Emperors of Dreams : Drugs in the Nineteenth Century by Mike Jay  (2)
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Times change--who would have thought that we'd ever see a non-judgemental mainstream anthology of writings about mind-altering drugs? Editor Mike Jay delivers scores of well-selected hits of wild wisdom from Homer and his cronies to William Burroughs in Artificial Paradises. His mild-mannered but insightful introductions and links between pieces prime the reader for a series of expansive trips through other people's minds as they grapple with various medical, moral, artistic and spiritual puzzlers posed by drugs. Hopped-up coke fiend Sigmund Freud rants about his favourite little helper while painter Henri Michaux complains that mescaline is a poor muse. The pieces are usually amusing and sometimes penetrating. Jay wisely avoids most of the propaganda we've been over-subjected to in recent decades, instead focusing on the experience and assessment of drugs and their cultural value. Sections include "Researches Chemical and Philosophical: Drugs and Science" and "The Algebra of Need: Drugs and Addiction", with selections from such disparate writers as Jean Cocteau and Thomas Szasz. Most of the pieces are very short--one or two pages--but highly concentrated, giving an immediate sense of the author's intent and attitudes, often inspiring a trip to the library for another dose. When it's time to turn on, tune in and drop out, prepare yourself with the guidance of Artificial Paradises. --Rob Lightner
Synopsis
Revealing the diverse roles mind-altering drugs have played throughout history, this collection brings together a multiplicity of voices which explore the presence of drugs in science and religion, pleasure and madness, individualism and social control.
Times change--who would have thought that we'd ever see a non-judgemental mainstream anthology of writings about mind-altering drugs? Editor Mike Jay delivers scores of well-selected hits of wild wisdom from Homer and his cronies to William Burroughs in Artificial Paradises. His mild-mannered but insightful introductions and links between pieces prime the reader for a series of expansive trips through other people's minds as they grapple with various medical, moral, artistic and spiritual puzzlers posed by drugs. Hopped-up coke fiend Sigmund Freud rants about his favourite little helper while painter Henri Michaux complains that mescaline is a poor muse. The pieces are usually amusing and sometimes penetrating. Jay wisely avoids most of the propaganda we've been over-subjected to in recent decades, instead focusing on the experience and assessment of drugs and their cultural value. Sections include "Researches Chemical and Philosophical: Drugs and Science" and "The Algebra of Need: Drugs and Addiction", with selections from such disparate writers as Jean Cocteau and Thomas Szasz. Most of the pieces are very short--one or two pages--but highly concentrated, giving an immediate sense of the author's intent and attitudes, often inspiring a trip to the library for another dose. When it's time to turn on, tune in and drop out, prepare yourself with the guidance of Artificial Paradises. --Rob Lightner
Synopsis
Revealing the diverse roles mind-altering drugs have played throughout history, this collection brings together a multiplicity of voices which explore the presence of drugs in science and religion, pleasure and madness, individualism and social control.
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