I'm proud that this will be my first review for the Internet Archive: I've adored Marie Corelli's novel "Wormwood" for years and I can only hope this review brings a new reader or two its way -- the book is a blast, and it deserves a wider audience.

Corelli herself seems to have been a strict teetotaler and self-righteous moralist, and it shows: the novel, told in first person past tense by its protagonist Gaston B., is full-throated anti-absinthe propaganda fiction from start to finish. The previously mentioned protagonist, a young banker's son, heart-broken by the betrayal of his fiancée and best friend, is introduced to "la fee verte" by his other good friend, the penniless but talented artist Andre Gessonex (in a scene that never ceases to please even through multiple re-readings), and it is quite literally all downhill from there, a non-stop straight descent into addiction, the Parisian gutter, and of course, murder most foul, all thanks to the green fairy who first brings genius, then oblivion, and finally death.

If you enjoy fin de siècle melodrama, absinthe literature, or if, like me, the hyperbolic kabuki of prohibitionist fables ala "Reefer Madness" make you smile with true pleasure, look no further. Pour a dose of Pernod Fils (or Jade!), prepare your water, spoon, and sugar, and have enjoyment. You're in for a fun time, mon ami.