Writing on drugs

Drugs have been integral to modern cultural life, shaping fundamental philosophies, generating economic wealth, and exposing the neurochemistry of the human brain, which has never been drug-free. Through close examinations of writings by Coleridge on opium, Freud on cocaine, Michaux on mescaline, and Burroughs on all of them, the work combines literary criticism with socio-cultural history and pharmacological science to show how and why drugs have thoroughly invaded modernity in precise, various, profound, and unique ways.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Through a series of close, fascinating examinations of writing on drugs via, among others, Coleridge on opium, Freud on cocaine, Michaux on mescaline, and Burroughs on all of them, Writing on Drugs combines literary criticism with both socio-cultural history and pharmacological science to show how and why drugs have so thoroughly invaded modernity in ways precise and various, profound and unique. Right or wrong, safe or dangerous, Plant illustrates that narcotics, stimulants, and hallucinogens have actually been integral to the cultural life of modern times. They have shaped some of the era's most fundamental philosophies and provided much of its economic wealth. They have even exposed the neurochemistry of the human brain, which, like society itself, has never been drug-free. Writing on Drugs fully and compellingly explores the pervasive and ongoing influence of drugs on contemporary thought, word, and deed.