Confessions of an English Opium-Eater: Pleasures of Opium, Pain of Opium

Written by Thomas De Quincey

Narrated by Roy Macready

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) was first published anonymously in 1821 in the London Magazine and was published in book form a year later.

A revised edition was published in 1846. It is an account by the author of his addiction to laudanum and the effects it had on his life. This recording presents an abridged version of the 1856 edition.

Public Domain (P)2017 Spiders' House Audio/Roy Macready

• Language: English
• Publisher: Big Happy Family
• Release date: Mar 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781509461165

Thomas De Quincey

Thomas De Quincey was born in Manchester in 1785. Highly intelligent but with a rebellious spirit, he was offered a place at Oxford University while still a student at Manchester Grammar School. But unwilling to complete his studies, he ran away and lived on the streets, first in Wales and then in London. Eventually he returned home and took up his place at Oxford, but quit before completing his degree. A friend of Coleridge and Wordsworth, he eventually settled in Grasmere in the Lake District and worked as a journalist. He first wrote about his opium experiences in essays for The London Magazine, and these were printed in book form in 1822. De Quincey died in 1859.