5 Masterpieces of Drug-inspired Literature

If Marcel Proust was inspired by a mere sugar cookie to write his seven-volume, monumental work, In Search of Lost Time, imagine what actual psychedelics can do for the gifted writer. Instead of risking yourself to what some of these writers succumbed, (i.e., addiction, mental instability, poverty, and/or a following of maniacs), experience the buzz, kick and trip of opiates and psychedelics through partaking of their literary expression.

The following is a collection of some of the most beautiful literature inspired by mind-altering substances. In the canon of drug lit, the focus here is on some of the most innocent travelers. Most of these writers came to trip accidentally and had little previous knowledge of what they were in for. I believe this innocence is part of what makes these works masterpieces:

Confessions of an English Opium Eater

by Thomas De Quincey

First published in 1821, this autobiography beautifully documents De Quincey's night walks through London as he experienced bizarre hallucinations and disturbing visions while taking the pain-killer laudanum. With his unique ability to use his drug trips as a door to his artistic unconscious, he inspired later generations of more well-known drug writers, like William S. Burroughs and Ken Kesey. De Quincey artfully links dreams, memories and the raw creative process in this inspired memoir; however, he also accurately depicts his struggle with the nightmares, despair and paranoia associated with talking laudanum. It has been noted that he anticipated psychoanalysis in this work with his insights into the subconscious.

Diary of a Hasheesh Eater

by Fitz Hugh Ludlow