"Opium! Dread agent of unimaginable pleasure and pain!"

A masterful memoir about addiction, Thomas De Quincey's Confessions is a literary tour-de-force and intimate portrayal of an opium eater's inner struggle. Written in poetic language that conveys the seductive power of the drug, this page-turning account pieces together an addict's highs and lows. It is both an imaginative description of opium-induced reverie and an urgent attempt to convey the dangers of dependency. The mind of an addict has never been captured so eloquently.