In China, both opium and alcohol were used for centuries in the pursuit of health and leisure while simultaneously linked to personal and social decline. The impact of these substances is undeniable, and the role they have played in Chinese social, cultural, and economic history is extremely complex. In Intoxicating Manchuria, Norman Smith reveals how warlord rule, Japanese occupation, and political conflict affected local intoxicant industries. These industries flourished throughout the early twentieth century, even as a vigorous anti-intoxicant movement raged. Through the lens of popular Chinese media depictions of alcohol and opium, Smith analyzes how intoxicants and addiction were understood in this society, the role the Japanese occupation of Manchuria played in their portrayal, and the efforts made to reduce opium and alcohol consumption. This is the first English-language book-length study to focus on alcohol use in modern China and the first dealing with intoxicant restrictions in the region.

Why do smokers claim that the first cigarette of the day is the best? What is the biological basis behind some heavy drinkers' belief that the "hair-of-the-dog" method alleviates the effects of a hangover? Why does marijuana seem to affect ones problem-solving capacity? Intoxicating Minds is, in the author's words, "a grand excavation of drug myth." Neither extolling nor condemning drug use, it is a story of scientific and artistic achievement, war and greed, empires and religions, and lessons for the future. Ciaran Regan looks at each class of drugs, describing the historical evolution of their use, explaining how they work within the brain's neurophysiology, and outlining the basic pharmacology of those substances. From a consideration of the effect of stimulants, such as caffeine and nicotine, and the reasons and consequences of their sudden popularity in the seventeenth century, the book moves to a discussion of more modern stimulants, such as cocaine and ecstasy. In addition, Regan explains how we process memory, the nature of thought disorders, and therapies for treating depression and schizophrenia. Regan then considers psychedelic drugs and their perceived mystical properties and traces the history of placebos to ancient civilizations. Finally, Intoxicating Minds considers the physical consequences of our co-evolution with drugs—how they have altered our very being—and offers a glimpse of the brave new world of drug therapies.

Psychopharmacologist Ronald K. Siegel draws on 20 years of groundbreaking research to provide countless examples of the intoxication urge in humans and animals. Presenting his conclusions on the biological and cultural reasons for the pursuit of intoxication, Siegel offers recommendations for curbing the negative effects of drug use in Western culture by designing safe intoxicants.

For two decades, Sébastien Tutenges has conducted research in bars, nightclubs, festivals, drug dens, nightlife resorts, and underground dance parties in a quest to answer a fundamental question: Why do people across cultures gather regularly to intoxicate themselves? Vivid and at times deeply personal, this book offers new insights into a wide variety of intoxicating experiences, from the intimate feeling of connection among concertgoers to the adrenaline-fueled rush of a fight, to the thrill of jumping off a balcony into a swimming pool. Tutenges shows what it means and feels to move beyond the ordinary into altered states in which the transgressive, spectacular, and unexpected take place. He argues that the primary aim of group intoxication is the religious experience that Émile Durkheim calls collective effervescence, the essence of which is a sense of connecting with other people and being part of a larger whole. This experience is empowering and emboldening and may lead to crime and deviance, but it is at the same time vital to our humanity because it strengthens social bonds and solidarity. The book fills important gaps in Durkheim’s social theory and contributes to current debates in micro-sociology as well as cultural criminology and cultural sociology. Here, for the first time, readers will discover a detailed account of collective effervescence in contemporary society that includes: an explanation of what collective effervescence is; a description of the conditions that generate collective effervescence; a typology of the varieties of collective effervescence; a discussion of how collective effervescence manifests in the realm of nightlife, politics, sports, and religion; and an analysis of how commercial forces amplify and capitalize on the universal human need for intoxication. Download the open access ebook here.

DIET/HEALTH/EXERCISE/GROOMING

__________________________ 'Seductive, decadent, cruel and utterly thrilling - just like Horace Lavelle himself. This is The Talented Mr Ripley for the twenty-first century.' Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths 'An enjoyable dip into decadence.' Observer __________________________ Brothers Benjamin and Edgar have so far led a quiet life, but change is afoot as they enter a world of glorious sights and People of Quality on their Grand Tour of Europe. But a trunk full of powdered silver wigs and matching suits isn't enough to embed them into high society. As Edgar clings on to conventions, Benjamin pushes against them. And when the charming, seductive Horace Lavelle promises Benjamin a real adventure, it's only a matter of time before chaos and love ensue. __________________________ 'A fizzing, seductive queer romance.' i Paper 'Wildly entertaining and painfully heartbreaking ... Neil Blackmore writes with a fizzy wit that bounds his characters off the page.' Ben Aldridge

“Masterfully illuminates the social and cultural fissures left by colonialism in the Levant as hashish trade transgressed new national borders.” —Paul Gootenberg, Stony Brook University, author of Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug When European powers carved political borders across the Middle East following World War I, a curious event in the international drug trade occurred: Palestine became the most important hashish waystation in the region and a thriving market for consumption. British and French colonial authorities utterly failed to control the illicit trade, raising questions about the legitimacy of their mandatory regimes. The creation of the Israeli state, too, had little effect to curb illicit trade. By the 1960s, drug trade had become a major point of contention in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and drug use widespread. Intoxicating Zion is the first book to tell the story of hashish in Mandatory Palestine and Israel. Trafficking, use, and regulation; race, gender, and class; colonialism and nation-building all weave together in Haggai Ram's social history of the drug from the 1920s to the aftermath of the 1967 War. The hashish trade encompassed smugglers, international gangs, residents, law enforcers, and political actors, and Ram traces these flows through the interconnected realms of cross-border politics, economics, and culture. Hashish use was and is a marker of belonging and difference, and its history offers readers a unique glimpse into how the modern Middle East was made. “A fascinating and revelatory tale.” —Ted R. Swedenburg, University of Arkansas “[A] singular, original work of research.” —Yossi Melman, Haaretz “Informative, though (pun intended) sobering, this book is suited for academic libraries.” —Hallie Cantor, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews

Willie Ramirez is arguably the most important medical malpractice case related to language and prejudice. As a result of an interpreting error, Willie's brain hemorrhage was misdiagnosed and he was left quadriplegic. On January 22, 1980, 18-year-old Willie Ramirez ate a fast food hamburger. That evening, he fell down unconscious and his Cuban family thought it was the hamburger that made him sick. They tried to explain to the emergency room doctor that he was "intoxicado", which in Cuban Spanish means "ill due to something one ate." Willie's teenage girlfriend mentioned that they had been arguing, which caused the ER doctor to piece together a story that was completely wrong. He thought Willie was intoxicated--that he had taken an intentional drug overdose because he was upset about the fight with his girlfriend. No qualified interpreter was called because the parties believed they were communicating adequately. Although not consciously prejudiced, the doctor was influenced by an implicit association between drug abuse and young Cuban men. But Willie was a health-conscious athlete who never used alcohol or drugs. Willie was mistakenly treated for a drug overdose while his brain continued to hemorrhage. The interpreting error was perpetuated by a series of mishaps. Willie was admitted to the intensive care unit by an upper class Spanish-speaking Bolivian doctor who failed to confirm the medical history because he was disdainful of the working class Cuban family. The entire medical team who attended to Willie accepted the initial diagnosis of "drug overdose" and did not question it until the patient nearly died. For 36 hours, everyone missed the signs of the brain hemorrhage. When it was finally diagnosed, surgery was performed to stop the bleeding but it was too late. Over 30 years as a quadriplegic, Willie becomes an extraordinary person with rich intercultural relationships. He goes on to marry and even has a biological daughter. Based on interviews with Willie, his family, doctors, lawyers, and caregivers, "An Intoxicating Error: Mistranslation, Medical Malpractice, and Prejudice," is the story of how language barriers and prejudice affect his life and the lives of those around him.

In Intoxicating Shanghai, Paul Bevan explores the work of a number of Chinese modernist figures in the fields of literature and the visual arts, with an emphasis on the literary group the New-sensationists and its equivalents in the Shanghai art world, examining the work of these figures as it appeared in pictorial magazines. It undertakes a detailed examination into the significance of the pictorial magazine as a medium for the dissemination of literature and art during the 1930s. The research locates the work of these artists and writers within the context of wider literary and art production in Shanghai, focusing on art, literature, cinema, music, and dance hall culture, with a specific emphasis on 1934 – ‘The Year of the Magazine’.

An insider to California culture wittily examines the downside to our national obsessions with celebrity and appearance and shows how Christians can respond.