intoxication: An Anthology Of

Stimulant-Based Writing

Edited by Toni Davidson

Serpent's Tail, #8.99

THE impetus for this anthology is the special relationship that is said to exist between writers and stimulants. This relationship is neither investigated nor explained; all we have is an assertion of its existence.

In his introduction, editor Toni Davidson says: ''De Quincey on opium, Baudelaire on hashish, Burroughs on speed, Huxley on mescaline - all writers fusing psychoactive drugs with the creative urge; blurring experimentation with need, desire with addiction. There is such a rich and varied history to stimulant based writing that it would be easy to dwell on past glories . . .''

There is also a recognition of the burgeoning influence such writing has on contemporary literature. Today's canvas is broader; stimulant-based writing motivates clubs, music, and film - ''and the increasing, almost mundane, unsensational aspect [of] recreational drug use.''

Davidson restricts his choice to new, or newish fiction from British and American writers such as Irvine Welsh, Gordon Legge, Barry Graham, Brent Hodgson, John King, Elizabeth Young, Gary Indiana and Jeff Noon. None of the trail blazers is present; restricting his selection to contemporary fiction means the anthology loses perspective. It's like a glimpse, a slice of something presented out of context, aimed at readers whose experience mirrors the contributors, or who, at least are familiar with their works. Personally, I'd have preferred a few boozers.

The main discovery is that this is not simply a theme which has, in the editor's phrase, been ''grafted onto prose to appeal to the chemical generation''. Rather, it is an attitude, a way of seeing. More important is the writers' approach to society, the stance they take on social issues and the role of the individual, especially an individual who may not consider himself a member of society, whether as a user or a reformed cynic.

The most interesting observations come from the women, such as Lynne Tillman, Bridget O'Connor, and Elizabeth Young, simply because theirs is an aspect we have not often seen.

But the best stories are from Gordon Legge and Irvine Welsh. Barry Graham's tale of schoolgirl seduction reads like an extract and leaves the reader wanting more, while Gary Indiana, Jeff Noon, and Toni Davidson himself underline the assertion that chemical-based writing is an exploration as well as attitude.