num_pages: 150
description: The original drug memoirâ€”a true 19th-century account of the pleasures and pains of addictionOnce upon a time, opium, the main ingredientÂ in heroin, was easily available over the chemist's counter. The secret of happiness, about which philosophers have disputed for so many ages, could be bought for a penny, and carried in the waistcoat pocketâ€”portable ecstasies could be corked up in a pint bottle. Paradise? So thought Thomas de Quincey, but he soon discovered that "nobody will laugh long who deals much with opium."
language: English
title: The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
titlecomplete: The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
characters: Ann, Thomas De Quincey
genres: Biography, Literature, Classics, Autobiography, Nonfiction, British Literature, History, Memoir, 19th Century, Biography Memoir
ratings_count: 9709
places: England, London, England, United Kingdom
publisher: North Books