There was a wise pot seller in Thailand
whose customers always claimed to be scammed.
You see, he sold metal pots –
Ganja varietals, not –
but he truly had the strongest pot in the land.
THAILAND LIMERICK
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Tag Archives: Drugs
BOOK: “Hell’s Angels” by Hunter S. Thompson
Hell’s Angels by Hunter S. ThompsonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Penguin
This, the first published book of Hunter S. Thompson, is said to be from his pre-Gonzo period, but it bears many of the hallmarks Thompson would later be famous for: inventive colorful language, immersion in scenes of debauchery, and insight into the American cultural landscape.
The book is part exposé of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, an organization shrouded in a reputation that was as much myth as reality and whose tightknit inner circle made obtaining an accurate picture a challenge. It would take someone as fearless / crazy as Thompson to get close enough to learn about the gang and then to tell enough truth to make at least some of the members unhappy.
The book also takes the temperature of America and reports on what ails the country. One might think this would not be worth reading, given that its insight of America is from the late sixties (it came out in ’67.) However, as I read the penultimate chapter, I was surprised to find how much of what was being said could be seen as prophetic. Thompson wrote about the Angels not as a romantic throwback to wild west outlaws (as many saw them,) but as a class of people who were ill-equipped to make a living in an ever more technologically advanced America, leaving them with little money and loads of resentment. He wrote of them as “prototypes,” and his description connects up to the latest model. It was at that point that I started seeing Thompson not only as a brilliant creative writer, but — perhaps — as a prophet.
I’d highly recommend this book for anyone curious about the Hell’s Angels or American outlaws, more generally.
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BOOKS: “Smoke and Ashes” by Amitav Ghosh
Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey through Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav GhoshMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Release Date: February 15, 2024 [NOTE: for this edition; the book is already out in some markets in some additions.]
Ghosh has written a fascinating exploration of the profound global consequences of that pretty red flower, the opium poppy. I find the events surrounding the Opium Wars to be among the most incredible stories humanity has written. It is mind-blowing that a substance could be so utterly addictive as to spur wars and global social and economic upheavals. That substance is, of course, tea. Ah, you thought I was going to say opium (or its relative, heroin,) didn’t you? But while opium is fantastically addictive, its addicts were by-and-large in peaceful stupors in (or on) their clouds during the time in question. It is the uppity Earl Grey addict who was draining Britain’s treasury of precious metals, and — as addicts do in their impoverished desperation — turned to dealing drugs.
There have been many books written on this subject, but Ghosh carves himself a niche. First, while accounts often focus tightly upon the central adversarial relationship of Britain versus China, Ghosh examines at leisure the roles of two lesser discussed players — India (not only as a subject of Great Britain but also as an autonomous actor) and America. The importance of India’s involvement, from being a major producer and processor of opium to sourcing the sepoys who actually fought the Opium Wars, has been largely ignored, and Ghosh helps to clear up distortions in the historical record. Second, the book investigates questions around America’s opioid crisis and what history can tell us about its drivers. In particular, what does the China’s explosion of addiction tell us about what might have spurred America’s crisis?
This is a readable and compelling nonfiction exploration of the influence of opium from a writer who has produced novels (e.g. the “Sea of Poppies” trilogy) set around these historical events.
I’d highly recommend this book for individuals interested in the influence of Opium, particularly if one is curious about how history relates to the recent crises and what role Indians and Americans played in events.
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BOOKS: “Anthony Bourdain and Philosophy” ed. by Scott Calef
Anthony Bourdain and Philosophy by Calef ScottMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Release Date: December 26, 2023
These pop philosophy books that examine philosophical ideas through the lens of a particular pop culture personality or entity have become, well, popular. It’s not hard to see why; it’s an easy way to take your medicine, your medicine being to learn philosophical concepts. And, let’s face it, scholarly philosophical books are often nigh unreadable, being laden with jargon and having a tendency to get so lost in the minutiae of razor fine points that they display no relevance to the human experience. I am not immune to the appeal of such books, though when I see a book like “Miranda Sings and Philosophy” I figure I can take a hard pass. But this one caught my eye because Anthony Bourdain did live a life shaped by his own particular philosophy, and an intriguing one at that.
Like most of these books, this is a collection of essays written by different authors. As such, the quality and relevance of the included chapters does vary somewhat.
The book is divided into four parts. The first part looks at the subject of the work for which Bourdain was best known — i.e. at the intersection of food and travel. In these four chapters, authors explore the aesthetics of food and questions like: Do “expert” views on food matter? What is disgusting? And what role does culture play in the culinary experience?
The second part is entitled, “life,” and these five chapters look at Bourdain, the man. That is, they shift away from his work, and look at Bourdain as a martial arts student, a storyteller, and -generally – as a person. These chapters also offer insight into his epistemological perspective — i.e. how he viewed (and engaged in) the pursuit of truth, as well as touching upon his philosophical views more broadly.
The third part takes another turn to examine Bourdain’s addiction and his death by suicide. The chapters present broader philosophical frameworks on suicide and freedom, as a means to put Bourdain’s experience in perspective.
The final part is really kind of a grab-bag of subjects that don’t fit neatly into the other sections. Probably not coincidentally, this is where most of the book’s rough spots are located. It sometimes seems that Bourdain’s philosophy is not so much the subject anymore, and some authors convey their ideas more clearly and effectively than others. This is not, by any means, to say that any of the chapters are completely stinkers, nor to say that all of the chapters are defective. Chapter 13 [which, BTW, I think could have found a spot in Part II] does an interesting job in clarifying Bourdain’s approach to ethics, no easy task as it can seem like an odd mix of spiteful nihilistic impulses and compassionate humility (and it certainly evolved over time.) But even Chapters 14 and 15, which are not only the least flattering discussions of Bourdain but also the most didactic, have something to offer. The first lays out the scandal involving Bourdain’s girlfriend who was a MeToo leader but who also paid off a young actor who accused her of statutory rape, a pay-off made by Bourdain and which seems to be a factor in his suicide. Chapter 15 offers examples of what the author believed Bourdain did right and wrong in discussing the historical context of the places he visited that had been colonized. Ch. 16 was a discussion of the ethics of engaging in luxuriant fine dining in a world with starving people. I thought this chapter would stay the course set by the previous two, but it did shift back into academic objectivity by producing a more complete discussion of competing viewpoints. The penultimate chapter goes more niche than the others, but is a fascinating look at the ethics of AI generated voicework for the “Roadrunner” documentary — i.e. using AI to make it sound like Bourdain said things that he wrote in emails or books but never said [at least not into a recording device.] The last chapter involves climate change and episodes Bourdain did in Madagascar and Bhutan. This was both one of the longer chapters and definitely the most muddled. It remains unclear to me exactly what the author was trying to say, exactly. It’s perfectly readable, and yet unclear.
All in all, I enjoyed this book (as much as one can “enjoy” a book that is about a deceased beloved figure,) and thought it offered some excellent food for thought.
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Green Fairy [Free Verse]
Bohemians gathered around the absinthe bottles, the light hitting the bottles shone a radioactive shade of green. That green light threw blotches against walls & floors & people & anything else there was to illuminate. The more they drank, the less green the mottling -- not because the empty glass was clear, & didn't refract, or spray green, but because the splotches turned every color -- every color there is -- and the colors danced around the increasingly amorphous surfaces. Until, at last, everyone was asleep, and visions of Green Fairies danced in their dreams.
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BOOKS: Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson
Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century by Hunter S ThompsonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Kingdom of Fear is part memoir and part commentary on the state of America at the turn of the millennium. As a memoir, it explores Thompson’s bid for Sheriff, his arrest and judicial proceedings for drug and explosives charges that resulted from a “he said / she said” accusation that did not warrant charges in and of itself, a wild and wooly road-trip through Nevada, and Thompson’s position at the center of an investigation of a “threat” on the life of actor, Jack Nicholson.
As a commentary on the decline of America it discusses the battle for Grenada, a trip to Cuba, 9-11 and its aftermath, and the book revisits the ’68 Democratic Convention. It’s all written in Thompson’s drug-fueled Gonzo style, making it incredibly entertaining to read even as the hard walls between fact and fiction seem to dissolve. While the factualness might be at times in question, there is always a kind of truth that can only be received from those who’ve tossed off the shackles of societal convention and are willing to tell it as it is — even the embarrassing bits (especially the embarrassing bits.)
It’s not for those who take life and authority figures too seriously, but otherwise it’s a tremendously compelling and sometimes hilarious in its depiction of pre- and post-Y2K America.
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BOOK REVIEW: Goa Travels ed. by Manohar Shetty
Goa Travels: Being the Accounts of Travellers from the 16th to the 21st Century by Manohar ShettyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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I picked up this book because I’m now planning a trip to Goa — only my second trip to India’s smallest state and my first to the north beach area for which it has become such a popular destination in recent decades. It’s always good to get a literary feel for a place, perhaps receiving some insights one might otherwise miss. In a way, this is the perfect book for that purpose in that it offers outsider views of Goa across time. [In another way, it’s admittedly a skewed view.]
This book gathers written excerpts from travelers to Goa. It’s divided into three parts. The first part mostly covers the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, back when Goa was a Portuguese colony. This is the largest section and includes twenty-one pieces by priests, sailors, merchants, and adventurers. This section shows a preoccupation with a few features of Goan culture that seized travelers’ attention. One of these was the terrifying practice of sati, in which a widow would throw herself on her deceased husband’s funeral pyre and be burned alive. Another was the obsessively guarded way wives were treated, generally barred from doing anything in public or with those who weren’t blood relatives.
The second section, also the shortest, features one piece on the Goan Inquisition, which was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition and one of the major examples of horrifying behavior by the Roman Catholic church. While it’s alarming and gruesome to read about, it’s nonetheless fascinating.
The final section is about the modern era, which – for the purposes of this book – runs from about the 1950’s (after India gained independence from Britain, but while Goa was still a Portuguese colony,) through its days on the Hippie Trail, and on to more-or-less the present. I knew about Goa as a hippie hangout during that countercultural revolution, but I was less aware of what went on between Indian independence and Goa’s independence from Portugal. Among the seven pieces in this section, one also gets a feel for the challenges of having an intensely culturally conservative population packed into India’s smallest state with what is probably South Asia’s biggest party destination.
I learned a lot of fascinating facts from reading this book. It may be a bit sensationalist in some places and vaguely racist in others, but it’s not boring.
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BOOK REVIEW: Project MK-Ultra Vol. 2 by Brandon Beckner, et. al.
Project MK-Ultra Vol. 2: Sex, Drugs, and the CIA by Brandon BecknerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Release Date: November 15, 2022
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Volume Two continues the story of CIA’s crazy “experimentation” with LSD, ultimately leading to the fall of the MK-Ultra program. The story is built around strange but true events, but there is a fictionalized element, particularly with respect to the investigative journalist (Seymour Phillips) whose presence in the story is used as a mechanism to tie together events that may or may not have had much overlap in terms of common personnel. That is to say, fiction isn’t just used to make the story more intriguing (a tale this strange hardly needs much help in that department,) but to both fill in knowledge gaps (famously, most of the MK-Ultra files were destroyed) and to make a throughline connecting somewhat disparate events. The focus is on events surrounding Ronald Stark as well as the widening spillover of LSD from CIA programs into the civilian space – e.g. the birth of Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters.
The art in this book is amazing. Of course, much of it has to capture the sensory bizarrerie of psychedelic experiences, and it does that creatively. However, even the “sober” panels are colorful and present a captivating world. There’s a full-page depiction of Chinatown that blew my mind.
If you’re interested in a story built around the CIA’s dalliances with LSD, and the subsequent spillover into the civilian world, I’d highly recommend the two volumes of this book.
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Psychedelic Parade [Limerick]
An old man got caught up by a parade. Street after street, he was barred by blockade. But he didn't lose poise 'til walking plush toys convinced him LSD was being covertly sprayed.
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BOOK REVIEW: Naked Lunch [the Restored Text] by William S. Burroughs
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text by William S. BurroughsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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This isn’t a novel so much as a series of heroin-fueled fever dreams. While that makes it sound incoherent and unreadable, there’s a great deal of visceral imagery and clever language in it. What there’s not is a thread that carries the reader through a series of events constituting a coherent narrative arc. The book reads like dystopian fiction, but that’s merely Beat-style lingo and heroin addict worldview applied to a combination of Burrough’s world and the surreal mind-space of the addict on a fix.
As is also true of Joyce’s “Ulysses,” if you’re a reader who needs a coherent story and the avoidance of experimental language, you probably won’t like this book. Furthermore, readers who’re uncomfortable with pornographic imagery will also find the book objectionable. However, if you enjoy books that are prose poem-like in their use of language and if you don’t mind the disjointed strangeness necessary to convey the addict’s mental experience, then you’ll probably get a kick out of this book. It’s worth recognizing that what makes the book a challenging read is simultaneously what makes it such a masterpiece of the drug-addled experience. If it were more lucid, it’d be tepid and purposeless.
This is the restored text edition. This is one of the few cases in which I’d recommend reading all the backmatter. It includes some “outtakes” from the earliest drafts, but (more usefully) some essays by Burroughs that offer important insights. When one finishes this book, there’s a tendency to think, “What was that? What did I just read?” The appendices help one understand the book better. Here we read Burrough’s claim that he had no recollection of composing the original draft, and a later statement in which he clarifies that his earlier statement was an exaggeration – that he did have some memories of it.
I found this book to be an engrossing read. As I say, while it’s bizarre, outlandish, and frequently pornographic, it also lends insight into a state of mind that most of us – fortunately – will never experience.
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Tiger Riding for Beginners 