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Revision as of 08:45, 5 February 2015

Diary of a Drug Fiend
File:Diaryofadrugfiend.jpg
AuthorAleister Crowley
Cover artistAleister Crowley
LanguageEnglish
GenreOccult Novel
Publication date
1922
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages383 pp

Diary of a Drug Fiend, published in 1922, was occult writer and mystic Aleister Crowley's first published novel, and is also reportedly the earliest known reference to the Abbey of Thelema in Sicily.[1]

Plot introduction

The story is widely thought to be based upon Crowley's own drug experiences, despite being written as a fiction. This seems almost conclusively confirmed by Crowley's statement in the novel's preface: "This is a true story. It has been rewritten only so far as was necessary to conceal personalities." Crowley's own recreational drug use and also his personal struggle with drug addiction, particularly heroin, is well documented.

Crowley made a study of drugs and their effects upon the body and mind, experimenting widely himself. Many of his conclusions are present within this novel. The story follows Peter Pendragon and Louise Laleham, a couple passionately in love, as they fall head-first into a drug binge across Europe. Diary of a Drug Fiend encapsulates much of Crowley's core philosophy concerning Thelema and his conception of True Will.

Plot summary

The protagonists find themselves desperate after their drug supply diminishes. The particulars of their desperate addiction and cravings are documented in realistic detail. The pair, however, are saved from destruction by an adept Magician named King Lamus. This mysterious and charismatic figure frees Pendragon and Lou from their addictions through the use of Magickal techniques, aimed at mastering True Will and releasing the individual from sloth, self-destructive impulses and craving.

Contents

Paradiso

  • A Knight Out
  • Over the Top!
  • Phaeton
  • Au Pays de Cocaine
  • A Heroin Heroine
  • The Glitter on the Snow
  • The Wings of the Oof-Bird
  • Vedere Napoli e poi-Pro Patria-Mori
  • The Gatto Fritto

Inferno

  • Short Commons
  • Indian Summer
  • The Grinding of the Brakes
  • Below the Brutes
  • Towards Madness
  • Cold Turkey
  • The Final Plunge

Purgatorio

  • King Lamus Intervenes
  • First Aid
  • The Voice of Virtue
  • Out of Harms Way
  • At Telephylus
  • The True Will
  • Lover under Will

Characters

  • Sir Peter Pendragon
  • Basil King Lamus
  • Louise "Lou" Laleham
  • Hermes
  • Dionysus
  • Elgin Feccles
  • Mabel Black
  • Maisie Jacobs

Musician Marilyn Manson included a song entitled "Diary of a Dope Fiend" on his 1995 album Smells Like Children, which may have been, among other aspects of Manson's career, influenced by Crowley's writings.

The American band The Lemonheads recorded a song called "My Drug Buddy", based on this book, on their 1992 album It's a Shame About Ray.

Editions

  • 1922, First edition published in the U.K., hardback
  • 1971, USA, Red Wheel/Weiser Books (ISBN 0-87728-035-5), July 1971, hardback
  • 1971, USA, Red Wheel/Weiser Books (ISBN 0-87728-146-7), July 1971, paperback
  • 1989, USA, Buccaneer Books (ISBN 0-89966-593-4), June 1989, hardback

See also

References

  1. ^ Channel 4: Masters of Darkness
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