I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.
-Hunter S. Thompson
Artists, musicians, and writers have garnered throughout history a reputation for commonly consuming alcohol, drugs, and illegal substances, almost to the extent of banality. Some classic works of literature have been conceived or created while under the influence. Supposedly, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a six-day LSD binge. Jack Kerouac used marijuana and stimulants, which were both great influences on the creation of his famous spontaneous-prose and stream of consciousness style. One of my favorite Kerouac novels, The Subterraneans, was written in only two days while on amphetamines.
One can easily find online a profusion of famous writers who have been known to indulge. Here are just a few:
Alcohol – Hemingway, Bukowski, Capote, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Melville, Poe, Crane
Drugs – Burroughs, Ginsberg, Huxley, Miller, Kesey
Recently, I saw a video in which Major League Baseball pitcher Dock Ellis tells a story about the time he threw a no-hitter while on LSD. It was the first time I have heard of a professional athlete using illegal drugs (besides marijuana) recreationally. I have since read online that many professional basketball players (someone said more than half, but that statistic is unsubstantiated) smoke marijuana. Also, there are the famous Michael Phelps bong photos that surfaced last year. I suspect, though, that most drug-using athletes only indulge off the court.
People use drugs to alter the mind, which makes sense for someone practicing an intellectual art, and some athletes use steroids to improve their physical strength and endurance. But have you ever heard of any times a writer or musician has used a performance enhancing drug?
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I agree…it is unsettling to think that the writer that you once admired for his/her great work could have possibly been under the influence of drugs when he or she wrote it.
I do think, however, that the term ‘intellectual art’ is a bit vague because this term is very abstract in nature. Technically, anything can be considered ‘intellectual art’ because every action to some degree requires some level of conscious decision-making & cognitive processing. Playing sports can be considered an ‘intellectual art,’ but, of course, this term would not quite have the same definition if it were applied to musicians and the music industry.
Another question to consider is…in the instance of writers and musicians, would his/her work be as good had he/she not taken ‘performance enhancers’?
Also, similar to how athletes are subject to public criticism once the news of their drug-use is leaked, should writers and musicians too be held accountable for their works that they produced while under the influence?
Mary J. Blige. (http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/01/14/2008-01-14_mary_j_blige_named_in_steroid_report.html)
That Dock Ellis video was awesome and hilarious, and I was really surprised to find that out. I’d never heard anything about pro athletes using hallucinogens during competition. I guess he played during a different time, though. Even so, it’s absolutely ridiculous that he was able to do that- that being throw a no-no zonked out of his mind.