Leaf Fielding is a natural storyteller – and what a story he has to tell.
Leaf was not one of the kingpins of the LSD production business that was smashed by Operation Julie but he was involved enough to pull down years of hard time.
Beginning as a hired hand, turning crystal acid into tabs, he graduated to handling major distribution drops.
The book begins with his bust, subsequent trial and imprisonment. We learn a lot about about prison life as the book progresses and get an insider’s view of the LSD manufacturing business.
Interwoven with this is the story of Leaf’s early years followed by his extensive adventures around the world – blazing the hippy trail, hanging out on islands in Greece and Indonesia, wheeling and dealing across continents. He almost dies several times – but this is the cat with the nine lives.
Leaf’s consciousness was radically changed and charmed by LSD and his vision of an interconnected universe and the wonders of nature suffuse the book. Just reading some sections will give you a contact high or, at the least, a distant echo of a flashback.
Leaf got into the whole-food business early on and, after serving his time, has returned to his organic roots. He has also set up an orphanage in Malawi.
He captures brilliantly the look, feel, smell and touch of those times when millions of us were all opening the doors of perception, gaining glimpses of profound new visions of ourselves and the changing world around us.
Leaf has a lovely way with words and an eye for the telling detail. His book is a stone-cold classic which will bring back memories for old-school ‘heads’ as well as inspiring young bucks to search for adventure. Its a book full of survival skills and contagious insights, stirring adventures, hilarious escapades and dope folk tales. Howard Marks loves it and so will you.
{To Live Outside the Law by Leaf Fielding is published by Serpent’s Tail as an original paperback]
SEE PREVIOUS POSTS:
Review of a previous ‘Julie’ book with newspaper clippings and pictures from The Generalist archive.
INSIDE DOPE; OPERATION JULIE REVISITED
My original account of the Operation Julie trials, written for the NME in 1978
Lengthy review of a book by Andy Roberts
LSD AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF ETERNAL LOVE
Review of the classic book by David May & Stewart Tendler on the biggest LSD manufacturing ring in the US and beyond.
No comments:
Post a Comment