The Last Opium Den by Nick Tosches

The Last Opium Den Reviews

• 
  Stacy

  this book will make you want to seek out the company of dangerous, or at the very least rogue, men, go to exotic places where you don't speak the language but have a very definitive view of what it should look, smell and taste like in your head, live fast and hard and find an opium den and try some.
  
  nick tosches is a great, rollicking raconteur. he's a dying breed of man (maybe not a bad thing, in the long run), of writer, of a certain kind of teller-of-tales. he'd be very comfortable hanging with hemmingway (though i like tosches a whole lot more than papa) or robert capa (i think i like capa more than tosches), and there will always be something to drink and there will always be devastating and attractive women nearby.
  
  he's very much a testosterone writer, but the kind that goes down slow and smooth, if you get my drift.
  
  this is a good little read. i'd recommend it to most anyone who likes a goodly told yarn.
• 
  Jason Pettus

  This is one of four newish books I recently read mostly so I could finally get them off my queue list, all of which were actually pretty good but are mere wisps of manuscripts, none of them over 150 pages or so in length. And indeed, Nick Tosches' The Last Opium Den was first published as a simple magazine article in Vanity Fair -- it was the edgy and controversial author's attempt at the turn of the millennium to see if there were any honest-to-God opium dens left on this planet, done up right with the seedy beds and the dressed-up Asian women holding giant long pipes and the whole bit, maybe out in the middle of the jungle in Cambodia or wherever. Of course, this being Tosches, the slim story is actually about a lot more than that as well; it's about the cannibalization of global culture, the proliferation of squeaky-clean Euro/Americans into every corner of the world, and incidentally why heroin was created in the first place, as basically a portable form of self-administered opium that precisely didn't need an entire seedy den full of soiled mattresses and dressed-up Asian girls holding giant long pipes. It's only an hour or two of reading, but it's a dense and enjoyable read, something to borrow from a friend or pick up at the library.
• 
  Dario Andrade

  Não me lembro nem quando nem por que comprei o livro. Nem sou interessado no tema. Talvez alguém o tenha recomendado, sei lá. Mas, estava eu fuçando aquele amontoado de livros que chamo de biblioteca e encontrei lá no fundo da estante, perdido, desde sabe lá Deus quando, esse livrinho.
  Comecei a folheá-lo e, como é bem curto, acabei por lê-lo por inteiro. Gostei. O estilo é homem, alguém já disse. E o Nick Tosches definitivamente é alguém que tem a sua marca própria ao escrever. É um daqueles jornalistas americanos crescidos nas décadas de 1960 e 1970 que escrevem com a faca entre os dentes, cuspindo fúria pelas ventas. Cheio de uma raiva acumulada que só é liberada quando se escreve. Algo como o Hunter Thompson. Certamente, não é para todos, mas é algo que impressiona.
  O livro é até difícil de definir. É reportagem, talvez ficção, com um pouco de ensaio. Parece que foi publicada, antes de virar livro, na Vanity Fair.
  E o livro está no título. É o próprio autor em busca da experiência espiritual definitiva, o ópio, ou melhor, a fumaça do cachimbo de ópio. Coisa que não existe nem nos Estados Unidos, nem na Europa, nem sequer na China ou Hong Kong. Essa casa de ópio que ele busca tanto, que existiam em profusão no século XIX e em nas décadas iniciais do século passado. Sumiram, esvaneceram. Foram substituídas por outras drogas muito mais potentes e fatais e fáceis de serem encontradas. Nem em Bangkok, capital da Tailândia, ele encontra um lugar para fumar o ópio. Não, precisa ir ao cafundó do Camboja e depois a uma periferia suja e imunda de Phnom Penh, para encontrar uma casa onde se pode fumar o ópio como se fazia no século XIX. Mas não existe glamour. Não. É só um lugar sujo, imundo, sórdido. Uma pocilga sem nenhuma mística. E ele sabe disso, mas mesmo assim ele se sente em casa.
  Talvez, um sinal do fracasso do mundo moderno, em que tudo se resume a experiências.
  Abaixo, alguns pequenos trechos do livro.
  
  "Veja bem, eu precisava ir pro inferno. Eu estava, pode-se dizer, com saudade de casa. Mas antes, à guisa de explicação, a cebola”.
  
  “E eu fico lá, sentado, considerando a cebola que foi posta à minha frente. Essa cebola em particular explica melhor do que todo o Uffizi a verdadeira natureza da criatividade italiana, melhor do que todo o Maquiavel a verdadeira natureza da esperteza toscana”.
  
  “A nossa era é, cada vez mais, a era do pseuconhecimento, o modo pelo qual tentamos tolamente nos diferenciar da maioria medíocre. Sentar-se ao redor de uma garrafa de suco de uva azedo, falando de toques delicados de groselha-preta, fumaça de carvalho, turfas ou de qualquer outro absurdo refinado que a natureza teria usado para enriquecer o seu sabor é ser um cafone de primeira grandeza. Porque, se há algum toque delicado a ser percebido em qualquer vinho, é provável que seja o de pesticida e esterco”.
  
  “Suas origens remontam às brumas pré-históricas do início do Período Neolítico”.
  
  “Foi com exatidão que Milton Friedman, ganhador do Prêmio Nobel e o maior economista americano, elogiou Hong Kong como paradigma de capitalismo de livre mercado, a única cidade verdadeiramente capitalista da Terra. (...) O comunismo é uma betoneira que cospe um concreto cinza, baço e indistinguível. Aonde o comunismo chega, tudo – a arquitetura física do lugar, e depois sua alma – se torna baço e cinza e, em sua fraqueza, desmorona nesse embaçamento cinzento, muito mais feio e deprimente”.
  
  “De qualquer forma, como eu disse – ou foi um daqueles outros caras? – o paraíso não tem palavras”.
  
  “Se trazes à tona o que está dentro de ti, o que trazes à tona te salva. Se não trazes à tona o que está dentro de ti, o que não trazes à tona te destrói”.
  
  “A lamparina está acesa, o cachimbo está inclinado. Estou em casa”.
  
• 
  Peacegal

  This thin little book is one of the most unusual things I’ve read this year. OPIUM DEN is in actuality a reprint of an especially captivating article from Vanity Fair, presented in hardback book format. (Although I could have done without the ugly, very of-its-era dust jacket.)
  
  I agree with other reviewers who say that the writing style hearkens back to an older world of journalism, one in which authors were willing to risk life and limb to get a story. You won’t find too many modern writers willing to take the great personal risks that Tosches is willing to put himself through in order to tell an interesting tale.
  
  It struck me that had the trajectory of the world gone differently, opium smoking would be embraced by the hipster contingent. Like so many other things they like, it’s expensive, historical, small-batch, authentic, gourmand. Opium’s exclusivity, arcane rituals and many collectible accoutrements scream “hipster.” But you won’t be seeing any sly opium den gags on “Portlandia” for a reason: the practice of smoking the drug is nearly lost to the sands of time, as the author details, replaced by a preference for opioids that hit harder, hide easier, and addict faster.
• 
  Lady Selene

  "When god put his mouth to the nostrils of Adam, there was probably opium on his breath."
• 
  John

  very short, sly-as-shit essay about author's attempt to find a true-blue dive of an opium den. The bad news: it's not in new york city. The good news: he succeeds, albeit in southeast asia. the writing, as his always is, no matter what he's writing about, will charm the pants off you and your significant other.
• 
  YardBoy

  Wow! Wish I had read something like this in the late 60s when my chemical curiosity was peaking. It would have been nice to know that the shit I was smoking was just that...shit [if not toxic].
  
  The author's short story is much more than a drug fantasy. It begins with an informative treatise on wine. The book continues in a colorful worldwide search for a proper bowl of the smoky elixir and the characters behind it. We learn about its mysterious and dark sources. There's the unique paraphernalia of its preparation and smoking. The rich details include its texture, color and smell. We also find out that there are unlikely any Asian nymphs in an opium den.
  
  I recommend this tale to those living vicariously through others, or those like myself who would have lived a bit more fully.
• 
  Eric Hinkle

  Very well written and compelling little book about hunting down an opium den. As a lover of travel and trying new things, I greatly admire NT's fearlessness: I would never drive off into the night with strange men who say they know where to find what I'm looking for... I tend to play it safe. Considering that, and also what NT says about real opium being almost impossible to find these days, I realize that I'll almost certainly never have the opportunity to try opium. Shame, because it sounds like the real deal.
  
  Oh well.
  
  I bet his other books are good too, but I can't say I'm dying for more.
• 
  ALEXANDRE NEDELEC

  Très court récit d'un des papes de la rock-critic qui se mue ici en chasseur d'opium et nous entraîne de New-York à Shangaï et Bangkok à la recherche de la drogue "céleste". La quête se révèle difficile. On y apprend que l'opium, sous sa forme originelle, qui avait fait le bonheur des fumeries d'opium (cf "Tintin et le lotus bleu") n'existe plus ou alors sous la forme d'un graal inatteignable. Mais notre homme est tenace et rien ne semble pouvoir l'arrêter pour goûter à la magie de l'opium. Ce faisant, il réussit à nous faire partager sa fascination et pour ses paradis perdus.
• 
  Lise Brann

  Olha, eu até hoje depois que li este livro, não consigo opinar muito bem é uma mistura de, por que este diabo de autor me fez chegar até aqui? Eu recomendo se você gosta de presenciar que está fazendo as coisas da maneira mais viva e real possível junto com o protagonista, embora não seja as melhores s experiências, com tudo gostei, mas não gostei ao mesmo tempo 🥴
  
• 
  ?0?0?0

  A well written ride on the trail to find a still existing opium den (I guess he never contacted anyone in BC?) and the benefits of the drug with no sugar coating or too much adoration, just honesty.
• 
  Jak Krumholtz

  Forget Rick Steves, I want to read travel books like this. That said, I have no interest in seeking out shady places away from the comfort of my living room.
• 
  Troy

  I've read several of Nick Tosches' longish pieces in various magazine. He is a very good writer. There are passages in this book that are incredibly lyrical. His descriptions of his opiated high are often fabulous.
  
  And yet, the book is just too short. We barely scratch the surface of what is actually a very deep subject. Tosches skirted around the edges of his subject, but didn't really take the time to engage with it.
  
  I would've much preferred it if he had interspersed his personal vignettes with a more in depth cultural history of opium.
  
  This book is what some would call a non-book, i.e., it is an article in book form.
  
  I will keep reading Nick Tosches pieces--because he really is quite a good writer--but won't be recommending this one to friends.
  
  
• 
  Erin Cataldi

  I loved this book! This short little essay was phenomenal! Nick Tosches wondered what happened to the opium trade and opium debts so he went off to Asia in search for any remaining traces of it. There was literally none, none to be found in the United States so Nick decided to try his luck elsewhere. His life goal was to try opium, and not just to try it, but smoke it, in an opium den with brocade hangings and buxom women. He soon discovers that he may have dreamed a little too big because opium is mainly used for heroin, and the smokers of old are slowly dying off.
  
  This 74 page book is amazingly informative, funny, and intriguing. I definitely plan on reading more books from Mr. Tosches.
• 
  Wayne

  Basically a short story about his search for the opium den of old. What I enjoyed the most though were his few pages devoted to wine and it's followers. I paraphrase here: If a true wine expert or judge can denote hints of the soil the grape was grown in or the type of water (well, spring or rain) than why does he not describe the pesticide flavor nodes or hints of the type of manure fertilizer used in the bouquet of a fine bottle? He goes on for a few pages and it's pretty funny stuff.
• 
  Norman

  Tosches' prose is a fever dream, an endless opium high, and a stilleto blade across your brain. He leads you on a quest and you only realize how far you have gone when you can't get back.
  
  This was originally an article in Vanity Fair. The book made it feel substantive and something vaguely illicit to pass on to others.
• 
  Keith

  If you aren't read Tosches, get into it!
  
  Originally published as a Vanity Fair article, this is a story of Tosches' life long pursuit to smoke opium in a real opium den. He describes his travels and experiences in a way that makes you wish you were there.
  
  Highly recommended.
• 
  Reacher

  if this one sitting read doesn't make you want to smoke opium--not drink or eat or shoot but smoke--i don't know what will. i read it in print but found that this essay is available online at
  http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/fea...
• 
  Harvey

  - from the jacket: "Driven by romantic, spiritual, and medicinal imperatives, Nick Tosches leaves the numbing creature comforts of New York behind in search of something everyone tells him no longer exists: an opium den."
• 
  Jamil

  "if you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
• 
  R.

  A slim volume of hope.
• 
  Aras

  
  http://electric-pages.livejournal.com...
• 
  Chika

  A quick, short and delicious read. It combines adventure with world events and personal evaluation. Tosches writing is smart and poetic.