Mind-altering substances needn’t always come in the form of a pill, plant, capsule, tab or tincture. Sometimes they come in the form of a book.
We’ve all read novels that have transformed us, creating a prodigious shift in our perspective, mindset or mood – even if only temporarily. Getting high on literature is not only more natural and organic than getting high on drugs, it doesn’t require you to deal with any dangerous or shady suppliers to get your fix… unless you buy your books on Amazon.
At the risk of sounding like a librarian making a public service announcement, the next time you feel the urge to pop an upper or a downer, or to trip or roll, consider reading a strategically chosen novel instead. Below is a list of some of the most popular types of drugs and medications – each followed by three books that will help you experience the same or similar effect as you would with the substance in question.
Drug type: Antidepressants
Intended effect: To help one feel like life isn’t as cold and hopeless and alienating and miserable as it is.
Books to try: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Little Prince, Oh The Places You’ll Go
Drug type(s): Amphetamines (as well as cocaine)
Intended effect: To make one feel highly exhilarated and invincible yet still functional enough to pass the bar exam.
Books to try: Fight Club, A Clockwork Orange, American Psycho
Drug type: Painkillers
Intended effect: To create a feeling of euphoric numbness and detachment, as if floating just outside of one’s own body or onto the stage to dance your shift at a strip club.
Books to try: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Trainspotting, Trout Fishing in America
Drug type: Hallucinogens
Intended effect: To make one’s mind laugh in one’s face and remove the blinders installed by one’s mother and the government.
Books to try: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Gravity’s Rainbow, Cloud Atlas
Drug type: Sleep aides
Intended effect: To help one to, as Samuel L. Jackson would say, “Go the f*ck to sleep.”
Books to try: Middlemarch, Remembrance of Things Past, Pilgrim’s Progress
Drug type: Erectile dysfunction drugs
Intended effect: To enable men to enjoy themselves immensely just before having a heart attack.
Books to try: Delta of Venus, Tropic of Cancer, Vox
Drug type: Laxatives
Intended effect: To help one lose one’s sh*t.
Books to try: The Haunting of Hill House, The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby
Of course, this isn’t even close to an exhaustive list. Surely there are some books you’d like to add to one or more of the categories mentioned above. Feel free to do so in the “Comments” section below. Then go get high on lit.
Oh, and speaking of books, I’m honored to announce that my latest one – THE EXIT MAN – was just nominated as one of seven finalists for Underground Book Review’s ‘Best Book of 2014’ award. If you’d like to vote for me/Exit Man, you can do so via UBR’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Underground-Book-Reviews/207947205943383?ref=tn_tnmn
We’ve all read novels that have transformed us, creating a prodigious shift in our perspective, mindset or mood – even if only temporarily. Getting high on literature is not only more natural and organic than getting high on drugs, it doesn’t require you to deal with any dangerous or shady suppliers to get your fix… unless you buy your books on Amazon.
At the risk of sounding like a librarian making a public service announcement, the next time you feel the urge to pop an upper or a downer, or to trip or roll, consider reading a strategically chosen novel instead. Below is a list of some of the most popular types of drugs and medications – each followed by three books that will help you experience the same or similar effect as you would with the substance in question.
Drug type: Antidepressants
Intended effect: To help one feel like life isn’t as cold and hopeless and alienating and miserable as it is.
Books to try: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Little Prince, Oh The Places You’ll Go
Drug type(s): Amphetamines (as well as cocaine)
Intended effect: To make one feel highly exhilarated and invincible yet still functional enough to pass the bar exam.
Books to try: Fight Club, A Clockwork Orange, American Psycho
Drug type: Painkillers
Intended effect: To create a feeling of euphoric numbness and detachment, as if floating just outside of one’s own body or onto the stage to dance your shift at a strip club.
Books to try: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Trainspotting, Trout Fishing in America
Drug type: Hallucinogens
Intended effect: To make one’s mind laugh in one’s face and remove the blinders installed by one’s mother and the government.
Books to try: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Gravity’s Rainbow, Cloud Atlas
Drug type: Sleep aides
Intended effect: To help one to, as Samuel L. Jackson would say, “Go the f*ck to sleep.”
Books to try: Middlemarch, Remembrance of Things Past, Pilgrim’s Progress
Drug type: Erectile dysfunction drugs
Intended effect: To enable men to enjoy themselves immensely just before having a heart attack.
Books to try: Delta of Venus, Tropic of Cancer, Vox
Drug type: Laxatives
Intended effect: To help one lose one’s sh*t.
Books to try: The Haunting of Hill House, The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby
Of course, this isn’t even close to an exhaustive list. Surely there are some books you’d like to add to one or more of the categories mentioned above. Feel free to do so in the “Comments” section below. Then go get high on lit.
Oh, and speaking of books, I’m honored to announce that my latest one – THE EXIT MAN – was just nominated as one of seven finalists for Underground Book Review’s ‘Best Book of 2014’ award. If you’d like to vote for me/Exit Man, you can do so via UBR’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Underground-Book-Reviews/207947205943383?ref=tn_tnmn
