Dope adventures
Jan 10th, 2013 by houghtonmodern
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Julio Mario Santo Domingo collection.
The Santo Domingo Collection examines mind-altering substances in every detail: from cultivation and manufacture to distribution, consumption, and finally repercussion. While drug culture and its attendant celebration of drug use constitute much of the collection, many of its volumes also scrutinize the consequences of substance abuse. Earle Albert Rowell’s Dope Adventures of David Dare, published in 1937, is one such work: a semi-fictionalized autobiographical novel concerning an anti-narcotics crusader who lectures high schools and thwarts smugglers. Though Rowell claims that the book is based in the fact of his own experiences, its message suffers somewhat in the face of Dare, his faultless, widely adored, and sanctimonious alter ego. The book also features images of addicts in misery and distress, police arrests, and seized narcotic paraphernalia, all intended to frighten the young reader onto the path of sobriety.
Earle Albert Rowell. Dope Adventures of David Dare. Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Publishing Association, [c1937]. HV5801.R652
Thanks to rare book cataloger Ryan Wheeler for contributing this post.