Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu

Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu
Average customer rating:

an unfortunate title done only for marketing purposes

Very funny, engaging

A good bit of light ethnotourism

Learning about Vanuatu

An inspired romp through the islands...

Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu
J. Maarten Troost
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Fiji | Australia & South Pacific | Travel | Subjects | Books
Vanuatu | Australia & South Pacific | Travel | Subjects | Books
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Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0767921992
Release Date: 2006-06-13

Book Description

With The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Maarten Troost established himself as one of the most engaging and original travel writers around. Getting Stoned with Savages again reveals his wry wit and infectious joy of discovery in a side-splittingly funny account of life in the farthest reaches of the world. After two grueling years on the island of Tarawa, battling feral dogs, machete-wielding neighbors, and a lack of beer on a daily basis, Maarten Troost was in no hurry to return to the South Pacific. But as time went on, he realized he felt remarkably out of place among the trappings of twenty-first-century America. When he found himself holding down a job—one that might possibly lead to a career—he knew it was time for him and his wife, Sylvia, to repack their bags and set off for parts unknown.

Getting Stoned with Savages tells the hilarious story of Troost’s time on Vanuatu—a rugged cluster of islands where the natives gorge themselves on kava and are still known to “eat the man.” Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles against typhoons, earthquakes, and giant centipedes and soon finds himself swept up in the laid-back, clothing-optional lifestyle of the islanders. When Sylvia gets pregnant, they decamp for slightly-more-civilized Fiji, a fallen paradise where the local chiefs can be found watching rugby in the house next door. And as they contend with new parenthood in a country rife with prostitutes and government coups, their son begins to take quite naturally to island living—in complete contrast to his dad.

Customer Reviews:

an unfortunate title done only for marketing purposes.......2007-07-31

Troost book begins with him working in Washington D.C. for the World Bank. He worries himself with questions like "what tie to wear?" and "how much money did I make in the market today?"

Troost realizes the same maxim that many wisemen have realized since the dawn of civilization: money doesn't buy one happiness. Troost begins to think of the blue water and the truly meaningful days that he experienced in the South Pacific of his first book (which my roommate and almost every reviewer on Amazon cite as a superior book -- I'll read it within the next year). And then he utters a line at the bottom of page one that defines him:

"The escapist doesn't want to get ahead. He simply wants to get away."

He and his wife go to Vanuatu and move on to Fiji when she gets pregnant. He indulges in Kava (the getting stoned reference), fights large insects, hikes up a volcano, talks with cannibals and gives the reader a brief history about John From (Cargo Cults). He does a wonderful job mingling with the locals. He also has some nice insights into the long-term impact of colonialism, Indian-Fijian relations and the corruption in island politics.

The end is a little trite, as he finds himself when he becomes a father: "You can go far and wide and you can keep moving on and on through places and years, but somehow you never escape your own life. I, finally, knew where my life belonged. Home." While it's a nice sentiment, I hope that readers have already figured themselves out (or if they haven't, that they aren't looking to someone else's travelogue for the answer).

I liked the book. Very much so. It seems that other reviewers here were disappointed that it wasn't as good as his first book. I have not read his first book yet, so I didn't come to it with the same high expectations they did.

Very funny, engaging .......2007-05-29

This is the first Troost novel that I have read, but it certainly won't be the last. Very entertaining, and at times hilarious, this is a look at island life that most of us don't get to see. A word of warning though, I got kicked out of bed for laughing too much while reading this!

A good bit of light ethnotourism.......2007-05-28

If you're looking for a basic book on Vanuatu -- one which sticks to the strictly scholarly -- don't buy this book. But if you want an interesting and unusually emotionally candid firsthand account of one suburbanite's experience of flying halfway around the globe to find paradise only to discover that even paradise has its troubles and complexitiies, then this one's for you. It makes quick and easy reading, and would be especially valuable on a plane bound for Vanuatu or Fiji as it raises and deals forthrightly with the big issues: post-modern ennui, canabalism and the rich/poor and colonial/native divides, as well as showing the challenges a real middle class American couple faces in relocating to the islands longterm, rather than as tourists. The author is thoughtful and manages insight at times, though it's a bit uneven because of all his fairly predictable hangups and prejudices. But these actually make this book better than if he'd pretended to be an ivory tower academic, as does his undisguised foibles (read to find out). Finally, this may be the only book you'll find in which an American expat couple in the South Pacific deals with the arrival of a child, a choice they make for reasons explained quite well and tied in nicely with the overall themes of the whole book. Bottom line: Not an academic tome, but rather a thought-provoking layperson's travel experience. Enjoy!

Learning about Vanuatu.......2007-05-11

Vanuatu is a series of small islands in the Pacific that speaks 113 distinct languages and gave me reason to stop and think, "I need to go there." Then I stopped and thought, "Holy crap, how can I get good information on Vanuatu?" There is not much available and I am not planning a trip there in the short term. Then I got good news. I read "Getting Stoned with Savages," by J. Maarten Troost.

I am not much of a book review person, so I won't pretend, or try to be cutesy. It is a good, fast read filled with memorable personal adventures of the author while he and his wife lived in Vanuatu and Fiji. However, these stories do not mean to inspire vacationers. They are glimpses into these unique cultures through the eyes of someone from the outside, doing his best to battle enormous centipedes, unpredictable weather, shark infested waters, a growling stomach for cannibalism, and the potent differences between kava -- the interesting sounding and popular hallucinogen -- found on Fiji and Vanuatu.

I must have liked it. I was willing to sit under a sizzling Yucatan sky to finish the last twenty pages and come home with third degree burns instead of putting it down to pick up some SPF 45. Now it looks like I have to start planning a trip to Vanuatu and get some real experience.

An inspired romp through the islands..........2007-03-21

Getting Stoned with Savages: Tripping Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu is the second offering from travel writer, J. Maarten Troost. I read and adored his first book, The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific, a few years ago and fell instantly in love with Troost's humor and candor. So, as you might imagine, when I heard about Getting Stoned with Savages, I quickly and single-mindedly stalked it on BookMooch.com until I had a pristine copy in my talons.

Maarten and his wife, Sylvia, after returning from a harrowing few years on the South Pacific atoll of Tarawa, resume a somewhat normal life in Washington, D.C. Maarten, with an eye on earning a living, takes a job as a consultant for the World Bank but soon finds that he is inching dangerously closer to what seems a full-blown career. With that horrifying fact in mind, he promptly gets fired and the Troosts set off for a life in Vanuatu, a small, rugged cluster of islands. Sylvia works for an international aid organization and earns a Western living that comes in handy on Vanuatu, and the arrangement leaves Maarten the time and opportunity to write. When Sylvia becomes pregnant the family relocates to the slightly more "civilized" Fiji where they round out their latest round of island adventures.

While both of Troost's travel memoirs have undoubtedly catchy titles, this second offering has much more to do with its respective title than Troost's first book. On the islands of Fiji and Vanuatu a most popular social activity is the consumption of a hallucinogenic drink called kava. Traditionally produced by the chewing of a root by male adolescents and then mixing with water, the kava is then served in bars (shacks more like) called nakamals. Shortly after arriving in Vanuatu, Maarten and Sylvia have the pleasure of consuming a few "shells" of kava. Troost writes:

Clearly this was different than drinking wine. With kava, one didn't admire its lush hue, or revel in its aromatic bouquet, or note the complex interplay of oak and black currant. This was more like heroin. Its consumption was something that was to be endured. The effect was everything. What concerned me, however, was not the taste but the possibility that this bowl of swirling brown liquid may have had as one of its essential ingredients the spit of unseen boys, which, frankly, I found a little off-putting.

Much to Maarten's relief, a friend informs him that while the chewing of the kava is generally the preferred method because it produces a supremely potent product, the kava they ingest is simply ground and strained through a sock. Better? Perhaps.

The kava story is just one of many instances that are enlivened by Troost's humor. But beyond the blatant out-loud laughing that I did while reading the book, there's also a real humanity and wonder in Troost's writing. The overall theme of the work is aptly expressed when he writes, "Paradise was a place that could be seen only from a distance, but it pleased me knowing that we lived so close to it."

Quite literally there is a dark side to island life. The islands harbor a history of cannibalism, there is overwhelming poverty, rampant prostitution, and political instability. On the side of the positive, however, the majority of the people are friendly and welcoming and willing to help the foreigners along in their new surroundings. In a more philosophical way, Maarten begins to see that while chasing paradise has been a good experience for his family, and they quite often find it in even the most outrageous of circumstances, at some point it becomes important to pursue a type of paradise near family and friends, even if it means rejoining the Western world with all of its bustle and baggage.

I think what I admire most about Troost's writing is his supreme respect for the cultures in which he lives. While he is quick to make jokes about his feelings and reactions to new cultural experiences, he is also more than willing to devote time to evaluation of the culture's economy, hardships, priorities, and the well-being of native peoples. What sets the Troost family apart from the tourists they often encounter on the islands is a seemingly honest willingness to engage with the culture, observe it, and try to avoid infringing too much on the world in which they live, even if some parts of their character and situation will always make them outsiders. It is this attitude of curiosity and respect which really makes me a fan of J. Maarten Troost and his adventures.

Stoned, Naked, and Looking in My Neighbor's Window: The Best Confessions from GroupHug.us

Average customer rating:

ok at best
A voyeristic treat
Keeps you wanting more!
"Xylophones Are My Only Friend."
Grab your belly and slap your knee

Stoned, Naked, and Looking in My Neighbor's Window: The Best Confessions from GroupHug.us
Gabriel Jeffrey
Manufacturer: Justin, Charles & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1932112367

Book Description

GroupHug (www.grouphug.us) was started as a place for people to totally anonymously post their deepest, darkest secrets. To confess them to the world. GroupHug received 13 million hits in the first three months, and is the fastest growing confession site online.

Customer Reviews:

ok at best.......2007-08-05

Some of the confessions are good but 90% of them are boring crap tha you hear everyday. Buy it if it's dirt cheap.

A voyeristic treat.......2007-07-23

This book is an exciting ride of emotions. You tap into the secret lives of complete strangers. It's fun not even knowing their real name and yet you know their deepest darkest secrets...it could be written by someone you even know. :) How exciting! 5stars!

Keeps you wanting more!.......2007-07-03

I read this book all the way through the minute I got it. Now I occasionally when bored go back and pick a random page just for fun, I usually end up sitting down and reading half of it all over again because it is just so...enthralling! nothing like it, it is not like postsecret in the sense of no pictures, its more like reading 1 entry out of a thousand peoples diaries.

"Xylophones Are My Only Friend.".......2007-02-24

I picked this book up in a bookstore, and now I kind of wish I hadn't. These confessions come from an anonymous web site, and while some are hilarious, many are depressing. The positive about this book is that it is very reassuring, in that the vast majority of readers are exceptionally normal compared to the people doing the things in this book, while on the negative side, reading this is borderline creepy in that it ventures into parts of the human psyche that maybe are best left unexplored (at least in public.)

Here are some of the more notable snippets I discovered:

"I have a velvet robe and smoke a pipe with bubbles. I feel unstoppable when I wear it."

"I have a mitten phobia. Anytime anyone wears knit mittens, and tries to touch my arm or any part of my exposed skin with them, I freak out and run."

"I fantasize about having tuberculosis. Every time I cough, I check for blood. It's so sexy and I know I would have lots of attention if I had TB."

"Xylophones are my only friend."

...and my very favorite...

"I forged a 'free pie' coupon at Marie Callender's, and gave it to my wife. I didn't tell her it was a forged coupon, and she got arrested. Bail is $750, and I can't afford it, so she's still in County Jail. Sorry, honey!"

This book is frequently depressing, often disturbing, strangely mesmerizing, and totally scary. It is unvarnished, and while these were consensual confessions, it frequently seems wrong to read them, even if they are anonymous.

Grab your belly and slap your knee.......2007-01-02

I LOVE this book. It was one of my recommendations from Amazon. From the book description and the reviews, I knew I had to get it. When I first got it, my husband and I sat in the bed reading (and cackling) together over so many of the entries- there was a lot of, "Oh my God- did you read this one?" After reading from it together that one night, we began to fight over it. One of us would get it, read from it, and hide it from the other. Luckily, it is quite addictive which makes for a quick read. Now that we have both finished it, it sits in our guest bathroom. So many of the entries are super short- some are one liners, and you can flip to any part of the book, and start reading. It has lead to many a person spending much longer in the restroom than necessary- and everyone comments on it. Though some of the entries are slightly disturbing and some just downright baffling- for the most part, they are grab your belly, and slap your knee funny. You will not regret buying this book!

Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000

Average customer rating:

Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000
So what is the answer?
California Al
GREAT BOOK FOR UNIVERSITY COURSES!!!
Bible for our generation

Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000
Martin Torgoff
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743230116

Amazon.com

Martin Torgoff came of age just about the same time as the drug boom, a circumstance that informs his overview of America's "Great Stoned Age." Chronicling the irrepressible onslaught of mind-altering substances from the end of World War II through the close of the century, Torgoff (whose previous publishing efforts have centered around rockers Elvis Presley and John Cougar Mellencamp) intersperses the personal with the historical. Laying the groundwork with his own recollections of indulgence beginning in the late 1960s, the author flashes back to the Beat era, which he asserts opened the door for all that followed. Interviews with the obscure and celebrated add color and detail to the chronicle. Here's Herbert Huncke, the unapologetic hustler and heroin addict who lurked on the periphery of '50s bohemian scene and turned up as a character in William Burroughs' pulp memoir Junkie. Into the 1960s, there's acid guru Timothy Leary, poet Allan Ginsburg, record producer Paul Rothchild, Woodstock MC Wavy Gravy, and others caught up in a wave of revolutionary experimentation and excess. The '70s leads to the cocaine craze (embodied here by party girl Suzie Ryan), which begets drug wars (with plenty of casualties on both sides), Just Say No, the crack epidemic, and rave culture. While Torgoff's tome is too capricious to serve as the final word on America's drug obsession, it's eminently readable and entertaining, thanks to its expansive, pop-culture-informed tone. There's an almost insane momentum to this tale, with dozens of astonishing twists and turns. Imagine Jimmy Carter's drug czar, Dr. Peter Bourne, snorting cocaine at a party thrown the by pot legalization group NORML. Then picture George H.W. Bush's point man on drugs, William Bennett, remarking in an interview that it would be "morally plausible" to behead drug dealers. So much for moderation. --Steven Stolder

Book Description

From the narcotic allure of the bebop and Beat generations to the psychedelic 1960s, Vietnam, the cocaine-fueled disco era, the crack epidemic, and the ecstasy-induced rave culture, illegal drugs have profoundly shaped America's cultural landscape. In Can't Find My Way Home, journalist and filmmaker Martin Torgoff chronicles what a long strange trip it's been as the American Century became the Great Stoned Age.

Weaving together first-person accounts and historical background, Can't Find My Way Home is a narrative vast in scope yet rich in intimate detail. Torgoff tells the stories of those whose lives became synonymous with the drug culture, from Charlie Parker, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and John Belushi to ordinary people who felt their consciousness "expanded" or who plumbed the depths of addiction. He also examines the broader impact of drugs on society and politics, from the war on drugs to the recovery movement, and the continuing debate over drug policy. A vivid work of cultural history that neither demonizes nor romanticizes its subject, Can't Find My Way Home is a provocative and fascinating look at how drugs have entered the American mainstream.

Download Description

"Can't Find My Way Home is a history of illicit drug use in America in the second half of the twentieth century and a personal journey through the drug experience. It's the remarkable story of how America got high, the epic tale of how the American Century transformed into the Great Stoned Age.

Customer Reviews:

Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000.......2006-11-12

An excellent and very detailed history of drugs and its impact on our society. The book is thoroughly researched. It's entertaining and very readable. It's not only a review of the history of drugs in American society but also covers a number of individuals and the effect narcotics had on them. I found it fascinating and scary. Having lived through those turbulent times it brought back many memories.
Pictures and a summary of the cast of characters would have enhanced the book. All in all a good read.

So what is the answer?.......2005-05-29

If you have been there then you know the answer. The question is: Why did we travel there in the first place. Addictions are sneaky. Sometimes we write about them, other times we fight them. Addicted movie stars are just addicts. Hard drugs have no respect for who we are.

California Al.......2004-06-24

I wanted to be interested in this book, but it became pretty boring ater a while. There is an undercurrent of romanticism that pervades the authors purpose. He claims to be neutral, yet his descriptions and conversations with many of the people slant towards idol worship. Although the author claims to be in recovery, I did not get the sense of how drugs and alcohol can ruin peoples lives. I felt that his narrative was self serving, and glorifying the wonders of drugs and experimentation. There is a price to pay. What was good was hearing his father's take on the whole down side of watching his son grow up loaded. That was interesting. I'm getting weary of the proselytizing about how epochal the 1960's, 70's and 80's were. I didn't like his picture either.

GREAT BOOK FOR UNIVERSITY COURSES!!!.......2004-05-26

I'm reading this book a bit at a time. Each part is like a little history lesson - full of specific people, places and things that I've heard a lot of stories about - usually from folks who didn't have a great deal of clarity when they were either living through them OR speaking about them.

Torgoff has that clarity and there's humor in his prose that gives it a certain kind of bop. Yes, it's a long book. Most people who write long books these days write them as if they are "afraid of going to hell" for having done so - there's no ease, things get really claustrophobic in such books. Torgoff sails through this material not so much like a man who's afraid of going to hell...but as a man who's been there.

There's a kind of ease, a kind of compassion and a sense of spaciousness to Torgoff's style in this work. The length of the book doesn't seem that long. Maybe it would SEEM LONGER if Torgoff attempted to adapt his style to the demands of the market...some kind of a weekly reader version of the lifes, legends, loves (and drugs) of the times he's telling us about. Thank GOD he didn't cave into that.

Can't Find My Way Home makes me want to listen to a hell of a lot of music, see some movies again and read more books about the myriad folks who inhabit this book.

I see this book as a definite college text for classes focusing on the the history of jazz, rock and roll, film and literature in the last sixty years of American culture.

The fact that Torgoff weaves his own story into this piece communicates to me that he's not of those people who goes around chanting phrases like "If you remember the 60's you weren't there". Torgoff indicates to the reader that he was "there" and that he managed to extricate himself from the oblivion of those times through either the grace of God, or his own luck, karma or whatever.

Thus, Torgoff's writing in this book is infused with a kind of all pervasive sharpness, like the razor edge of a hatchet, that only comes from the words of those who have lived...and survived. I have a sense that Torgoff has been swinging this blade for some time...I suspect he's cut through a great deal of his own personal reference points in order to find the patience and perseverance to not only deliver this work...but to have the humility to title the work as he has.

Bravo!!

Bible for our generation.......2004-05-25

This is a fantastic book--the history of our time, the author's insights and synthesis. It's wildly affecting and entertaining, and it's bigger than what it seems to be about. Torgoff has a touch of Balzac in him, that's for sure. He gets the joke, but he also captures the loss and pathos. I especially liked his own story--he wove it into the narrative in a really detached way that made it all the more affecting. I stayed up all night reading.

Average customer rating:

The required coffee table book for any stoner.
WHAT A JOKE!!!
Close but not quite
GREAT COFFE TABLE BOOK:)
A unique and kooky book for everyone

Get Stoned and Read This Book
Gordon G. Gourd
Manufacturer: Gordon G Gourd Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 096735370X

Book Description

"The coffee table book for pot-smokers." That's right. GET STONED AND READ THIS BOOK. A book entirely conceived and executed under the influence of marijuana. Lots of marijuana.

Written by the creative partnership known as Gordon G. Gourd, GET STONED is the culmination of five+ years of binging. Shot by Mr. Clancy, penned by Mr. Winter, GET STONED has been a labor of love. The book is self-published by Gordon G. Gourd, Inc. because established publishers felt the book was 'too esoteric'.

It's a pot book. It's supposed to be esoteric.

Publishers also felt that the title was too progressive for the likes of Barnes and Noble, and in order to sign us up, we would have to at least change the layout of the cover. Gordon felt the compromise was too great. "Screw it," we said. "Let's do it ourselves."

Six months later, we've got books. Printed through Acid Test Productions in California (publisher of many pieces on the Grateful Dead), the book itself is oversized, 10"x10", 72pp, with both full color and black and white imagery, printed on high-end glossy paper. The production quality is top-notch. The book itself is a series of loosely related full page spreads, each with a different image and idea, all created for the stoner by the stoner. It's some pretty whacked stuff.

Customer Reviews:

The required coffee table book for any stoner. .......2006-12-19

My girlfriend gave me this book and while I was skeptical while reading it sober I loved this book when i read it high & drunk!!!

While I'll admit putting it away when the parents come by, I love having it out during parties, a definite conversation starter. The pictures are pretty good as is most of the writing in it (not 100%, but enough to keep this pothead satisfied).

Lastly as another poster pointed out, a plain white surface can be very useful when rolling.....

WHAT A JOKE!!!.......2006-11-10

CANT BELEIVE SOMEONE WOULD EVEN PUBLISH THIS BOOK. ITS ABOUT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MARIJUANA,. JUST RANDOM STUPID PICTURES OF NOTHING. ID RATHER GET STONED AND STARE AT THE FLOOR THAN LOOK AT THIS BOOK AGAIN. HOW EMBARASSING. TOTAL RIPOFF!!!!!

Close but not quite.......2002-06-01

Kavity Kreep stole this book awhile back and it had been tempting me while collecting seeds and stems on his coffee table for the last couple of months. Hey, the book is white which makes for a convenient place to do your rolling. Anyway, writing a book about getting high for people to get high and read? Well, that's like selling a book about Andy Griffith during "Matlock" reruns. Too easy. So, a truer test was to pound a pint of schnapps and read this bad boy. Color me unimpressed and a little hungover, boys. Just wasn't that interesting. A few cool things, but not that cool. Probably was fun to write though. The NASCARS race that the Kreep was watching held my interest longer and that led to some seriously prolific beer drinking. After the race we went to KFC for a bucket and then played some video games. Besides, I wasn't holding that day anyway. Sure got drunk though.

GREAT COFFE TABLE BOOK:).......2002-05-18

I bought this book for my boyfriend for his birthday and he loves it. His friends also adore the book, I love the poems and pictures... an interesing fun, book.

A unique and kooky book for everyone.......2001-11-06

"Get Stoned and Read this Book" is a wonderfully unique look at the world through pictures in a beautiful coffee table book format. I think that people are misled by the title and get the image of Wayne and Garth getting stoned in the basement of their parent's house laughing at everything. They would enjoy this book immensly as well, but it really has some wonderful photos that help you to look at things in a new light that you never would have normally considered. This book is also a fabulous conversation piece, and a must-have on your coffee table at any party. Everyone I know (all well-educated, gainfully employed individuals) absolutely loves this book. The other reason that I think you should buy it is because it was self-published. With all of the mammoth publishers trampling over the "little guy" it's nice to see people finding a way to live their dreams. This book makes a wonderful gift, especially around the holidays, and it should make you happy to know that you are supporting people who deserve it!

A Brief History of Drugs: From the Stone Age to the Stoned Age

Average customer rating:

No bibliography makes me a dull boy
A concise version of a lengthy classic

A Brief History of Drugs: From the Stone Age to the Stoned Age
Antonio Escohotado , and Ken Symington
Manufacturer: Park Street Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0892818263
Release Date: 1999-05-01

Book Description

A clear-eyed look at the instrumental role drugs have played in our cultural, social, and spiritual development.

• First American publication of the surprising European bestseller.

• Examines everything from the ancient use of ergot and datura to the modern phenomenon of "designer" drugs such as Ecstasy and crack cocaine.

From remotest antiquity to the present era of designer drugs and interdiction, drugs have played a prominent role in the cultural, spiritual, and social development of civilizations. Antonio Escohotado demonstrates how the history of drugs illuminates the history of humanity as he explores the long relationship between mankind and mind-altering substances. Hemp, for example, has been used in India since time immemorial to stimulate mental agility and sexual prowess. Aristotle's disciple Theophrastus testifies to the use of datura by the ancient Greeks and further evidence links the rites at Eleusis to the ingestion of a hallucinogen. Similar examples can be found in cultures as diverse as the Celts, the ancient Egyptians, the Aztecs, and other indigenous peoples around the world.

Professor Escohotado also looks at the present-day differences that exist between the more drug-tolerant societies like Holland and Switzerland and countries advocating complete repression of these substances. The author provides a comprehensive analysis of the enormous social costs of the drug war that is coming under increasing fire from all levels of society. Professor Escohotado's work demonstrates that drugs have always existed and been used by societies throughout the world and the contribution they have made to humanity's development has been enormous. The choice we face today is to teach people how to use them correctly or to continue to indiscriminately demonize them. "Just say no," the author says, is not an option. Just say "know" is.

Antonio Escohotado is a professor of philosophy and social science methodology at the National University of Distance Education in Madrid, Spain. He travels widely, offering lectures and seminars on the subject of drugs and history.

Customer Reviews:

No bibliography makes me a dull boy.......2006-05-26

I've never begun a book review by quoting the very last sentences of the book, but well, I guess it's true that there's a first for everything:

"Drugs have always existed everywhere, and judging by the present times, tomorrow there will be more drugs than exist today, so that the options are not a world WITH or WITHOUT drugs. The alternatives are to teach people how to use them correctly, or to indiscriminately demonize them: to sow knowledge, or to sow ignorance."

These two sentences work perfectly for summarizing what A Brief History of Drugs is all about. The book, a short version of the massive three-volume Historia General de las Drogas (only available in Spanish, however), is well-written, sober, clever, fascinating, and most importantly honest description about how various drugs have always been a part of human nature, civilization, and development. Without arguing whether or not all or some drugs should be made legal or not, Escohotado shows what the real world looks like; and it's a description that a whole lot of people probably don't want to know about.

Yes, it's true that the word "drugs" to most people have a very negative ring to it, and obviously it would be both ignorant and retarded to deny that numerous lives have been utterly destroyed due to drugs. Still, one cannot deny - whether you happen to be pro or against drugs - that less than one hundred years ago substances such as cocaine, heroine, and marijuana could be bought perfectly legal in drugstores all over the world, and that the great majority of drug uses managed to live perfectly normal lives before their drug of choice was criminalized, which only made things a whole lot worse (except for politicians on the search for votes). The drug question is an extremely complex question, and can therefore obviously not be completely summarized in a short book review.

All books about drugs are likely to be labelled in a negative way before people have even bothered to read them, and it's especially unfortunate when it happens to such a well-written and informative book as A Brief History of Drugs. Because this is NOT a sloppy "legalize it" book about drugs. Definitely not.

Instead it's the story about the human being and her development, misunderstandings between Western materialism and Eastern nature religions, political corruption at its very worst, and perhaps most of all the human weakness in fearing the unknown and accepting false truths without any scepticism whatsoever. A Brief History of Drugs will not turn the reader into a strung-out heroin junkie, but what it will do is start a debate and influence the reader into making his or her own decision. And isn't that what a successful non-fiction book is supposed to do?

The only negative thing about the book is the lack of a complete bibliography, something Escohotado himself mentions in the preface. He suggests the reader to look up the large work that this book is based on, but what good does that do to all of us who don't speak Spanish?

A concise version of a lengthy classic.......2000-05-04

This wonderful new volume is a very readable and informative condensation of and expansion on Escohotado own previous publication, the lengthy three-volume 'Historia General de las Drogas'. Here, in a text finely balanced with history and science, he traces humanity's affair with drugs and intoxicants beginning with the third millenium B.C., and leading up to the modern hi-tech psycheledics. He traces some of the most popular drugs like caffeine and hemp back to their surprisingly early origins. Taking into account the involvement of drugs in early religious festivities, he offers an analysis how they've made an easy move from there to a more secular, pleasure-seeking culture, accompanied by the parallel villification of drugs by religion, the institution that played a leading role in their introduction to society. This concise book will make readers aware of the extent of the spread of drugs through history, and of the hopelessness of all attempts to make them disappear from future history as well.

Stoned : A Memoir of London in the 1960s

Average customer rating:

Out of my head
The guy who said Hendrix was going nowhere
Get Inside the Head of one of Rocks Most Important Pioneers
For completists only
Andrew Loog Oldham...One in a million

Stoned : A Memoir of London in the 1960s
Andrew Loog Oldham
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312270941

Book Description

In 1963, Andrew Loog Oldham was a precocious hustler of genius on the London scene, with a keen eye for the next look and a willingness to gamble on it. He was all of nineteen when Brian Epstein took him on to be the Beatles' London press agent, and already regarded as someone who could make things happen. But it was when he went to hear a relatively unknown blues combo perform that Oldham found his true calling. "I met the Rollin' Stones," he recalls simply, "and said hello to the rest of my life." He took on more than a band; he took on an irresistible force that, with his vision, would become the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band of All Time. In addition to indelible portraits of Mick Jagger and crew, Stoned regales the reader with candid memories of John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and Marianne Faithfull-whom Oldham also created. Joined by contemporaries such as Pete Townshend, Vidal Sassoon, Diana Vreeland, Nik Cohn, and others who counted, Oldham gives us a privileged, brilliantly clear-eyed, and unmistakably authentic view back to where, for generations of music fans, things first started rolling.

Customer Reviews:

Out of my head.......2004-11-19

Andrew Loog Oldham is best known as the manager of the Rolling Stones, but he has lead an interesting life outside of that. But of course, most people will want to read this book to get his memories of the Rolling Stones. Unfortunately for Stones fans, we don't get to his first meeting with the Stones until page 185. Also unfortunately, the book ends after his first year as the Stones' manager. I assume there is a sequel in the works. Anyway, the book is fairly interesting. It includes other people's memories of Andrew, as well as his own. Rolling Stones fans will probably like it, although they would like it better if it was entirely about his memories of the Stones.

The guy who said Hendrix was going nowhere.......2004-07-08

This guy is well documented as being lucky as all get out. He doesn't know anything about music.

Get Inside the Head of one of Rocks Most Important Pioneers.......2001-10-16

This book is a "must-read" for anyone with an interest in the Stones, The Beatles, or the (r)evolution of Rock & Roll during the 60s. Oldham's writing style is superb and highly entertaining. While to some readers it might sound like the author is trying too hard to sound "cool" or "hip," the writing style is true to the man. Andrew Oldham writes in the same manner as he speaks, with a sharp wit and a good sense of humour. And, as one who knows his place in history. The book is definitely entertaining and very interesting in giving three different points of view. Oldham's influence on Rock&Roll is definitely under-appreciated. He was as important to the music and style of Rock and Roll in the 60s as Phil Spector was in a previous era. The insights he provides into the business and personal sides of the music business is very interesting. His relationship with The Beatles (Lennon in particular), and other Icons of that period is intriguing. I especially enjoyed reading about AOL's working relationship with the early Stones, before they were crafted songwriters. It is clear that if Oldham had never met the Stones, he would have made some other band a house-hold name. I really look forward to the second volume in this set.

For completists only.......2001-10-15

Some interesting facts tossed ala salad with other excerpts and interviews. I learned a little of Oldham's personality and thoughts, but history is far more interesting in many other books. You won't waste your time with this book, but it probably won't excite you much. Not much else to say.

Andrew Loog Oldham...One in a million.......2001-06-01

This is a GREAT book! It takes place in a time when London was producing film, fashion and music that would forever change people's lives then and now. Even as a pre-teen in those days in which the book is written about, I was very much impressed with the bands that were coming out of England.Most of all it was and still is the Rolling Stones.I have followed the Rolling Stones from the day I heard their first single here in the United States. I have studied their evolution as a band and am quite familiar who Andrew Loog Oldham is and what he did for the Stones.This book was interesting and an absolute delight to read, particulary knowing it was comming directly from Andrew Loog Oldham himself. His style of writing and describing how events occurred is so unique and clever that I found myself re-reading pages instanly for the sheer pleasure of it. Andrew didn't write this book with the intention of writing another book about the Rolling Stones. He wrote about the many interesting people and places that he experianced that shaped his life from the day of his birth to the year of 1964. I am anxiously awaiting the next installment of his triography, knowing that there are more fantastic stories to be read from a man who is one in a million!

Average customer rating:

Fun rated R book
Not Kinky's usual fare, but still tasty
"Everything comes out in the wash if you use enough Tide."
Captivating
The title is the best part of this book...

Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned: A Novel
Kinky Friedman
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060935286
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Book Description

Walter Snow is doomed. He stares at the blank pages in his typewriter, hoping for the spark that will finally ignite his ambition to write the Great Armenian Novel.

And then he meets Clyde Potts. She is beautiful, intelligent, charming, perhaps psychic, and, for better or worse, very possibly unbalanced. With Potts's joie de vivre and her certified-insane partner in crime, Fox Harris, Snow is caught up in a series of pranks against corporate sprawl that they execute with a bit of booze and some wacky tobaccy from Australia known as Malabimbi Madness.

Things quickly spin out of control as the trio's ultimate, diuretically inspired prank leads to an unexpected, shocking conclusion, and Walter is left to wonder if the only things you ever keep in this life are the things you let slip through your fingers.

Customer Reviews:

Fun rated R book.......2007-08-04

this book is pretty quick moving and has the ability to reach into your own subconcious, if you feel out of the mainstream then check out this baby, its hilarious and will connect to your own feelings of hatred towards starbucks, haah yeah its good. though it does fall into the category of stupid protagonists that ask way too many questions, which makes me feel that the author expects me to need the questions answered to follow the story; instead of expecting the reader to HAVE A BRAIN.

Not Kinky's usual fare, but still tasty.......2006-09-26

I'm a huge fan of the Kinkster and have read most of his detective novels. This book deviates from that path, but brings along enough deviates to make it work. Kinky's wordplay is more creative in some of the mysteries, but I liked this plot. And I liked Walter Snow: I sensed levels to him that I want to explore. Maybe he'll make a comeback... he could bump into the Kinkster at a Chinese restaurant and hire the Kinkster to locate Clyde, who of course is no longer living off the coast of Brazil, etc.

"Everything comes out in the wash if you use enough Tide.".......2004-12-27

WOW!,what a read.
Kinky has put together his best book yet.There are a great bunch of lines in this story.Typical of Kinky,you'll find several on one page and then he'll go several pages before laying on a few more.At times, it seems like he writes while riding a rollercoaster.Not all rollercoasters have to have wheels,you know-I wonder what kind Kinky rides?

Here's some of Kinky,s wisdom to chew on:

"Man cannot live on bagles alone."

"How you wear what you wear is everything."

"There was a bathroom big enough for a midget without any
dreams."

"Don't you know that when you capture something in words,you
make it disappear?"

"The only things you ever really keep in this life,are the
things you let slip through your fingers."

"This woman was a ticket for the train to Hell."

"It's always easier to get into a mental hospital,than it is
to get out of one."

"It's seldom a good sign when the bartender's drunker than
the patrons."

"That's also why,if you like the book,you should never meet
the author."

Just in case you've spent the last year in some faraway land ,
you might be unaware that the Kingster is running for
Governor of the State of Texas.Check out on the Web under
Kinky Friedman for Governor.At least with Kinky as Governor
you'll know where he stands,and he'll tell it to you like it
is.Maybe he'll put his friend Willie in charge of ATF and
bring back his new friend Clyde from Moro de Sao Paulo ,off
the coast of Brazil ,and put her in charge of States
Initatives.That ought to wake up the Establishment.
Kinky was a guest on Larry King a couple of weeks ago and
served notice that things are going to change when he gets
elected.

Captivating.......2004-12-11

Once again the Kinkster successfuly ventures into another world. A place far removed from the bizarre detective and his insane group to an intense writer searching for inspiration not found in a bottle. The outrageous adventures are "out there" but if one pays attention you get the sense that Mr. Snow is not as superficial as he seems at first glance. I couldn't put the book down, I was keenly interested in finding out if his relationship with Clyde ever went beyond the pleasures of a solo act!

The title is the best part of this book..........2004-11-01

I love the title--it's worthy of one of the funniest, most intelligent people I have ever met only one time (that would be Kinky--I had the priviledge of meeting him at a book signing in NYC). I love Kinky Friedman. Were I a female, I would probably consider compromising my virture for a vigorous roll in the hay with him but paradoxically, I really hated this book. It's not the worst book I ever read but it's one of those books where you read for 15 pages and suddenly become aware that some significant event has occurred but you were so bored you didn't even notice. Out of my loyalty to the Kinkster, of whom I have been a fan since the Jewboy days, I read the book to the end but once I closed the book, I felt like I had to shower to remove the overpowering odor of the mildewy plot.

Speaking of the Jewboys, I wish Kinky's sidekick Jewford would write a book. That boy's funny.

Stoned Free: How to Get High Without Drugs

Average customer rating:

Good and Bad both.
Great Stuff
Giddy UP Pardner!!!!!

Stoned Free: How to Get High Without Drugs
Patrick Wells , and Douglas Rushkoff
Manufacturer: Loompanics Unlimited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 155950126X

Customer Reviews:

Good and Bad both........2001-07-09

Good book ( even great in some ways ), not a very good book in other ways. That is because, at least one of those who were interviewed for the book, said - Don't Put This Information in your book - It's too dangerous. Also there is a section on that Tantra stuff. R-rated at the very best, and for some - Like a good fishing lure, sexy on the outside, hook on inside. Also other problems with the book - Some "cool" drug talk type comments. All that said - The book does have some good and even some great, meditation information.

Great Stuff.......1999-03-19

I found a great way to get really high with this book. I rolled it up and smoked it.

Giddy UP Pardner!!!!!.......1998-04-15

To start off this is not a book on how to get stoned but amplfying those underused waves that bring you that Euphoric like state often associated with being high. This book exposes many alternatives to just being a junkie. Yeah some of it works some doesn't but who cares this book delivers many ideas and information that simply is hard to find!!! From sports to breathing to dancing this book is a must for anybody looking for enlightnment not a book of answers. You know it's like a choose your own adventure book, sometimes you look really stupid but who cares Nobody ever said meditation has to look, uhh easy!@!!

Average customer rating:

Boring drivel and not enough about the Stones...
Insightful book about a rebelious youth and rock'n'roll in 60's London

Stoned
Andrew Loog Oldham
Manufacturer: Vintage Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

2stoned

ASIN: 0099284677
Release Date: 2004-12-15

Book Description

Andrew Loog Oldham was nineteen when he discovered and became the manager and producer of an unknown band called The Rolling Stones. His radical vision transformed them from a penniless South London blues combo to the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world. Ultra-hip, flash, brash and seeped in Sixties style, he was a hustler of genius, addicted to scandal, notoriety and innovation.

Customer Reviews:

Boring drivel and not enough about the Stones..........2007-08-04

How can you be manager of the Rolling Stones during their heyday and write a book about it and still have it be boring?!?! Easy, include lengthy descriptions on each page about what trousers you were wearing that day and talk more about French movies that you attended while you were 14 instead of focusing on the only topic that anyone wants to hear about... the ROLLING STONES. Honestly, I made it through both volumes of this drivel and you could put most of the interesting parts in a long magazine article. Makes Bill Wyman's monotone snoozefest seem like a riveting John Grisham novel. I can't wait 'til Keith's book comes out!!

Insightful book about a rebelious youth and rock'n'roll in 60's London.......2007-05-08

I rented this book from my local library after taking notice of the photo on the cover. I love reading biographies and reading about history (and learning how it shapes todays world), and this book seemed to promise both. The format of the book is in a sort of diary/interview format, with paragraphs from other people interjected into Andrew's story. I thought this would disrupt the flow of the book, but it really turned out to work great and it was a smooth, interesting read. It takes until the last fourth or so of the book before he discovers the Rolling Stones, but his life leading up to that point is really the main focus, and what a life. He shows us England when rock and roll started to take shape, he talks about the stars that just started out that are huge now, and he gives us a behind-the-scenes look of the work it took to make it big there, which he did all by the time he was 20 years old. There are some black and white photos through out the book, and it does end pretty abruptly(once it gets to the point that the stones make it big), so I imagine there's another book out there that picks up where this one left off. Other than that, if you're a fan of 60's culture, early rock 'n' roll, and rebelious youth, this is a book for you.

Growing Up Stoned: Coming to Terms With Teenage Drug Abuse in Modern America

Average customer rating:

Stoned out of Sight

Growing Up Stoned: Coming to Terms With Teenage Drug Abuse in Modern America
Dan Ellis
Manufacturer: Hci
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Health, Mind & Body | Teens | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0932194354

Customer Reviews:

Stoned out of Sight.......2000-01-05

Haven't read, but since I too am a writer by the name of Dan Ellis, would be happy to read it.

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