Rating: 
Summary: Let the Wind Speak
Review: 'O learn to read what Silent love hath Writ'A very profound book that clearly describes the search for the ultimate experience, the desire to live. It clearly shows how if we won't do everything in our power to save our own lives then we would be breaking the law of God. Make rules as you go...
Rating: 
Summary: Nice, Quick Read
Review: A little pricey for a story the size of a magazine article. The book is tiny - the size of a children's novelty book. The content is excellent and rich with descriptions and history. The story is fascinating but a tad disappointing in that although he is able to smoke real opium I don't think he can claim to have visited a real opium "den." Good read for the dope fiend in your life.
Rating:
Summary: little but enjoyable kick
Review: an intriguing, elegantly written journey created by a highly unique mind. It could have been done as a lower-priced paper back, but no worries. This author always pleases with his work.
Rating:
Summary: Absorbing, but slight
Review: Before proceeding, I must note that this "book" is in fact a reprint of an article originally published in the September 2000 issue of Vanity Fair. So, while is a cute and well-designed wee book (it takes a little under an hour to read), those looking to save themselves the cost of a movie ticket and large drink are advised to consult their local library. That said, it is an amusing and exotic travelogue recounting Tosches' quest to locate a real-life operational opium den and sample its wares. While he makes a modest attempt to justify his journey on medical grounds (it is reputed to aid diabetics), he freely admits his enchantment with the orientalist vision of sumptuous opium dens with loose-limbed ladies. Thus, he travels from New York, to San Francisco, to Hong Kong, to Bangkok, to Phnom Penh, to Paris, and finally to a secret location in "Indochina" where he fulfills his quest. (It should be noted that he could have written an equally interesting essay by going to places like Afghanistan and Iran, where opium has a rich historical tradition.) From the very beginning-a witty dissection of a ... onion dish at a trendy New York restaurant-Tosches' writing is sharp and engaging. His descriptive talents are topnotch, whether describing the various foods he encounters (and there's a lot), the Thai sex shows he's watching, or the actual smell and texture of opium. He's also good at explaining the economics that led to opium's demise (opium derivatives such as heroin and morphine are easier and cheaper to make, and thus deliver higher profit margins to drug dealers). It's an engaging little essay, but it's hard to imagine why anyone would purchase it in book form. One curious note is that while he mentions earlier writers on opium, such as Thomas de Quincy's 19th-century memoir Confessions of an English Opium Eater , Mark Merlin's On the Trail of the Ancient Opium Poppy, Edward Brecher's monumental 1972 study, Licit and Illicit Drugs, and even extolls The Big Smoke: The Chinese Art and Craft of Opium, which is unavailable in America, he fails to mention Barbara Hodgson's recent coffee-table book, Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon. It's also odd that he fails to mention fiction's most famous opium addict, Sherlock Holmes.
Rating:
Summary: In print- for now
Review: Excellent essay! Tosches is verbally endowed and puts his skills to work with this tale of finding the elusive pure form that countless drugs are now derivitives of. The original magazine article is reprinted here thankfully, in a more worthy setting for such a nice piece of work. Pondering the length of this, I feel that Tosches receives bonus points for brevity's sake in not feeling compelled to add filler and detract from the greatness here. I have a feeling that this won't be in print forever. I encourage you to get your copy now.
Rating: 
Summary: Orientalist fantasies
Review: I read this in Vanity Fair, but I understand that what is in the book is the same as what appeared in that article. I found the article to be absolutely offensive on multiple levels. Though Mr. Tosches claims to have some reasonable intentions in his quest for opium, his search for an opium den can certainly not be justified on the grounds of seeking a cure for his diabetes. What he really seems to be seeking is to fulfill a neo-colonialist, romantic, sexually and culturally exploitative fantasy of the mysterious ancient customs of the elusive far East. Mr. Tosches would do well to read Edward Said's "Orientalism," or any number of other writings that have examined the American/European fascination with the East. Mr. Tosches' "Asia" and the people he meets there seem to be drawn directly from nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European expatriate fiction, right down to his description of one of the people he meets as a "Graham Greene character." What place do fictional characters have in this supposed journalism? Furthermore, Mr. Tosches completely avoids the subject of opium addiction and the harm it may bring to the addict and those close to him or her. This book may be worth reading if you are looking for a contemporary example of exoticism or if you have any doubt that the West still desires to colonize the rest of the world and to use it as a setting in which to act out its fantasies.
Rating:
Summary: Orientalist fantasies
Review: I read this in Vanity Fair, but I understand that what is in the book is the same as what appeared in that article. I found the article to be absolutely offensive on multiple levels. Though Mr. Tosches claims to have some reasonable intentions in his quest for opium, his search for an opium den can certainly not be justified on the grounds of seeking a cure for his diabetes. What he really seems to be seeking is to fulfill a neo-colonialist, romantic, sexually and culturally exploitative fantasy of the mysterious ancient customs of the elusive far East. Mr. Tosches would do well to read Edward Said's "Orientalism," or any number of other writings that have examined the American/European fascination with the East. Mr. Tosches' "Asia" and the people he meets there seem to be drawn directly from nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European expatriate fiction, right down to his description of one of the people he meets as a "Graham Greene character." What place do fictional characters have in this supposed journalism? Furthermore, Mr. Tosches completely avoids the subject of opium addiction and the harm it may bring to the addict and those close to him or her. This book may be worth reading if you are looking for a contemporary example of exoticism or if you have any doubt that the West still desires to colonize the rest of the world and to use it as a setting in which to act out its fantasies.
Rating:
Summary: Nice, Quick Read
Review: I read this when it was published in Vanity Fair a few years ago. Just a few paragraphs into it I realized I was reading a writer of incredible talent and importance. I've since bought a couple of his other books which I'm looking forward to reading, but I can't imagine that they maintain the same intensity and intelligence which this work has. I hope I'm wrong as this guy delivers a high which you don't find just anywhere, and I want to experience it again. His style has a cat-like present-tense to it throughout. Edgy. Dangerous and in danger. You find yourself as curious about the author as you are about the journey he describes. I see some Hunter S. Thompson similarities, not because of the opium theme of this work, but because of the non-stop riskiness of the entire proposition. This is a new level of erudite gonzo journalism; focused, disciplined, researched, no-holds-barred. Toshes' mind is in some extreme place, at times beautiful, at times ugly, always interesting. When I read this I actually felt a sense of sadness as Tosches personifies in my view the absolutely perfect writer. If I were a writer, this is the way I would want to write. Envy reared its ugly head in my benevolent heart! I'm currently reading "Following the Equator" by Mark Twain and it is filled with charming informal anecdotes and vast discoursive rambling by that great master. I keep saying to myself that Twain would find his equal in Tosches, both being intellectual virtuosos of the highest order. They digress similarly: verbal jam sessions to the outer edge of the collective experience. Read this book if you are interested in opium, or the history thereof. More importantly, read this book if you want to read a great writer weave a spell. A writer of this magnitude doesn't come along very often, and unless you are on the prudish side you will be totally and royally blown away. If you are on the prudish side, push past it and absorb this writer who perfectly conveys in-the-moment perspective. It was a new literary experience for me and it might be for you as well.
Rating:
Summary: Literary Electroluminescense
Review: I read this when it was published in Vanity Fair a few years ago. Just a few paragraphs into it I realized I was reading a writer of incredible talent and importance. I've since bought a couple of his other books which I'm looking forward to reading, but I can't imagine that they maintain the same intensity and intelligence which this work has. I hope I'm wrong as this guy delivers a high which you don't find just anywhere, and I want to experience it again. His style has a cat-like present-tense to it throughout. Edgy. Dangerous and in danger. You find yourself as curious about the author as you are about the journey he describes. I see some Hunter S. Thompson similarities, not because of the opium theme of this work, but because of the non-stop riskiness of the entire proposition. This is a new level of erudite gonzo journalism; focused, disciplined, researched, no-holds-barred. Toshes' mind is in some extreme place, at times beautiful, at times ugly, always interesting. When I read this I actually felt a sense of sadness as Tosches personifies in my view the absolutely perfect writer. If I were a writer, this is the way I would want to write. Envy reared its ugly head in my benevolent heart! I'm currently reading "Following the Equator" by Mark Twain and it is filled with charming informal anecdotes and vast discoursive rambling by that great master. I keep saying to myself that Twain would find his equal in Tosches, both being intellectual virtuosos of the highest order. They digress similarly: verbal jam sessions to the outer edge of the collective experience. Read this book if you are interested in opium, or the history thereof. More importantly, read this book if you want to read a great writer weave a spell. A writer of this magnitude doesn't come along very often, and unless you are on the prudish side you will be totally and royally blown away. If you are on the prudish side, push past it and absorb this writer who perfectly conveys in-the-moment perspective. It was a new literary experience for me and it might be for you as well.
Rating:
Summary: the last word regarding opium dens
Review: It's always ammusing and exciting to me how Mr. Tosches can put into words thoughts about his subject matter that he so aptly describes in TLOD on pg 53 as such, "Anyway, as I said-or was it one of those other guys?-paradise has no words." If this is true then is it not silly to bend over backwards and play gymnastics of the written word in order to explain what I find to be so patently obvious, which is, simply put, The Last Opium Den is a great book, beautifully written? It's only fault may be that it is not very long, only 74 pages. The more I think about it though, the more I think that its brevity is just right considering the subject matter. Read on fellow book lovers. Read on. A must. Tosches has witten the last word regarding opium dens.
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