For collectors, MARIHUANA by Cornell Woolrich writing as William Irish is one of the most sought-after of the legendary Dell 10-Cent editions. I’ve owned several copies over the years, but despite being a Woolrich fan ever since discovering his work in stories reprinted in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE and THE SAINT MYSTERY MAGAZINE during the Sixties, I’d never read it until now.
MARIHUANA was first published as a novelette under Woolrich's name in the May 3, 1941 issue of DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY, which was a large-format pulp at the time but still a pulp. Ten years later it was reprinted as a Dell 10-Cent book. Like many of the protagonists in Woolrich’s stories, King Turner, the main character in this yarn, is kind of a sad sack, an average guy who’s depressed over the break-up of his marriage. So a couple of his so-called friends (they aren’t, really) show up at his apartment with a girl he doesn’t know, and they drag him off to a marihuana den (I’m just going to use the spelling the story does) where he smokes a couple of reefers and goes a little crazy from the drug.
When he accidentally kills somebody, he takes it on the lam and his marihuana-induced paranoia results in several more murders. It doesn’t take long for the cops to get on his trail, and Woolrich skillfully goes back and forth between Turner’s descent into violent madness and the law’s efforts to catch him.
Granted, from our perspective today, this is a pretty silly plot, but when were Woolrich’s plots not a little far-fetched? What makes MARIHUANA work is its relentless pace and Woolrich’s ability to make us sympathize with a protagonist who’s caught up in things he can’t control, even though he’s a killer and an all-around unlikable guy. (Is it just me, or does the description of King Turner—the slight build, the sandy hair, the sunken cheeks—sound suspiciously like Woolrich himself?)
There are a couple of late twists that work pretty well. And even though it's pure coincidence, I can’t help but like the fact that the cop who leads the effort to find Turner is named Spillane.
I’m glad I finally read MARIHUANA. It’s a suspenseful yarn that really had me flipping the pages. Whether you’re a Woolrich fan or have never read any of his work, I give it a high recommendation. If you want to read it but don’t have the Dell 10-Cent edition, there’s a very affordable e-book edition available on Amazon.
I can see the Dell dime book being treated casually as an amusing curio in the '60s by those who didn't read it and didn't know who Woolrich was. Remarkable, the drug's ability to turn one's skin green. Thanks for the pointer...I usually like Woolrich's work, and I haven't yet read it.
ReplyDeleteAnother spinoff of Harry Anslinger's witchhunts prosecuted through the League of Nations was "It Ain't Hay," a postwar reefer-madness genre piece by David Dodge. Dodge concurrently wrote pulp fiction and travelogue narratives. In a fictional plot with Peruvian dopers the poor coca chewer resembles an opium starveling. But in the travelogue version where Dodge himself chews some leaf, he is energized for hiking in the thin atmosphere and suffers no aftereffects. To each audience, the treat they are after.
ReplyDeleteI've read several of David Dodge's novels and enjoyed them all, but IT AIN'T HAY is one I don't have, as far as I recall. I'll double-check my shelves and keep an eye out for it.
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