Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000
by Martin Torgoff
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Book Summary Information
Author: Martin TorgoffEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-03
ISBN: 0743230116
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000
Book Review: What Did It All Mean--You Decide
Summary: 4 Stars
Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000 by Martin Torgoff, is a history of drug use and abuse in America during the second half of the twentieth century. If you've ever seen the VH-1 documentary "The Drug Years," then you'll be familiar with the author--he's interviewed several times, and CFMWH really forms the structure of the documentary series.
CFMWH starts with the drug scene in the 1950s Beat Generation, where Bird Parker slowly destroys himself with heroin and Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg delve deep into marijuana. From there the Torgoff takes us into the 60's, hippies, and the Summer of Love. The 1970's discuss the club scene and the emergent drug smuggling from South America. The 80's and 90's see the rise of gangs, and the emergence of Ecstasy.
Torgoff's prose is highly readable, and CFMWH is a page turner in an odd sort of way. Torgoff's greatest achievement is one that's hard to gain when writing on a topic like illegal drug use: being evenhanded but not necessarily neutral. He's got his own story of addiction to tell, but it doesn't bleed into the narrative. Some of his characters make it; some don't. All are changed. CFMWH is an attempt to answer "what did it all mean?" We may never know, but Torgoff's book tries to guide us through the experiences of those who took the long, strange trip.
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