Book Review: Opium Fiend: A 21st Century Slave to a 19th Century Addiction by Steven Martin
While it may be romantic to picture oneself as a "21st Century Slave to a 19th Century Addiction", our picture of addiction in the 21st century is anything but romantic. Martin's descriptions of the effects of smoking opium (and of withdrawing from it) are sufficiently realistic - but also very close to those of the references he cites throughout the book. Compared to the loving and detailed descriptions of his pipes and accouterments, the portrayal of his actual smoking activities are so much dross. The devil is in the details, and a lot of them are missing.
Martin admits to researching his subject thoroughly in old books and on the Web, and he quotes them frequently. Well, what of that? Well, there is this passage:
"I had spent the previous week ... using the Internet to update as much of the 'Rough Guide to Cambodia' as possible. My submission was way overdue ... Just a few years before it would have been impossible to get reliable information solely from the Net, but coverage of Cambodia had expanded and it was no longer absolutely necessary to visit in person. Of course this wasn't something I'd be telling my editors ..."
Is Opium Fiend a genuine collectible textile, or is it whole cloth, another Internet research project? It struck me as being like an American opium den in the 1800s, a pastiche of vaguely Oriental elements, a 21st century interpretation of a 19th century addiction which it wasn't necessary to visit in person. Like a brass bell, this just didn't ring genuine to me.
