Thomas de Quincey: Confessions of an English Opium-eater and Other Writings

"Opium gives and takes away. It ruins the natural power of life; but it develops preternatural paroxysms of intermitting power." This is the theme which shapes Confessions of an English Opium Eater, one of the most brilliant achievements in the literature of addiction. Written in the sensuous prose style of which De Quincey was a master, this remarkable book does more than chart the course of the author's dependence upon opium; with kaleidoscopic vividness it evokes the opposing poles of pleasure and pain which comprise an addict's life, the world of dreams and the world of terrible realities. A singular blending of objective analysis and subjective revelation, the Confessions emerges as a superb depiction of a drug-and as a deeply moving self-portrait of a tragically flawed man. "De Quincey introduced a new dimension into biography," writes Aileen Ward, who goes on to declare: "It is an extraordinary life that De Quincey records-a sober testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and to the creative stimulus to be found in suffering."