Books by Thomas De Quincey
“Published in 1821, Confessions of an English Opium Eater tells the tale of De Quincey’s unhappy childhood, his years spent destitute in Wales and London, and his growing dependency on opium. It’s a strange, flawed book, but for anyone curious to understand how the addiction memoir form came to exist, it’s essential—because it’s unquestionably the prototype. Although in 1821 there were no other books of quite this kind, it’s interesting to note how many later conventions of the addiction memoir are already here in embryo.” Read more...
Matt Rowland Hill, Memoirist
Interviews where books by Thomas De Quincey were recommended
The Best Addiction Memoirs, recommended by Matt Rowland Hill
The author and recovering addict Matt Rowland Hill dissects the ‘addiction memoir’—its literary potential, its formal conventions and its offer of hope and catharsis—as he recommends five books that exemplify the form, from Thomas De Quincey’s Confessions of an English Opium Eater to Mary Karr’s bestselling Lit.
The best books on The Gothic, recommended by Nick Groom
‘The Gothic’ can refer to ecclesiastical architecture, supernatural fiction, cult horror films and a recent subculture. Here, Nick Groom—who is professor in English at the University of Exeter and is also known as the ‘Prof. of Goth’—recommends five of the best books on the Gothic, showing how this term remains central to the way we think of our identities today.
