Pipe Dreams

There are two histories of drug use: the social history and the secret history of subjective experience.From antiquity to the present people have sought artificial paradise in the stimulations and insights afforded by the use of intoxicants. Famous literary figures have often been the first to experiment with little-known drugs and to champion their unique fascination upon the human imagination. In this remarkable anthology a dazzling array of authors including H. G. Wells Marie Corelli Guy de Maupassant Leo Tolstoy Charles Dickens Stephen Crane Sadegh Hedayat Santiago Dabove Jean Cocteau William James Charles Baudelaire Théophile Gautier and a host of others from many cultures and historical periods raids a pharmacopoeia containing ether absinthe morphine hashish opium cocaine heroin alcohol chloral hydrate psilocybin ayahuasca carbon tetrachloride LSD amyl nitrate ecstasy and angel dust in flights of descriptive prose of unparalleled suggestive power and visionary splendor.