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The Nicotine Chronicles (Akashic Drug Chronicles)
The Nicotine Chronicles - Akashic Drug Chronicles Author:Lee Child (Editor) Lee Child recruits Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Ames, Cara Black, and others to reveal nicotine's scintillating alter egos. — Sixteen tributes to America's guiltiest pleasure... In recent years, nicotine has become as verboten as many hard drugs. These stories delve bone-deep into addiction, as characters s... more »moke to smother physical pain, loneliness, and their days.
Food scientists have discovered a complex compound naturally present in, among other things, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. The compound offers us a number of benefits: it improves our fine motor skills; it increases our attention spans; it improves our cognitive abilities; it improves our long- and short-term memories; it lessens depression...In and of itself, it has no real downside. It's called nicotine. We should all get some.
The problem is the delivery system...The most efficient way is to burn dried tobacco leaves and inhale the smoke. Ten seconds later, the compound is in your brain, doing good in all its various ways. Unfortunately, the rest of the smoke doesn't do good. And therein lies a great mystery of human behavior. To get the good, we risk the bad. Or we prohibit ourselves the good, for fear of the bad. Which approach makes more sense?
Contents:
Part I: Thank You for Not Smoking
Park & Play / short fiction by Hannah Tinti
My Simple Plan / short fiction by Ariel Gore
The Renovation of the Just / short fiction by Christopher Sorrentino
Deathbed Vigil / short fiction by Jonathan Ames
Part II: Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Dying for a Cigarette / short fiction by Lee Child
The Smoke-Free Room / short fiction by Achy Obejas
Special Treatment / short fiction by Cara Black
Yasiri / short fiction by Michael Imperioli
Part III: Hungry for Flavor?
Smoking Jesus / short fiction by Eric Bogosian
The Summer You Lit Up / short fiction by Lauren Sanders
Climax, Oregon / short fiction by Robert Arellano
Freshly Cut / short fiction by Peter Kimani
Part IV: Inhale to Your Heart’s Content
Smoke Break / short fiction by David L. Ulin
God’s Work / short fiction by Bernice L. McFadden
Menthol / short fiction by Jerry Stahl
Vaping: A User’s Manual / short fiction by Joyce Carol Oates