Addiction and its Influence

There is the strong sense that almost all the characters in the stories in this collection, if not all, are caught in the self-destructive trap of addiction to drugs and/or alcohol. The actions, reactions and apparent feelings of the narrator and the people he encounters on his journey towards compassion and health (a journey concluded in "Beverly Hotel" - see "Desperation and Compassion" below) all seem connected, albeit to varying degrees, to their drive to escape reality through intoxicating substances. In other words, they have become addicted to their avoidance of reality, lost in darkness and fear that is, in fact, even darker and more destructive than they life they are so desperate to escape. Their addictions drive them to extreme actions and reactions - physical violence, emotional violence, stealing, lying, sexual promiscuity - all of which could, in fact, be seen as extreme...