Poppy Dream – the story of an English Addict’ by Joe South

This novel is not your run of the mill television movie script, ‘I came back from a drug hell’, sort of thing, but it is an incredible tale about temptation, desire, adventure, death and bravery. A story for our time. Loaded with larger than life characters and bizarre situations, both hilarious and very sad.
The story takes us from childhood escapades and early sexual encounters to 1960s Oxford, amongst beatniks, gangsters, debauchees, intellectuals, anarchists and poets. At 17 Joe was Oxford’s first major drugs dealer in cannabis and purple hearts selling to, and befriending, rich, famous and infamous people along the way; including, the not so cool, Howard Marks of ‘Mr Nice’. When Joe’s friend Josh Macmillan (the Prime Minister’s grandson) dies from a drugs overdose at Balliol College, Special Branch are suddenly part of the drug scene. Joe’s dealing and drug use moves between Oxford and London’s Soho, bringing him into contact with The Rolling Stones, Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie, friend of the Kray Twins, Air Force drummer, Phil Seaman and poet and author, Alexander Trocchi.

Joe introduces us to his friends; addicts and prostitutes from town and gown, funny and sparkling, but who descend with him into the depths of addiction, some never to survive. Joe earns extra cash by hiring out his body for sex. It always puzzled him why people fought so hard to justify their particular sexual orientation, when all he wanted to do was luxuriate in sensuality, passion and lustful sex with either men or women.

Memorable sexual encounters and risky escapades take place against the wonderful backdrop of Oxford’s ‘dreaming spires’ and the notorious locked Ward M3 at the Warneford Hospital with it’s rattling key chains, starched uniforms and barred windows. In flight from his addiction and the law Joe travels on to the quiet rolling hills of mid-Wales, eventually finding recovery and setting up a rehabilitation centre, before venturing into the decaying grandeur of Havana, Cuba, described by Graham Greene as the ‘factory for human beauty’, dangerous Cali in Columbia and ending in eccentric, quirky Paraguay, the lost paradise at the heart of South America.

“Being born with a penis is like being handcuffed to a maniac for life” Kingsley Amis

“I can resist everything except temptation” Oscar Wilde

Poppy Dream Reviews

“The narrative is fast, furious and funny, and is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Joe South’s story does not make drug-taking appear glamorous because he details clearly the effects of becoming addicted to hard drugs, including contracting Hepatitis C. There are passages which reveal clearly the seamy side of the drugs underworld in Oxford and London in the 1960s. But Joe South was lucky enough to be able to turn his life around, and the lives of others, when he set up Rhoserchan, and the book is ultimately an uplifting read. The author, who has been clean for almost 30 years, and lives with his partner Hilary, is no longer dreaming of his latest fix. Now that he has become hooked on writing, a publishing deal for Poppy Dream is his biggest craving.”
Andrew French – Oxford Mail

“Some of you probably know Joe South and I know gossip is dangerous… but read this book and talk about it! It should come with a warning – ‘highly addictive; I couldn’t put it down’. I laughed and cringed and cried and laughed some more. An extraordinary tale of temptation, desire, adventure, death, bravery and, of course, love. This book has cinematic quality, being set in picturesque Oxford, 1960s London, Wales, Columbia and Paraguay where finally South finds his one true love. This would make a truly sexy, comic, entertaining and bizarre film.”
Melissa Gordon – Addiction Today

“Joe South gives no excuses. This is an honest and moving story about someone who had the courage to turn his life around.”
Andrea Machain. Paraguay Correspondent. BBC, The Economist, El Pais de Madrid, Proceso de Mexico

“He writes fluently, and these chapters make colourful reading, not just on account of the subject matter but because he has an excellent eye and ear for the telling detail. There is also, as well as the touches of humour, an underlying strain of melancholy seasoning the narrative.”
Hilary Johnson, Authors Advisory Service

“Overwhelming!”
Geraldine Nichol the Book Bureau Literary Agency