A Small Journal of Heroin Addiction

Robin Marchesi's brilliant autobiographical book is at once a fine work of literature, and an uplifting if grim inspirational work to encourage those grappling with drug addiction. In any case, it is fascinating reading for the poetically minded in general. Mr. Marchesi's journal intermingles equally powerful threads of pure poetry and stream of consciousness prose. In Part I (Rosales), Mr. Marchesi vividly and richly captures the true story of his travels across Europe in 1979 and the epiphany of his incarceration in the Spanish Foreign Legion prison at Ceuta. In Part 2 (Mission) he recounts his journey to San Francisco around 1999 to rescue a young protege who was badly hooked on junk. Mr. Marchesi echoes something of the dark intensity of the earlier Beat Generation (a touch of Kerouac, Ferlinghetti, and City Lights) as well as his own 1960s generation. More importantly, he convincingly and artistically captures the timelessness of what happens when human beings and dangerous substances mix in bad ways. Despite moments of despair, he never loses sight of his optimism.