the Looking-Glass" allegory and a cautionary tale navigating the perils of dissolving identity. In parody of how people now think in modern terms, Ellis "annoying[ly]" lists "the songs that are playing in the background, or even quoting them, as he does with Oasis' "Champagne Supernova"; in effect, the novel is provided with a movie soundtrack. As such, the book feels at times like a movie, and sometimes more specifically, a snuff film. New technology such as photo manipulation software (e.g. "PhotoSoap for Windows 95") are featured in the novel. This creates an ironic situation in which Victor, the character obsessed by appearances, is haunted by fake images that appear real which implicate him in a murder; it becomes hard to tell what is real in the 'modern' world. As such, "meaningful identity is obliterated"; this furthers the recurring joke from "American Psycho" wherein "characters are always getting confused by their friends with other people, with no noticeable consequences". The book prominently features a conceit wherein Victor's life is being filmed by a camera crew "introduced a third of the way into the book". As well as a postmodern device to examine the questionable "reality" of the situation, it also functions as a "tidy commentary" on the advent of mass surveillance in the 1990s. "EW" interprets the scene to mean "Modern life has become a movie (a point made more cogently by Neal Gabler's new book, "Life the Movie")." The "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" took the same meaning from the conceit, and described it as a "not-so-deep observation" that "has no real pay-off". The "New York Times" felt it was a "halfhearted narrative device ... suggesting that the novel's action is actually part of a film that's being made." The reviewer felt that allusions to ""the director" or to the fact that this or that scene is a "flashback"" was used to retroactively suggest cohesion in the novel's plot. "As much as celebrity itself, our collective celebrity worship becomes the real target of Ellis' satire", writes the "Star Tribune". Models in the novel act as a synecdoche of the larger culture. Reviewer Eric Hanson writes, "Their [models'] selfishness and brutality, he implies, are simply an extreme manifestation of what consumer culture encourages in everyone." Victor's own pursuit of being cool or too hip "destroys him". A CNN reviewer gives the example of Victor not wanting to explain his impersonator, "because the places he was seen were always hot spots he should have frequented." Characters. Victor Ward is the novel's lead character, who had previously appeared as Victor Johnson in "The Rules of Attraction" (1987). In "Glamorama", now an "A-list model, would-be-actor and current "It boy", "an uberstereotype of the male model", Victor lives by his catchphrase mantra "the better you look, the more you see". As "Harvard Crimson" observes, "His lifestyle is the extreme of everything the current culture worships: he can't avoid thinking in brand names and image and speaks with lines from pop songs." Uncharacteristic for an Ellis protagonist, as the "Crimson" notes, Victor is "terrified by" the "coldbloodedness" he encounters when he becomes embroiled in international terrorism. As an unintelligent narrator, Victor (through his inability to comprehend his situation), underlines how "the world of celebrity in "Glamorama" is inescapable". Compared to other Ellis protagonists, Victor is less "sensitive and insightful" than "Less Than Zero"'s Clay, neither the "preening psychopath" that is "American Psycho"'s Patrick Bateman", he is nevertheless an "[un]sympathetic protagonist (in his own way, he's as morally bankrupt as ... Patrick Bateman)." As narrator, "Victor's perceptions" sum up "[the glamor world's] disconnection from what the rest of us consider "real life"... [where] Everything he sees is a brand name." CNN speculates when Victor begins speaking to the novel's "film crew" (one of its literary devices), that this could mean that the character is schizophrenic. Victor comes across "oddly homophobic for a member of the pansexual New York fashion scene"; when his gay assistant accuses "I know for a fact you've had sex with guys in the past", he retorts that he did "the whole hip bi thing for about three hours back in college". The mysterious F. Fred Palakon first appears a quarter of the way into the novel, when he offers to pay Victor $300,000 to track down his former Camden classmate Jamie Fields, a double-agent working in the terrorist organisation with which Victor becomes involved. It is never clarified exactly which political organisation Palakon appears to be working for; he even appears alongside Senator Johnson, Victor's father, a United States Senator with ambitions to become President. Of Palakon, 'the director' says "We've been through this a hundred times ... There is no Palakon. I've never heard that name. Victor's girlfriend Chloe Byrnes is a supermodel and a recovering drug addict. Alison Poole, the main character from Jay McInerney's 1988 novel "Story of My Life", appears, having also previously appeared in "American Psycho" in 1992. In "Glamorama", Alison is "[Victor's] boss's girlfriend (another supermodel)", "here playing Lewinsky". Bobby Hughes is a successful male model and the leader of his international terrorist group. Victor engages in a bisexual threesome with him and with Jamie Fields. Lauren Hynde from "The Rules of Attraction" also reappears, having become a successful actress with ties to Hughes' terrorist organisation; other "Rules" characters appear (e.g., in flashback) such as Bertrand, who is now a terrorist also. Adaptations. In 1999, the contemporary Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero wrote a composition for chamber ensemble entitled "Glamorama Spies", which was inspired by the novel. "Glitterati" is a 2004 film directed by Roger Avary assembled from the 70 hours of video footage shot for the European sequence of "The Rules of Attraction". It expands upon the minimally detailed and rapidly recapped story told by Victor Ward, portrayed by Kip Pardue, upon his return to the United States after having travelled extensively around Europe. In regard to expanding upon those events, the film acts as a connecting bridge between "The Rules of Attraction" and the upcoming film adaptation set to be directed by Avary. Avary has called "Glitterati" a "pencil sketch of what will ultimately be the oil painting of "Glamorama"." In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of "Glamorama", narrated by Jonathan Davis, as part of its "Modern Vanguard" line of audiobooks. In 2010, when a film adaptation of "Glamorama" was mentioned in an interview with Movieline.com, Bret Easton Ellis commented, "I think the days of being able to make that movie are over." From the same interview, Ellis mentioned that an idea for a mini-series adaptation was brought forth to HBO though it was ultimately declined and further stating the movie would be left in Roger Avary's hands if one was to be made. On October 13, 2011, Bret Easton Ellis reported on Twitter the following: "Zoolander" controversy. Fans have noted similarities to the 2001 Ben Stiller comedy "Zoolander". Ellis stated that he is aware of the similarities, and went on to say that he considered and attempted to take legal action. Ellis was asked about the similarities in a 2005 BBC interview. In the response to the question, he said that he is unable to discuss the similarities due to an out-of-court settlement. Reception. Much criticism of the novel noted its length. "Time"'s Joel Stein noted "The idea—models so solipsistic that they become terrorists—is a good-enough one for a short story of 15 pages, but it's unsustainable at 482." He describes the book's first 185 pages as "inanely repetitive". "Entertainment Weekly" opines "It's like reading Page Six of the "New York Post", but for 482 pages." One reviewer found the opening scenes "funny enough" although noted that it "gets tired easily". Contrarily, the "Star Tribune" felt "the satiric early half is Ellis in peak form, the thriller-style second half is less successful." In fact, the humour in the novel was praised by multiple critics. The "Star Tribune" notes Victor's lack of depth, malapropisms, overuse of the word "baby" and the novel's "enchantingly disaffected monotone" of "a been-there-done-that Valleyspeak". Hanson felt that the horror elements in the "labyrinthian" thriller section of the novel seemed "recycled from "American Psycho"." "Entertainment Weekly" also state their preference for the "first 189 pages". Contrarily, the "New York Times" felt that the book was devoid of fun, where even the blackest satire (e.g. Evelyn Waugh's "Loved One") are more humorous. "EW" places "Glamorama" within an emerging tradition of celebrity satire, noting "the glitterati are the satirical target du jour, what with Woody Allen's limp, oral-sex-filled film "Celebrity", and Jay McInerney's clever novel "Model Behavior"" (both 1998). McInerney (a friend of Ellis) noted the novel's comparative darkness to his own "Model Behaviour" (also about 90s nightlife and supermodels), published the same year, saying "I deliberately wrote a comic novel because you don't go chasing butterflies with sledgehammers". (Regarding McInerney's novel, Stein had felt that the novelist's attempt at a zeitgeist novel was one "looking at the '90s through an '80s lens".) "Harvard Crimson" noted, similar to McInerney, that "Celebrity by itself teeters so often into self-parody that it seems too easy to bash it" but remarks that "Fortunately, Ellis does more than that injecting "Glamorama" with a sharper plot than those of earlier novels, a plot which kicks in about a quarter of the way into the novel." The "New York Times" question the choice of subject matter as well: "Ellis's satirical message is, essentially, a one-liner, and hardly an original one at that – celebrity culture is vapid, yes, and?" The reviewer furthermore suggested ""Glamorama" is itself just another artifact of the culture it pretends to criticize." The book's style is summarized by one reviewer as "a book that reads like a movie", and another notes that Ellis' writing "can be sharp", and succeeds in creating a "creepy sense of dread about our culture". On its influence, "Time" felt that the novel's "contribution" to the world comes in Victor's catchphrase, which they describe as Tom Wolfean. In an otherwise damning review, the "New York Times" commented "[Ellis] has an uncannily keen eye for the tiny details of the lives of the abel-obsessed yuppies and would-be celebs he's sending up". A CNN reviewer felt, upon reading the book, that "Bret Easton Ellis is a gifted writer"; he praised his "unflinching eye" in capturing the details of "the ensemble worn by a notorious clothes horse, or the grisly aftermath of a hotel bombing, or the graphic details of a menage a trois ." The world Ellis evokes, through the eyes of the male model, "Harvard Crimson" notes is one "where no one has any emotions beyond the visceral response, where all the sex scenes are described in purely pornographic terms." A.J. Jacobs of "Entertainment Weekly" did not enjoy the book's more "meta" conceits, and gives the novel a 'C'. Daniel Mendelsohn of the "New York Times" opines derisively that "Like its predecessors, "Glamorama" is meant to be a withering report on the soul-destroying emptiness of late-century American consumer culture, chichi downtown division; but the only lesson you're likely to take away from it is the even more depressing classic American morality tale about how premature stardom is more of a curse than a blessing for young writers." The CNN reviewer concludes "in the end, "Glamorama" is less than the sum of its parts". Ellis himself has claimed that, as of 2018, the novel has failed to break even for its US publisher, Knopf.

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Christodora Christodora is a novel by New York City–based journalist Tim Murphy which was first published on August 2, 2016 by Grove Press. Plot. In "Christodora", Tim Murphy tells the story of diverse characters living in an iconic building in Manhattan's East Village, the Christodora. Milly and Jared, with their adopted son Mateo, live unexpected experiences with their neighbor Hector, a former AIDS activist and a current addict. There are radical changes that occur in their personal lives and community: first, the 2000s hipsters rising after the 1980s junkies and protestors, then the emergence of the wealthy residents of the 2020s. This time travelling novel illustrates the difficult human experiences behind AIDS and puts the destructive power of hard drugs under the spotlight. Tim Murphy. Tim Murphy is a NYC-based journalist who for two decades, worked on reporting LGBT related topics (Culture, politics, movements, etc.) through his publication in several magazines such as "POZ Magazine" (as an editor and staff writer), "Out", "The Advocate", and "New York Magazine". He got nominated for GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Journalism, for his coverage on HIV-prevention pill regimen PrEP He's also a contributor in The New York Times and Condé Nast Traveler. He lives in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley. TV Adaptation. Paramount Television has optioned the novel for a limited TV series. Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias will write the adaptation, with Sachs to direct. It will be produced by Cary Fukunaga with his production company Parliament of Owls.

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TekWar TekWar is a series of science fiction novels created by Canadian actor William Shatner and ghost-written by American writer Ron Goulart, published by Putnam in October 1989. The novels gave rise to a comic book series, video game, and later TV movies and a series, both of the latter featuring Shatner. Premise. The 22nd century universe is centered on "Tek"—an illegal, addictive, mind-altering digital drug in the form of a microchip. The drug creates a simulated reality (and in the films and TV series taps into "the matrix" hyperspace). The protagonist, Jake Cardigan, is a former police officer framed for dealing the drug four years prior to the start of the first novel. Having been sentenced to 15 years' cryo-imprisonment, his release is brought forward by Walt Bascom, the head of private investigation agency Cosmos, who has uncovered the framed charges and exonerates him. In return Bascom wishes to employ him as an expert in a series of Tek-related crimes, mostly in Greater Los Angeles, referred to as "GLA". In the first few novels Cardigan is portrayed as a recovering Tek-user with several lapses, but this aspect diminishes as the novels progress - it is implied in later novels that to break the addiction for even a light user is impossible. Partnered with the good-natured and charismatic Mexican Sid Gomez, the two make up a good cop/bad cop partnership with Cardigan's past continually being brought up as a foil for his new career - most honest people he meets distrust him, and most dishonest people attempt to kill him for perceived slights in the drug trade. However, the two prove an effective team and stay a core duo throughout the series, with input from a comprehensive list of informants, employees of both Cosmos, other detective agencies and Cardigan's son Dan and his girlfriend Molly - both of whom are enrolled in the GLA police academy and as such have access through an informant to police files. The 22nd century is populated with artificial intelligence such as integrated computer systems and "andies" which range from obvious metal robots to highly sophisticated simulacrums, some of which are accurate enough to deceive an observer into thinking they are human. Each novel covers a specific case, all are Tek-related, but most include sub-plots which involve non-Tek issues and travel out of the GLA, occasionally to other countries or as far as orbiting satellites. A shadowy government agency known as OCO - the Office of Clandestine Operations - is a frequent antagonist in the novels, albeit usually keeping to the background and supporting the particular novel's villain. Background. Shatner began to write notes that would become the novels on the set of "", and has been quoted as saying that the original book was an attempt to blend elements from "Star Trek" and "T. J. Hooker". Comic book series. In 1992, Tekwar was adapted in to a comic book series. A new Tekwar comic book adaptation, entitled "Tek War Chronicles", by Shatner and comic book writer Scott Davis with art by Erich Owen and colors by Michelle Davies, was released by Bluewater Productions on June 24, 2009. As of 2010, "Tek War Chronicles" is available digitally exclusively through Devil's Due Digital. Trading cards. Trading cards with comic book artwork were published by Cardz in 1993. Television films and series. The Tekwar novels became a television franchise with TV movies in 1994 then a series. The first three were adaptations of the books, while TekJustice was an original movie. Video game. Tekwar was also made into a 1995 computer game by Capstone Software using the Build engine.

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Come Back, Little Sheba (play) Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Plot. Set in the Midwestern house of Lola and Doc Delaney, the plot centers on how their life is disrupted by the presence of a boarder, Marie, a college art student who has a keen interest in the young men around her. Middle-aged Lola engages in mild flirtations with the milkman and the mailman. She sees in Marie a younger version of herself and encourages her pursuit of her hometown boyfriend, the wealthy Bruce, but also her classmate, the athletic Turk. Doc, a chiropractor, abandoned a different career in medicine when he married a pregnant Lola, who subsequently lost the baby. An alcoholic, Doc maintains a precarious sobriety. To him, Marie represents youth and opportunities long gone; seeing her with Turk brings out resentments against Lola for ruining his life. Ultimately these feelings cause him to fall off the wagon, and act violently toward Lola. Frightened, she calls Doc's AA sponsor, who comes to collect Doc and take him to the police station, where he is detained for drunkenness. Afterward, forced hospitalization sobers him up, and once the boarder leaves, he and Lola reconcile. The title refers to Lola's missing dog, who disappeared before the play's opening and remains gone throughout the story. Lola hopes for the puppy's return throughout the play by calling "Come back, little Sheba" daily from the front door, but eventually faces reality and gives up on Sheba's return. Productions. The play premiered at the Westport Country Playhouse. Presented by the Theatre Guild and directed by Daniel Mann, the first Broadway production premiered at the Booth Theatre on February 15, 1950, and ran 190 performances. The opening night cast included Shirley Booth as Lola, Sidney Blackmer as Doc, and Joan Lorring as Marie. Booth won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play and Blackmer won Best Actor. Reprising her Broadway role, Booth starred opposite Burt Lancaster as Doc and Terry Moore as Marie in a 1952 film adaptation. Booth won both the 1953 Best Actress Academy award and Best Actress - Drama Golden Globe for her portrayal of Lola. In 1974, Clint Ballard, Jr. and Lee Goldsmith adapted the play for the musical stage. Kaye Ballard portrayed Lola in the Chicago tryout, but the production never reached Broadway as planned. In 2001, it was revived under the title "Come Back, Little Sheba" at the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut with Donna McKechnie as Lola. (A recording of this production was released by Original Cast Records.) A 1977 television version starred Laurence Olivier as Doc, Joanne Woodward as Lola, and Carrie Fisher as Marie. Granada Television produced the movie as part of its "Laurence Olivier Presents" anthology series. In 2006, Acorn Media released the movie as part of a DVD set with six other productions from the series. In 1984, the Roundabout Theatre Company mounted an Off Broadway revival, directed by Paul Weidner and starring Shirley Knight as Lola, Philip Bosco as Doc, Mia Dillon as Marie, Steven Weber as Bruce, and Kevin Conroy as Turk. In his review in "Time", William A. Henry III observed, "Like all of Inge's best plays, "Sheba" is slight of plot but musky with atmosphere . . . Middle age is portrayed as a time of aching sexual frustration, made more acute by the close-at-hand vision of youth . . . Inge did not transform his characters: they end where they began. But he understood them. In their interplay was genuine life, often blunted but ever resilient." A Broadway revival of the Inge play opened on January 24, 2008, at the Biltmore Theatre. Directed by Michael Pressman, it starred S. Epatha Merkerson as Lola, Kevin Anderson as Doc, and Zoe Kazan as Marie, and ran through March 16. In his "The New York Times" review, Ben Brantley called it a "deeply felt revival" and a "revitalizing production of a play often dismissed as a soggy period piece" and added, "Ms. Merkerson allows a kind of intimate access traditionally afforded by cinematic close-ups, when the camera finds shades of meaning in impassive faces. She rarely signals what Lola's feeling; she just seems to feel, and we get it, instantly and acutely. Such emotional sincerity is the hallmark of this revival from the Manhattan Theater Club, directed with gentle compassion by Michael Pressman and featuring first-rate performances from Kevin Anderson and Zoe Kazan. The production's commitment to its characters uncovers surprising virtues in William Inge's play." In 2017, the Transport Group put up a production "Come Back, Little Sheba", which won the Obie Award for performance by Heather MacRae.

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The Crack-Up The Crack-Up (1945) is a collection of essays by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. It includes previously unpublished letters and notes, along with the three essays Fitzgerald originally wrote for "Esquire" magazine, which were first published in 1936. After Fitzgerald's death in 1940, Edmund Wilson compiled and edited this anthology, first published by New Directions in 1945. The main essay starts "Of course all life is a process of breaking down ..." which gives something of the tone of the piece. Essays. The book also includes other essays by Fitzgerald and positive evaluations of his work by Glenway Wescott, John Dos Passos, and John Peale Bishop, plus letters from Gertrude Stein, T. S. Eliot, and Edith Wharton in 1925 praising Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby". Famous quotes. At the beginning of "The Crack-Up" Fitzgerald makes this widely quoted general observation:— As an example of this "truth," he cites the ability to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. In modern decision theory, the quote has been used by some to explain the bias shown in many experiments, where subjects gather information to justify a preconceived notion. These experiments suggest that the mental ability described by Fitzgerald (being able to see both sides of an argument) is rarer than many assume. Reaction. The essays when originally written were poorly received and many reviewers were openly critical, particularly of the personal revelations. Time has been somewhat kinder to them and the collection is an insight into the mind of the writer during this low period in his life. The philosopher Gilles Deleuze adopted the term "crack-up" from Fitzgerald to refer to his interpretation of the Freudian death instinct. In popular culture. The title of the 2017 Fleet Foxes album "Crack-Up" was inspired by these essays.

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Demon in a Bottle "Demon in a Bottle" is a nine-issue story arc from the comic book series "The Invincible Iron Man" (vol. 1), published in issues 120 through 128 in 1979 by Marvel Comics. It was written by David Michelinie and Bob Layton and illustrated by John Romita, Jr., Bob Layton, and Carmine Infantino. "Demon in a Bottle" is concerned with Tony Stark's alcoholism. Publication history. The storyline ran in "Iron Man" #120-128 (March–Nov. 1979), plotted by David Michelinie and Bob Layton, with script by Michelinie. John Romita, Jr. pencilled the breakdown sketches, with Layton providing finished art. Issue #122 (May 1979) was both plotted and scripted by Michelinie, penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Layton. "Demon in a Bottle" was originally only the title of the final issue in the storyline. When the storyline was collected in trade paperback in 1984 and 1989, it was published under the title "The Power of Iron Man". "Demon in a Bottle" later became the popular name for the storyline, and collected editions were then published under that title. Plot summary. A military tank hurled through the air strikes the wing of a passenger plane carrying Tony Stark. Stark secretly dons the Iron Man armor he carries in his briefcase, flies out of the plane, and guides it to a safe landing in the ocean. Navy ships approach and soldiers help the passengers to safety, and bring Iron Man to an island base. They tell him the tank was thrown by Namor, who was defending a resident of the island that the soldiers were trying to remove, because the island is used as a toxic waste disposal site. Iron Man confronts and fights Namor, before it's revealed that the soldiers actually belong to the Roxxon Oil Corporation, which is secretly occupying the island to mine the vibranium it contains. Iron Man and Namor team up to fight and defeat the soldiers, who escape and trigger explosives contained on the island, destroying it along with any evidence that they were ever there. While flying home, Iron Man's armor begins to malfunction, sending him flying uncontrollably through the sky and crash landing. He regains control and later tests the armor in his lab, and finds nothing apparently wrong. Stark is visiting a casino with Bethany Cabe when Blizzard, the Melter, and Whiplash arrive and attempt to rob the casino's vault. Stark slips away, dons his armor, and battles and defeats the villains. During the fight, he overhears a comment from Blizzard about "Hammer" wanting Iron Man kept alive. Stark later receives and agrees to a request for Iron Man to represent his company, Stark International, at a public ceremony and meet with a foreign ambassador. At the ceremony, Iron Man's armor again malfunctions, striking the ambassador with a repulsor blast, killing him. Iron Man tells the police about the malfunction, claiming he did not intentionally kill the ambassador. Doubtful, but knowing they can't fight him, the police let him go but demand that Stark turn over his armor for inspection, and Stark complies. During this time, Stark's drinking increases significantly. Stark meets with the Avengers, agreeing to their request that Iron Man temporarily step down as their leader, and asks for and receives hand-to-hand fight training from Captain America. He then meets with Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man, and asks him to sneak into the prison where Whiplash is being held to get information on the person named Hammer. Stark uses the information and flies to Monaco with James Rhodes to investigate. Hammer is alerted to their presence and sends soldiers to attack them. They are both knocked unconscious; Stark is taken prisoner and Rhodes is left in public and arrested by the local police when he awakens. When Stark awakens he is confronted by Justin Hammer, who reveals that he has been responsible for Iron Man's armor malfunctions. Angered that he lost a lucrative bid to Stark International, Hammer, with the aid of scientists in his employ, took control of Iron Man's armor and forced him to kill the ambassador in an attempt to ruin the reputation of the company. Stark attempts to escape Hammer's compound by climbing over a wall, but sees that he is on a giant floating island at sea. Hammer learns of Stark's escape and orders the supervillains he keeps in his employ to find him. The supervillains find Stark, who has found the confiscated briefcase containing his spare armor and suited up. Iron Man battles and defeats the villains, then goes after Hammer. Rhodes has convinced the police of his story and the island is attacked by police helicopters. Hammer escapes, and Iron Man flies into the air and crashes down, damaging the island and causing it to sink. Stark returns home and continues binge drinking, and drunkenly yells at his butler, Edwin Jarvis. Jarvis resigns the next day. Continuing to drink to forget his problems, Stark is confronted by Beth, who tells him about her former husband, Alex, who became addicted to drugs to deal with his stress and insecurities, which ended their relationship and eventually killed him. Beth admits that she was younger, and didn't try to understand his insecurities, but now she's grown and will not abandon Stark like she abandoned Alex. She tells Stark that he is becoming his own worst enemy, and he must open up to and let his friends help him, otherwise he'll keep drinking and drinking until it kills him. Stark admits to his drinking problem and accepts Beth's offer to help him to quit drinking and help him through withdrawal. Stark then apologizes to and renews his working relationship with Jarvis. He learns that Jarvis's mother is sick and offers to pay for her medical costs, but learns that Jarvis has sold the two shares of stock he owned in Stark International that were preventing S.H.I.E.L.D. from buying a controlling interest in his company. The story ends with Stark optimistic about the future, conquering his alcoholism and determined to retrieve the stocks and maintain control over his company. Creation. Writer/artist Bob Layton said of the story: "I'm gonna quote David Michelinie here, that it was never our intention to do anything relevant. We were paid to, basically, do the next episode of "Iron Man". [It's] just [that in] that particular issue, alcoholism was the bad guy. Instead of Doctor Doom or somebody like that, it was the bottle. That was our villain of the month. And that's really the way we treated it. We built everything up to that. But the point of it is, it was never... we never attempted to be relevant. It just... in the corporate world, what gets to guys? What causes the downfall? Usually it's greed, or it's sex and drugs, right? Well, we couldn't do the sex part, right? Alcohol wasn't talked about all that much, really, to be honest with you. Especially with kids, you know, in that particular era. But, you know, we treated it as we intended to, as the bad guy." Reception and legacy. "Demon in a Bottle" has been recognized by critics as "the quintessential Iron Man story," "one of the best super-hero sagas of the 1970s," and "one which continues to influence writers of the character today." The storyline won a 1980 Eagle Award for "Favorite Single Comic Book Story." Praising Michelinie's "clever" writing and Romita and Layton's "highly distinguishable" artwork, J. Montes of the Weekly Comic Book Review said, "Iron Man was never known for having engaging stories, but in this one rare case it happened and that is why we treasure it." Montes felt it was "a bit silly to see [Stark] recover from [the effects of his alcoholism] over the course of one issue," but added that "there's no mistaking the losses and struggles he deals with." D.K. Latta of Pulp and Dagger praised Michelinie for "deliver[ing] smart writing and plausible, grown up characters that are a pleasure to read and a rich tapestry of plot threads" and "avoid[ing] the preachy, holier-than-thou route, and instead just tell[ing] a story that happens to concern a costumed super-hero getting a little...lost." Latta found Romita's pencil art "problematic" but added that "Bob Layton's inks help a lot." Win Wiacek of Now Read This! said, "The fall and rise of a hero is a classic plot, and it’s seldom been better used in the graphic narrative medium and never bettered in the super-hero field. An adult and very mature tale for kids of all ages, it is an unforgettable instance of triumph and tragedy perfectly told." Jamie Hailstone of Den of Geek said that "some of the storytelling and the portrayal of Tony Stark as a millionaire playboy may be a little hackneyed," but praised the storyline for "[giving] the character a much needed injection of reality." Hailstone said Romita's artwork is "as good as anything in his long career," and concluded that "while it might not deal with the consequences of addiction in the same powerful ways as films like "French Connection II"—this is a comic, after all—having re-read the tale almost 20 years on, it holds up amazingly well." Dave Wallace of the Comics Bulletin said the issues "are too generic and unremarkable to really stand up as great stories today," but said that "each issue is a satisfying story in its own right" and praised "the strong storytelling instincts that are evident from the composition of [Romita's] panels." Stark's alcoholism was revisited in later storylines, and remains a defining element of the character. Films. Jon Favreau, director of the 2008 "Iron Man" film, said: "Stark has issues with booze. That's part of who he is." Favreau said that elements of the story would be used in future "Iron Man" sequels: "I don't think we'll ever do the "Leaving Las Vegas" version, but it will be dealt with." In "Iron Man 2", Favreau notes that the scene of Tony drunkenly carousing during a party in his armor at his residence until Col. James Rhodes intervenes is the closest he intended to adapt the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline. Collected editions. Collected editions include a trade paperback published in May 2006 () and a Marvel Premiere Classics hardcover in 2008 (). It was published as part of The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection.

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Harry Hole Harry Hole is the main character in a series of crime novels written by Norwegian author Jo Nesbø. Hole is a brilliant and obsessively driven detective who uses unorthodox and sometimes illegal methods in his investigations. A recovering alcoholic prone to depression, the stress Hole's mental health suffers is often a focus of the stories. He has few friends and often clashes with colleagues. While later recognising his problematic behaviour and leaving the police force, he continues to find reason to assist with new criminal investigations even when it endangers him and loved ones. Harry's surname "Hole" translates to "Hill" in English and is the name of a historic Norwegian town (Hole, Norway) with a heritage that goes back to the Viking Age. The name is derived from Old Norse "Hólar", the plural form of "hóll", meaning "round and isolated hill." The word is pronounced as two syllables, with stress on the first (HOO-leh). In "The Bat", the Australian police call him "Harry Holy." Critics liken the personality of Harry Hole to those of the famous literary detectives such as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Jules Maigret, and Nero Wolfe. According to Jo Nesbo himself, the character is inspired by and a tribute to Michael Connelly's character Harry Bosch.The novels are frequent bestsellers. Character. Harry Hole is introduced in "The Bat" as a police officer with the Oslo Crime Squad. He was born in 1965 and has a younger sister Søs, who has Down syndrome and to whom Harry is deeply attached. His mother, a descendant of the Sami people, died due to cancer while he was in his twenties. Harry never had a close relationship with his father Olav, a former teacher. He has few close friends, one of whom is Bjarne Møller, head of Hole's department. Other friends include Beate Lønn and Bjørn Holm in the forensics division, a Bergen detective named Katrine Bratt who helps secure specialist information, and Gunnar Hagen, his former senior officer prior to "Phantom". Taxi driver Øystein Eikeland is an old school friend of Harry's and one of the people he is closest to. Hole is a chain-smoker and heavy drinker who is introverted and prone to depression. He later stops drinking after realising he is an alcoholic. His encounters with assassins, corruption, and serial killers throughout the novels often strengthen his cynical attitude. His problematic and often unsocial behaviour, as well as his obsessive tendencies during investigations, brings him into repeated conflict with his superiors and some colleagues, many of whom dislike him while grudgingly respecting his work and abilities. Møller often shields Hole from being fired, believing he is a brilliant detective and that the Oslo Police Department needs him. Along with standard police training, Hole undertook specialised training in interrogation techniques and firearms at the FBI. Harry Hole's home address is in Sofies Gate in Bislett located in the author's own home city of Oslo. Many of the stories involve detailed background and descriptions of real locations such as the actual Oslo Police Department headquarters. Hole regularly interacts with city residents and immigrants from a variety of ethnic and social backgrounds. Many of the novels feature his favourite "watering hole," Restaurant Schrøder (Schrøder's, for short) in St. Hanshaugen. Hole develops a serious relationship with Rakel Fauke, whose son, Oleg, sees Harry as a father figure and sometimes calls him "dad." After the seventh novel "The Snowman", their relationship suffers and a traumatised Harry leaves the police force. The next novel "The Leopard" shows Harry living in self-imposed exile in Hong Kong. Kaja Solness, a new Norwegian Crime Squad officer, asks him to return to Oslo to help investigate a possible serial killing. Learning his father Olav is also ill and likely to soon die, Hole returns to Oslo. During the story, Olav asks his son to assist in his suicide in order to end his pain, but Harry cannot bring himself to do so. At the end of the book, Harry has a brief reunion with Rakel before then visiting the imprisoned killer of "The Snowman". It is implied that Harry then aids in the criminal's own suicide. Disturbed by his recent experiences, Harry determines to return to Hong Kong for good. The next book "Phantom" depicts Harry returning to Oslo yet again some time later, this time because Rakel's son Oleg has been arrested for murder. Harry finds out the truth behind the murder, but is then shot and the book ends without clarifying if he will survive or not. Harry is revealed to be alive and living again in Oslo in the tenth novel "Police." Deciding his obsessive pursuit of criminals has cost him too much, he now lectures at the Police College and resumes a relationship with Rakel. A series of killings leads his former colleagues to seek him out for help. Following these events, Harry marries Rakel and adopts Oleg as his son. He promises he is done with police work, but finds himself drawn into another investigation in the following novel "The Thirst." In other media. Film. The seventh novel in the series, "The Snowman", was adapted as a film in 2017 and starred Michael Fassbender as Harry Hole, with Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Ronan Vibert, Val Kilmer and J.K. Simmons.

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The Cup of Fury (book) The Cup of Fury is a 1956 non-fiction work by Upton Sinclair describing how alcohol affected the lives of many writers including Jack London, Ben Hecht and Hart Crane.

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The Iceman Cometh The Iceman Cometh is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1946, the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 9, 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling, where it ran for 136 performances before closing on March 15, 1947. Plot summary. "The Iceman Cometh" is set in New York in 1912 in Harry Hope's downmarket Greenwich Village saloon and rooming house. The patrons, twelve men and three prostitutes, are dead-end alcoholics who spend every possible moment seeking oblivion in one another's company and trying to con or wheedle free drinks from Harry and the bartenders. They drift purposelessly from day to day, coming fully alive only during the semi-annual visits of salesman Theodore "Hickey" Hickman. When Hickey finishes a tour of his business territory, which is apparently a wide expanse of the East Coast, he typically turns up at the saloon and starts the party. As the play opens, the regulars are expecting Hickey to arrive in time for Harry's birthday party. The first act introduces the various characters as they bicker among themselves, showing how drunk and delusional they are, all the while awaiting Hickey. Joe Mott insists that he will soon re-open his casino. The English Cecil "The Captain" Lewis and South African Piet "The General" Wetjoen, who fought each other during the Boer War, are now good friends, and both insist that they'll soon return to their nations of origin. Harry Hope has not left the bar since his wife Bess's death 20 years ago. He promises that he'll walk around the block on his birthday, which is the next day. Pat McGloin says he hopes to be reinstated into the police force, but is waiting for the right moment. Ed Mosher prides himself on his ability to give incorrect change, but he kept too much of his illegitimate profits to himself and was fired; he says he will get his job back someday. Hugo Kalmar is drunk and passed out for most of the play; when he is conscious, he pesters the other patrons to buy him a drink. Chuck Morello says that he will marry Cora tomorrow. Larry Slade is a former syndicalist-anarchist who looks pityingly on the rest. Don Parritt is a former anarchist who shows up later in the play to talk about his mother (Larry's ex-girlfriend) to Larry; specifically her arrest due to her involvement in the anarchist movement. When Hickey finally arrives, his behavior throws the characters into turmoil. With as much charisma as ever, he insists that he sees life clearly now as never before because he no longer drinks. Hickey wants the characters to cast away their delusions and accept that their heavy drinking and inaction mean that their hopes will never be fulfilled. He takes on this task with a near-maniacal fervor. How he goes about his mission, how the other characters respond, and their efforts to find out what has wrought this change in him, take over four hours to resolve. During and after Harry's birthday party, most seem to have been somewhat affected by Hickey's ramblings. Larry pretends to be unaffected, but when Don reveals he was the informant responsible for the arrest of his own mother (Larry's former girlfriend), Larry rages at him; Willie decides McGloin's appeal will be his first case, and Rocky admits he is a pimp. Most of the men Hickey talked with do go out into the world—dressed up, hopeful of turning their lives around—but they fail to make any progress. Eventually, they return and are jolted by a sudden revelation. Hickey, who had earlier told the other characters first that his wife had died and then that she was murdered, admits that he is the one who killed her. The police arrive, apparently called by Hickey himself, to arrest Hickey. Hickey justifies the murder in a dramatic monologue, saying that he did it out of love for her. He relates that his father was a preacher in the backwoods of Indiana. Evidently he was both charismatic and persuasive, and it was his inheriting these traits which led Hickey to become a salesman. An angry kid trapped in a small town, Hickey had no use for anyone but his sweetheart, Evelyn. Evelyn's family forbade her to associate with Hickey, but she ignored them. After Hickey left to become a salesman, he promised he would marry Evelyn as soon as he was able. He became a successful salesman, then sent for her and the two were very happy until Hickey became increasingly guilty following his wife's constant forgiveness of his infidelities and drinking. He then recounts how he murdered her to free her from the pain of his persistent philandering and drinking because she loved him too much to live apart from him. But, in retelling the murder, he laughs and tells Evelyn, "Well, you know what you can do with that pipe dream now, don't you?" In realizing he said this, Hickey breaks down completely. He realizes that he went truly insane and that people need their empty dreams to keep existing. The others agree and decide to testify to his insanity during Hickey's trial despite Hickey's begging them to let him get the death sentence. He no longer wishes to live now that he has no illusions about life. They return to their empty promises and pipe dreams except for Parritt, who runs to his room and jumps off the fire escape, unable to live with the knowledge of what he has done to his mother after discarding the last of his lies about his action and motivation for it. He first claims that he did it due to patriotism and then for money, but finally admits he did it because he hated his mother, who was so obsessed with her own freedom of action that she became self-centered and alternately ignored or dominated him. Despite witnessing the young man's fatal leap, and acknowledging the futility of his own situation ("by God, there's no hope! I'll never be a success...Life is too much for me!"), Larry fears death as much as life and is consequently left in limbo. The title. The title ("The Iceman Cometh") refers to a running gag between Hickey and the dead-enders about coming home after traveling his sales route to find his wife "rolling in the hay with the iceman" (akin to the more contemporary joke about the "milkman"). Ironically, he has murdered her due to his inability to accept his own infidelities. Confessing his crime, Hickey must confront the consequences, including the prospect of execution. Themes and political content. The central contention of the play is the human need for self-deceptions or "pipe dreams" to carry on with life: to abandon them or to see them for the lies that they are is to risk death. It is in this context that the story concludes with Larry Slade calling himself “the only real convert to death Hickey made here” as a response to witnessing Parritt's suicidal leap from the roof. Having stopped lying to himself and come to terms with his real motivation behind informing on his mother and her West Coast anarchist coterie, Parritt can no longer live with himself and dies, while Slade continues lying to himself and thereby lives. The play contains many allusions to political topics, particularly anarchism and socialism. Hugo, Larry and Don are former members of an anarchist movement. Two other characters are veterans of the Second Boer War. One is British, and one is an Afrikaner. They alternately defend and insult each other, and there are many allusions to events in South Africa. Both wish to return to their home countries, but their families do not want them there. Emma Goldman, whom O'Neill admired, inspired the play's anarchist subplot. Joe is the only African American character, and makes several speeches about racial differences. "The Iceman Cometh" is often compared to Maxim Gorky's "The Lower Depths", which may have been O'Neill's inspiration for his play. O'Neill uses the phrase "The Big Sleep", but it is not known if this was an intentional or unintentional allusion to Raymond Chandler's use of it. In a letter to Hamish Hamilton dated May 18, 1950, Chandler wrote, "He used it [ The Big Sleep ], so far as one can judge from the context, as a matter of course, apparently in the belief that it was an accepted underworld expression. If so, I'd like to see whence it comes, because I invented the expression. It is quite possible that I re-invented it, but I never saw it in print before . . ." Background. When O'Neill was alive, he delayed its performance on Broadway for seven years, fearing American audiences would reject it. O'Neill was at the height of his fame when he relented in 1946, and the production was a commercial success, though it received mixed reviews. James Barton, in his performance as Hickey, was reportedly not up to the massive emotional and physical demands of such a titanic part, and sometimes forgot his lines or wore out his voice. The young Marlon Brando was offered the part of Don Parritt in the original Broadway production, but famously turned it down. Brando was able to read only a few pages of the script the producers gave him before falling asleep, and he later wrote a lengthy critique describing the work as "ineptly written and poorly constructed". Stage productions. 1947: The original production was staged at the Martin Beck Theatre and opened on October 9, 1946, and closed on March 15, 1947, after 136 performances. It was directed by Eddie Dowling with production and lighting design by Robert Edmond Jones. The cast starred James Barton (Theodore "Hickey" Hickman), Jeanne Cagney (Margie), Leo Chalzel (Hugo Kalmar), Russell Collins (James "Jimmy Tomorrow" Cameron), Paul Crabtree (Don Parritt), Dudley Digges (Harry Hope), Ruth Gilbert (Pearl), Charles Hart (Lieb), Nicholas Joy (Cecil "The Captain" Lewis), Marcella Markham (Cora), Joe Marr (Chuck Morello), John Marriott (Joe Mott), E. G. Marshall (Willie Oban), Al McGranary (Pat McGloin), Tom Pedi (Rocky Pioggi), Carl Benton Reid (Larry Slade), Morton L. Stevens (Ed Mosher), Frank Tweddell (Piet "The General" Wetjoen), and Michael Wyler (Moran). The play received mixed reviews. 1956: An Off-Broadway production staged after O'Neill's death featured Jason Robards as Hickey and was directed by José Quintero. This production was an unqualified success and established the play as a great modern tragedy. 1973: A Broadway revival staged at the Circle in the Square Theatre ran from December 13, 1973, to February 16, 1974, with James Earl Jones as Hickey. 1985: A Broadway revival staged at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre featured Jason Robards as Hickey with a cast that included Barnard Hughes as Harry Hope, Donald Moffat as Larry Slade, and again directed by José Quintero. It ran from September 29, 1985, to December 1, 1985. 1990: Chicago's Goodman Theatre mounted a production directed by Robert Falls, starring Brian Dennehy as Hickey, Jerome Kilty as Hope and James Cromwell as Slade. 1998: A London production featuring Kevin Spacey had a successful and critically acclaimed run through 1998 and 1999 at the Almeida Theatre and the Old Vic in London. 1999: A Broadway revival from the 1998 London production staged at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre with Kevin Spacey as Hickey. It ran from April 8, 1999, to July 17, 1999. 2012: A revival at Chicago's Goodman Theatre featured Nathan Lane in the lead role of Hickey, Brian Dennehy this time as Larry Slade, and was directed by Robert Falls. It started its run at the Goodman Theatre in April 2012, slated for a six-week engagement. It was a huge success for the Goodman Theater, whose management stated it was the most successful production in its history. This production omitted the character of Pat McGloin. 2015: The Goodman Theatre production directed by Falls, starring Lane and Dennehy and the rest of the original cast with the creative team from Chicago was produced at the Harvey Theater of the Brooklyn Academy of Music with a six-week engagement starting on February 5, 2015, that featured Nathan Lane and John Douglas Thompson. For his performance, Thompson won an Obie Award. 2018: Denzel Washington starred as Hickey and Tammy Blanchard as Cora, in a Broadway revival directed by George C. Wolfe. The production ran for 14 weeks at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, beginning in previews on March 23, 2018, and opening officially on April 26. The cast featured Frank Wood as Cecil Lewis, Bill Irwin as Ed Mosher, Reg Rogers as James Cameron, Colm Meaney as Harry Hope, and David Morse as Larry Slade. The sets were by Santo Loquasto, costumes by Ann Roth, and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. Adaptations. 1960: TV Production for Play of the Week on the National Telefim Associates (NTA) syndication network, directed by Sidney Lumet. This production featured Jason Robards as Hickey, Tom Pedi from the original 1947 stage production as Rocky Pioggi, Sorrell Booke as Hugo Kalmar, and Robert Redford as Don Parritt. It is presented as two separate episodes of the series due to the length of the work with a total run time of 210 minutes. It is notable in view of TV standards of the time that while much dialog was omitted for time, that which was retained was not changed to soften its language. For example, at the end of Hickey's breakdown Robards says the words "that damned bitch" exactly as O'Neill had written. 1973: A film adaptation as part of the American Film Theatre directed by John Frankenheimer. This production featured many well known actors including Lee Marvin as Hickey, Fredric March as Harry Hope, Robert Ryan as Larry Slade, Tom Pedi as Rocky Pioggi, Bradford Dillman as Willie Oban, Sorrell Booke as Hugo Kalmar, Martyn Green as Cecil Lewis, Moses Gunn as Joe Mott, George Voskovec as The General (Piet Wetjoen) and Jeff Bridges as Don Parritt. This film was the final film appearance of Fredric March, Robert Ryan and Martyn Green. The film run time is 239 minutes. Dialog was consistently trimmed for time as might be done for a stage production. The character of Ed Mosher was excised entirely. There are some variations in words or word order in ordinary speech that differ from the published text. The most important speeches are present and usually performed in full from the published text. Some segments of dialog are presented in an order that differs from the published text. The 2013 short video game The Entertainment features numerous references to The Iceman Cometh, including characters named after Evelyn Hickman, Larry Slade, Harry Hope, and Pearl. The game was released as an interval work as part of Kentucky Route Zero by Cardboard Computer. 2020: "The Iceman Cometh" was broadcast as a two-part Zoom Premiere on YouTube Live as a benefit for the Actors Fund. The cast featured Austin Pendleton as Cecil Lewis, Arthur French as Joe Mott, Paul Navarra as Hickey, Patricia Cregan as Pearl, Mike Roche as Larry Slade, Holly O'Brien as Cora, Marygrace Navarra was the stage manager. The event was produced by Caroline Grace Productions, in association with the 2020 Theatre Company. The event was a benefit for the Actors Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

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Beautiful Things (book) Beautiful Things: A Memoir is a 2021 memoir by American lawyer Hunter Biden, who is the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden and his first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden. It was published on April 6, 2021 by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. In "The New York Times" reviewer Elisabeth Egan described the book as "equal parts family saga, grief narrative and addict's howl". Synopsis. Hunter Biden is a Yale-educated lawyer. In "Beautiful Things", Hunter Biden writes about his family and recounts his history of substance abuse and path to sobriety. He discusses the grief and trauma he experienced following the death of his brother Beau Biden and the 1972 car accident in which he was injured and that killed his mother, Neilia, and his sister, Naomi. He also defends his time on a Ukraine company board. Hunter Biden told CBS that his cocaine addiction reached a zenith in 2015 after the death of his brother Beau.<ref>

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Les Paradis artificiels Les Paradis Artificiels ("Artificial Paradises") is a book by French poet Charles Baudelaire, first published in 1860, about the state of being under the influence of opium and hashish. Baudelaire describes the effects of the drugs and discusses the way in which they could theoretically aid mankind in reaching an "ideal" world. The text was influenced by Thomas de Quincey's "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" and "Suspiria de Profundis". Baudelaire analyzes the motivation of the addict, and the individual psychedelic experience of the user. His descriptions have foreshadowed other such work that emerged later in the 1960s regarding LSD.

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Calling a Wolf a Wolf Calling a Wolf a Wolf is a confessional collection of poetry written by Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar. The collection of poetry is a personal narrative that follows a path through addiction and to recovery. Akbar claims this collection, along with a chapbook, "Portrait of an Alcoholic," was his own personal way of processing what he experienced as an addict and even solidifying and making sense of his sobriety. The collection is written to mold what Akbar felt through not only the process of and recovery from addiction but elaborates on how Akbar's addiction completely isolated him from society and made the world around him so surreal. Background. Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar wrote this confessional poetry collection to share his experiences as an alcoholic. He elaborates on how ethereal the world around him feels and how isolated his own addiction has made him and writes of the path that he ventured on his way to recovery. Content. Themes & structure. The themes of the collection center mainly around Akbar's path through addiction and finding his way to recovery. Akbar uses deft language to mentally recreate the isolation that addicts feel and how the world around them may feel hypnagogic or unreal. He tells of story of how a man transformed entirely, then had to push against addiction to become a new man to better life for oneself. The narrative highlights the enjoyments and agonies through addiction that could cause addicts to battle their own inclination and even isolate themselves from everything and everyone to fulfill their addictions, resulting in the loneliness Akbar experienced throughout. The structure of the collection intends to display a transformation of a man into a new better man or the man inside changing oneself. The collection almost chronologically displays his enjoyment of being an alcoholic and being able to escape the world then the collection changes tones into the pain of addiction and the battling of self-persuasion to escape addiction. The poems then shift to a sense of recovery and coming to understand that instead of escaping the world that is around, find something to enjoy. Publication & awards. Publication. "Calling a Wolf a Wolf" was originally published by Alice James Books on September 12, 2017 in the United States and was later published by Penguin Books in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2018.