Perhaps the finest writer ever to use speed systematically, however, was W. H. Auden. He swallowed Benzedrine every morning for twenty years, from 1938 onward, balancing its effect with the barbiturate Seconal when he wanted to sleep. (He also kept a glass of vodka by the bed, to swig if he woke up during the night.) He took a pragmatic attitude toward amphetamines, regarding them as a "labor-saving device" in the "mental kitchen," with the important proviso that "these mechanisms are very crude, liable to injure the cook, and constantly breaking down."
John Lanchester, "High Style," The New Yorker, January 6, 2003
I wonder if he had ADHD/ADD. Treatment for that condition involves stimulants. Perhaps they helped him focus his mind enough to write.
Posted by: EmSaid | June 14, 2009 at 08:50 AM
Good heavens! He must've rattled!
Posted by: Val Erde | May 23, 2009 at 03:42 PM
What a discovery your site has been! Thanks for all the amazing work. I am absolutely fascinated by the work habits of others!
Albert @ Nextsmallstep.com
Posted by: Albert@Nextsmallstep.com | April 06, 2009 at 02:37 AM