Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (Aziloth Books) - Couverture souple

De Quincy, Thomas

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1908388692 ISBN 13 : 9781908388698

Editeur : Aziloth Books, 2012

Synopsis

Written in 1821, 'Confessions of an English Opium-Eater' brought literary fame and not a little notoriety to Thomas de Quincy. It blew the lid on widespread opium addiction in Regency England, 'outing' such worthies as Dr Abernethy, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wilberforce. 'Confessions' recounts the author's privileged public school days, his defiant truancy which led ultimately to a life of penury in London and to his rescue by, and romance with, a young prostitute. It is an intensely personal portrayal of narcotic dependence, filled with humanity, humour and beautiful prose. This classic work is essential reading for all those interested in the history and psychology of drug use, and its part in helping to open 'the doors of perception'.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

"Among the best essayists of the romantic era... De Quincey may be viewed as a proto-Burroughs, as well as a British cousin to Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Baudelaire, he might with a stretch even be seen as an ancestor of the J.G. Ballard...turn immediately to this excellent, detailed and often harrowing biography" (Washington Post)

"Thomas de Quincey was the original cosmonaut of inner space, his Confessions of an English Opium Eater predating the wave of drug buddy literature from William Burroughs to Irvine Welsh by half a century or more" (Glasgow Herald)

"A stimulating cocktail: exotic dream-sequences conjured up in baroque prosepoetry, camp Gothic effects worthy of Hammer Horror, classical quotations, London street-slang and sprawling footnotes on German philosophy. De Quincey served up this heady concoction of high-culture and low-life in all of his finest writings... At his best, however, he is one of the finest English prose stylists for sheer variety and opiumtinted vividness" (Mail on Sunday)

"The first - and still is the finest - literary dope fiend" (Guardian)

"It is one of the classics of 19th-century life writing and its influence is still felt" (Observer)

Biographie de l'auteur

Thomas De Quincey was born on 15 August 1789 in Manchester, the son of an affluent cloth merchant. He ran away from the Manchester Grammar school aged 17 and travelled in poverty in Wales and London before being reconciled with his family. He then attended Oxford University, where he first began to take opium. Despite excelling at his studies, De Quincey left university without completing his degree and married Margaret Simpson, the daughter of a local farmer. Having exhausted his inheritance, partly due to his addiction to opium, De Quincey found work as a journalist and wrote prolifically on various subjects for numerous publications. Confessions of a English Opium-Eater was published in the London Magazine in 1821 and found instant success. He went on to write several novels and biographies, and his unusual autobiographical style made his work extremely popular on both sides of the Atlantic. When De Quincey's wife Margaret died in 1837, his opium addiction worsened and he moved away from London to Scotland to relieve his straitened finances. He died in Edinburgh on 8 December 1859.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Aziloth Books
• Date d'édition: 2012
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1908388692
• ISBN 13: 9781908388698
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 124
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: GPSR Kontakt; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Allemagne