All Formats & Editions

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821) is an autobiographical account written by Thomas De Quincey, about his laudanum addiction and its effect on his life. The Confessions was "the first major work De Quincey published and the one which won him fame almost overnight..."First... Read Full Overview

Confessions of an English Opium-Eaterremains its author's most famous and frequently-read work and one of the period's central statements about both the power and terror of imagination. De Quincey describes the intense "pleasures" and harrowing "pains" of his opium use in lyrical... Read Full Overview

"Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" from Thomas De Quincey. An English author and intellectual (1785-1859).

In an examination of his laudanum addiction and the dreams and visions the drug engendered, Thomas De Quincey lays bare the celestial pleasures and infernal lows of an existence dependent on "subtle and mighty opium". At once moving and rhapsodic, and suffused with a poetic... Read Full Overview

THOMAS DE QUINCEY (1785-1859), second son of a linen merchant, was born in Manchester and educated at schools in Bath and Winkfield, ending at Manchester Grammar School from which he ran away to the homeless wanderings in Wales and London which he was to describe in "Confessions... Read Full Overview

Sociology informs us that junkies lead "chaotic" lifestyles. Thomas de Quincey was the prototype of this, as in so many other things. He was the first - and still is the finest - literary dope fiend, in a lineage leading through to William Burroughs. He mined his own psyche for... Read Full Overview

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely... Read Full Overview