White Lines: Writers on Cocaine

I was lucky enough to find this book on the shelf of a local book store, where I was drawn to it like a comet pulled by the gravity of a planet. I had no idea what the book was about; even upon reading it over again now, I get new meaning from it. White Lines contains biography, story and prose-like writing regarding cocaine. Magnificently it captures the complex facets of the drug from medicinal to maniacle. Aleister Crowley contributes an astounding piece capturing the euphoric richness of the drug. Stephen King and Miles Davis conclusively illustrate the doom imminent cocaine. The book as a whole is a masterfull assembly of writings -- a great job by the editors. I strongly recommend this to anyone who seeks to be moved by story.

The Playboy review was on the money: "Choppy, intense and stings just a bit." I like Zanetti's collections -- they are always supercool and down and dirty, but with a strong literary flavor. This book charts an incredible journey from when coke was perceived to be a 19th century cure all (see Freud) to the dark nose candy it is today. The book covers most bases -- COlumbia, Hollywood, NY in the 80s, crack, Miles Davis --but there's some surprises too: the piece was spooky old Aleister Crowley is new to me and the selections from RObert Louis Stevenson, Conan Doyle and Steve Earle are imaginative. And there are some gold standards from Stephen King, Terry Southern, Burroughs, and Ballard.