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Book Excerpt: heart.' His eyes seemed frozenand glazed, as if their light were all converged upon some victim lurkingin the far background. So far his appearance might have repelled; but, onthe other hand, the concurrent testimony of many witnesses, and also thesilent testimony of facts, showed that the oiliness and snaky insinuationof his demeanor counteracted the repulsiveness of his ghastly face, andamongst inexperienced young women won for him a very favorable reception.In particular, one gentle-mannered girl, whom Williams had undoubtedlydesigned to murder, gave in evidence--that once, when sitting alone withher, he had said, 'Now, Miss R., supposing that I should appear aboutmidnight at your bedside, armed with a carving knife, what would you say?'To which the confiding girl had, replied, 'Oh, Mr. Williams, if it wasanybody else, I should be frightened. But, as soon as I heard your voice, I should be tranquil.' Poor girl! had this outline sketch of Mr.Williams been filled in and realized, she woRead More

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HOWARD MARKS Once upon a time, opium (the main ingredient of 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 pocket: 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'.

The first literary addiction memoir, featuring the autobiographical Suspiria de Profundis, the inspiration for the 2018 horror film Suspiria, starring Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton and directed by Luca Guadagnino In this remarkable autobiography, Thomas De Quincey hauntingly describes the surreal visions and hallucinatory nocturnal wanderings he took through London—and the nightmares, despair, and paranoia to which he became prey—under the influence of the then-legal painkiller laudanum. Forging a link between artistic self-expression and addiction, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater and Other Writings seamlessly weaves the effects of drugs and the nature of dreams, memory, and imagination. First published in 1821, it paved the way for later generations of literary drug users, from Baudelaire to Burroughs, and anticipated psychoanalysis with its insights into the subconscious. This edition is based on the original serial version of 1821, and reproduces two “sequels”: Suspiria de Profundis (1845) and The English Mail-Coach (1849). It also includes a critical introduction discussing the romantic figure of the addict and the tradition of confessional literature, and an appendix on opium in the nineteenth century. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.