Diary of a Drug Fiend

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

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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 Preface statement to the novel: "This is a true story. It has been rewritten only so far as was necessary to conceal personalities." Crowley's own excessive drug usage and personal struggle with 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. The novel however, is more than just the telling of a drug-trip. Diary of a Drug Fiend encapsulates much of Crowley's core philosophy concerning Thelema and his conception of True Will.

Plot summary

The main 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 (perhaps an idealised self-portrait by Crowley). 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 in "Diary of a Drug Fiend"

• Peter Pendragon
• King Lamus (Basil)
• Lou
• Hermes
• Dionysus
• Maisie Jacobs

Release details

• 1922, UK, ? (ISBN NA), Pub date ? ? 1922, hardback (First edition)
• 1971, USA, Red Wheel/Weiser Books (ISBN 0-87728-035-5), Pub date ? July 1971, hardback
• 1971, USA, Red Wheel/Weiser Books (ISBN 0-87728-146-7), Pub date ? July 1971, paperback
• 1989, USA, Buccaneer Books (ISBN 0-89966-593-4), Pub date ? June 1989, hardback

See also

• Works of Aleister Crowley

External links

• Google Books listing
• Amazon.com listing
• Library of Congress online catalog