Opium Fiend
Title | Opium Fiend PDF eBook |
Author | Steven Martin |
Publisher | Villard |
Total Pages | 417 |
Release | 2012-06-26 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | 0345517857 |
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A renowned authority on the secret world of opium recounts his descent into ruinous obsession with one of the world’s oldest and most seductive drugs, in this harrowing memoir of addiction and recovery. A natural-born collector with a nose for exotic adventure, San Diego–born Steven Martin followed his bliss to Southeast Asia, where he found work as a freelance journalist. While researching an article about the vanishing culture of opium smoking, he was inspired to begin collecting rare nineteenth-century opium-smoking equipment. Over time, he amassed a valuable assortment of exquisite pipes, antique lamps, and other opium-related accessories—and began putting it all to use by smoking an extremely potent form of the drug called chandu. But what started out as recreational use grew into a thirty-pipe-a-day habit that consumed Martin’s every waking hour, left him incapable of work, and exacted a frightful physical and financial toll. In passages that will send a chill up the spine of anyone who has ever lived in the shadow of substance abuse, Martin chronicles his efforts to control and then conquer his addiction—from quitting cold turkey to taking “the cure” at a Buddhist monastery in the Thai countryside. At once a powerful personal story and a fascinating historical survey, Opium Fiend brims with anecdotes and lore surrounding the drug that some have called the methamphetamine of the nineteenth-century. It recalls the heyday of opium smoking in the United States and Europe and takes us inside the befogged opium dens of China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The drug’s beguiling effects are described in vivid detail—as are the excruciating pains of withdrawal—and there are intoxicating tales of pipes shared with an eclectic collection of opium aficionados, from Dutch dilettantes to hard-core addicts to world-weary foreign correspondents. A compelling tale of one man’s transformation from respected scholar to hapless drug slave, Opium Fiend puts us under opium’s spell alongside its protagonist, allowing contemporary readers to experience anew the insidious allure of a diabolical vice that the world has all but forgotten.
Opium Fiend
Title | Opium Fiend PDF eBook |
Author | Steven Martin |
Publisher | Villard Books |
Total Pages | 417 |
Release | 2012 |
Genre | Antiques |
ISBN | 0345517830 |
An authority on opium paraphernalia traces the history of opium use while recounting his descent into addiction, describing how his experiments while researching an article led to a dangerous habit that prompted numerous rehabilitation efforts.
The Diary of a Drug Fiend
Title | The Diary of a Drug Fiend PDF eBook |
Author | Aleister Crowley |
Publisher | DigiCat |
Total Pages | 311 |
Release | 2023-11-20 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN |
Diary of a Drug Fiend was Aleister Crowley's first published novel, and is also reportedly the earliest known reference to the Abbey of Thelema in Sicily. The story is widely thought to be based upon Crowley's own drug experiences, despite being written as a fiction. This seems almost conclusively confirmed by Crowley's statement in the novel's preface: "This is a true story. It has been rewritten only so far as was necessary to conceal personalities."
The Bradys and the Chinese Juggler; Or, The Opium Fiend's Revenge
Title | The Bradys and the Chinese Juggler; Or, The Opium Fiend's Revenge PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 36 |
Release | 1907 |
Genre | Detective and mystery stories, American |
ISBN |
The Bradys' Trip to Chinatown; Or, Trailing an Opium Fiend
Title | The Bradys' Trip to Chinatown; Or, Trailing an Opium Fiend PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 36 |
Release | 1904 |
Genre | Detective and mystery stories, American |
ISBN |
Baboe Dalima; Or, The Opium Fiend
Title | Baboe Dalima; Or, The Opium Fiend PDF eBook |
Author | M T H (Michael Theophile Perelaer |
Publisher | Legare Street Press |
Total Pages | 284 |
Release | 2021-09-09 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9781013806025 |
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
The Art of Opium Antiques
Title | The Art of Opium Antiques PDF eBook |
Author | Steven Martin |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | 136 |
Release | 2007 |
Genre | Antiques & Collectibles |
ISBN |
Explores an aspect of opium that has largely been ignored--the art and accoutrements associated with opium smoking that reached a pinnacle in nineteenth-century China and in Chinese communities abroad, from Saigon to Singapore to San Francisco.