People Who WriteLists about novelists, poets, short story authors, journalists, essayists, and playwrights, from simple rankings to fun facts about the men and women behind the pens.
It’s probably an understatement to say that most artists have taken drugs at least once in their lives. Even though some authors maintain a stuffy air of collegiate lawns and tweed jackets, many can party as hard as anyone else. In fact, there are so many writers who used drugs that it was kind of a hassle to narrow down this list. Every beat author could have taken up a spot, but we figured that we should shine a light on those special famous writers who wrote high and gave audiences something to really digest. So put on your groovy fringe vest and dig on this of famous authors who used drugs and did their best work while high.
The interesting thing about the authors on this list of famous drug addicts is that they don’t all just write in one genre, or exist in one time period. There are science fiction authors, poets, and mystic leaders who were all baked out of their minds on their drug of choice while they sat with their quills in hand and set their words to paper. You’ll see a few drugs of choice on this list - most of them are chemicals that were designed to keep someone up and working long past their bedtime, and a good number of those pills, liquids, etc. don’t even exist anymore.
Even if you’re living your life drug free, take some time to get to know these famous writers who used drugs, because their work is astounding no matter how it came to be.
The mythology surrounding Jack Kerouac's most famous work, On the Road, is that he wrote it in a non-stop three week period. Which is sort of true. But the thing historians tend to shy away from is that Kerouac was taking benzadrine (basically speed) in order to fuel his writing. This was a nasty habit that would follow him to his death.
Age: Dec. at 47 (1922-1969)
Birthplace: Middlesex County, United States of America, Lowell, United States, with Territories
Works: On the Road, The Dharma Bums, Visions of Cody, Big Sur, The Town and the City
There are two different Philip K. Dicks: pre-LSD PKD and post-LSD PKD. He always took massive amounts of amphetamines in order to fuel his word count (in the days of pulp science fiction, authors were paid by the word count and the more drugs you took the more you could type), but once he finally tried LSD and other hallucinogenics, he opened and his mind and began to write his most immersive and popular work.
Age: Dec. at 53 (1928-1982)
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
Works: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Man in the High Castle, Ubik, VALIS, Flow My Tears
In order to finish her masterwork, The Fountainhead, Rand turned to Benzedrine and finished one chapter a week. She continued to take the drug for the next three decades, so now we know what to blame for Atlas Shrugged.
Age: Dec. at 77 (1905-1982)
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Works: Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, The Fountainhead, Anthem, Love Letters
Admittedly, Bukowski didn't take "drugs" per se, but for most of his adult life he never stopped drinking, and as just about any high school Health teacher will tell you, alcohol is a drug, too. At the height of his alcoholism he wrote such seminal works as Love Is a Dog From Hell and Hot Water Music.
Age: Dec. at 73 (1920-1994)
Birthplace: Andernach, Germany
Works: Barfly, Ham on Rye, Post Office, Women, Factotum
Heroin is so synonymous with William Burroughs that's it feels weird telling people he took drugs. In fact, Burroughs was on and off junk so often it's shocking that he lived into his eighties. But back to the heroin, he was injecting it steadily throughout the '50s while he worked on Junkie and Naked Lunch.
Age: Dec. at 83 (1914-1997)
Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
Works: Drugstore Cowboy, Naked Lunch, Junkie, Queer, The Soft Machine
Of all the writers on this list, Thompson probably took the most drugs. In fact, there was even a schedule for his drug intake that made its way into his biography. His daily habit included everything from orange juice, to cocaine and Halcion.
Age: Dec. at 67 (1937-2005)
Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky, United States of America
Works: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72, Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, The Curse of Lono, The Great Shark Hunt
