Reefer Madness (Sloman book)
1979 book by Larry Sloman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reefer Madness: The History of Marijuana in America is a book by Larry "Ratso" Sloman, originally published in 1979.[1] The book is a history of social cannabis (also known as marijuana) use in the United States. The book was reissued in 1998 with an introduction by William S. Burroughs.
First edition | |
| Author | Larry Sloman |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Bobbs-Merrill |
Publication date | 1979 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 404 |
| ISBN | 0-672-52423-6 |
| LC Class | HV5822.M3 S54 |
Reception
Writer Abe Peck gave Reefer Madness a mostly negative review, writing, "Sloman knows what he's talking about; the problem is that he presents his material as a multistyled hash of unsifted information. [...] [H]is reporting is so skeletal you can still see the ribs of a book outline poking through his prose."[2]
The Boston Globe's Lee Grove criticized the book for its pro-cannabis bias and selection of interviewees, whom Grove describes as "[Sloman's] boring pothead friends", while also noting, "I would have expected Sloman to interview at least one major rock star smoking in the seventies – he alludes to so many of them in the book – but he doesn't."[3]
Larry King of Democrat and Chronicle referred to the book as an "exercise in futility", criticizing a lack of details and statistics: "Sloman consistently fails to include any body of information that might lend some credibility to his subtitle, with its claim to be a 'history.' The book reeks of haste and sloppiness."[4]
