Apr 15, 2016 | By Brittney Evans

16 Authors Who Struggled With Addiction

Addiction Resources Pop Culture Recovery

When most people are in the throes of addiction, they are unable to function like normal human beings let alone create works of brilliance. These 16 remarkable authors somehow managed to do just that. However, while they may have been able to produce some literary works of art, pretty much all other areas of their lives suffered. Most dealt with severe health afflictions, endured mental health difficulties, relationship issues and many died at relatively young ages, sometimes by way of suicide.

Stephen King

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Stephen Edwin King (September 21, 1947) is one of this generations most well-known authors. Considered to be the “Master of Horror,” he has written over 50 novels and approximately 200 short stories. Yet, King admits to having engaged in such heavy cocaine and alcohol abuse in the 80’s that he hardly remembers producing anything he wrote during that period. He was apparently ingesting so much coke that he had to stuff his nose with cotton so it would not bleed on his typewriter while he was working. His wife staged an intervention in the late 80’s and the King of Horrors has been sober ever since and still producing masterpieces.  

Jack Kerouac

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Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac (March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) was at the forefront of the literary movement that became labeled as the “Beat Generation.” He is most well known for his novel On the Road, a semi-autobiographical book originally written in three weeks on a continuous scroll of paper. Kerouac struggled with an addiction to benzedrine, a type of amphetamine early on in his career and moved onto alcoholism and dexedrine later on in life. His body totally torn apart by drugs and alcohol abuse, he died at the age of 47 as the direct result of the disease of addiction, Kerouac died due to a hemorrhage caused by cirrhosis of the liver.

Philip K. Dick

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Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) has an aptitude for creating science fiction masterpieces that is unparalleled. The popular movies Blade Runner, Minority Report and Total Recall are also based on the works of Dick. He had difficulties with amphetamine abuse in the early 70’s and then thought it a good idea to invite a number of other drug users to live in his home with him at which point he then began to abuse psychedelics and barbituates. Following a suicide attempt after his home had been ransacked by the “friends” he had invited to stay with him, Dick sought treatment and shortly after that he wrote his famed novel A Scanner Darkly which was published in 1977.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (November 13, 1859 – December 3, 1894) is best known for his novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which, according to some historians, he wrote on what is probably the most productive 6 day coke binge known to man. Stevenson struggled with a chronic cough throughout his life and in the mid 1880’s he was prescribed cocaine, a legally prescribed medication at the time.  As a man of continued poor health, he became a heavy morphine user and eventually died of a brain hemorrhage at 45.

Hunter S. Thompson

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Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) founded the Gonzo journalism movement and is most well known for writing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He was also famous for his ability to consume a ridiculous expanse of drugs. As a zealous supporter of doing and legalizing drugs, Thompson believed he was taking drugs for the “health benefits.” He basically did every drug, ever. In mass quantities. Surprisingly enough, he also managed to pump out some pretty powerful writings concurrently. Unfortunately, his life of ripping and running eventually became too much for him and he committed suicide at the age of 67.

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffman Dickens (February 7, 1812 – June 9, 1870) made a name for himself as a literary figure in the Victorian era by producing classic works like A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. He also had an affinity for opium, taken in a tincture form and known as laudanum. Dickens was reportedly a heavy user up until he died of a stroke and included descriptions of opium dens in the novel he was working on when he passed away.

Ernest Hemingway

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Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) is perhaps one of the most greatest storytellers to have ever written. Responsible for writing A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and The Old Man and The Sea, Hemingway was part of the “Lost Generation” of writers. He is also one one the most well known alcoholics of the bunch. He struggled with drinking throughout his life and suffered with severe alcoholism later on in his life. His destructive lifestyle led him to deal with depressive episodes and suffer from serious health afflictions. At 61 years of age, unable to quit drinking, Hemingway ended his suffering by taking his own life.

Edgar Allan Poe

(January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) is an American author most noted for his mysterious and dark poetry and short stories, and the fact he married his 13-year old cousin.  Many poems written by Poe have influenced horror movies in the 21st century such as Stonehurst Asylum, which is based on “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether.” While many argue that Poe was not under the influence of drugs and alcohol, many of his greatest works sensationalized opium and many of his friends reported the heavy use of alcohol.  Poe reportedly attempted suicide using laudenum, the drug favored by Charles Dickens.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) has remained a literary icon who wooed his way into the hearts of everyone who got their hands on his novels.  But Fitzgerald was more than just a fantastic author, he was also known by many as your quintessential Irish drunk.  In fact, for most of his charectors, drinking is a large part of their identity.  Fitzgerald began drinking at a very young age and found that after a period of abstinence, he became disinclined to continue writing.  Fitzgerald died of a heart attack at the age of 52.

Tennessee Williams

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Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983) Playwright Tennessee Williams is most known for his works on Broadway–most notably “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”  Williams is regarded as being one of the most prolific authors who was plagued by substance abuse issues and declining mental health.  In the 1950’s, Williams mental health began to slowly decline after repeated stints in psychiatric institutions.  Williams died choking on assorted “medications” in a hotel room at the age of 71.

Ayn Rand

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(February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982)  Ayn Rand is yet another literary icon whose works were largely contributed to by the use of drugs.  The author of novels like The Fountainhead and Anthem began using Benzedrine, an early form of amphetamine, prescribed for weight loss. Rand found that use of the drug made her much more productive and was able to write some of the best, and most long winded works of her time.  Many of her largest admirers insist that she was not addicted to the substance because it was “prescribed”  but were just going to leave that one alone. Rand died as a result of cardiovascular disease at the age of 77.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

(March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861) Highly acclaimed Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning started using laudanum at a young age to help battle fits of hysteria and insomnia that kept her an invalid for much of her life. Browning is quoted stating “I am in a fit of writing—could write all day and night—& long to live by myself for 3 months in a forest of chestnuts and cedars in an hourly succession of poetical paragraphs and morphine draughts.”  Some aren’t sure if the opium tincture exacerbated her symptoms or if they helped lessen them in any way, but it sure gave her quite the imagination.

William S. Burroughs

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William Seward Burroughs II (February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997)  William S. Burroughs is no stranger to the dark world of drugs and the people they bring with them.  With one of his most successful novels entitled Junky the author, rather biographically, details the use and abuse of drugs ranging from Benzedrine to heroin, and in colorful language. Burroughs intensity both on the page and in real life helped to shape the Beat generation.  The author died of complications from a heart attack at the age of 83 in Lawrence, KS.

Truman Capote

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Truman Garcia Capote (September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984)  Truman Capote is probably one of the most famous authors of his time with works like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood, and probably lived more dangerously than many on this list.  Capote started as a very heavy alcoholic but quickly ended his drinking career when he introduced drugs into his daily routine.  Capote was known by freinds to have a very serious problem and after multiple stints in rehabilitation facilities and a hospital stay due to an overdose, Capote later traveled to California where he died in Johnny Carson’s ex wifes home.

Charles Bukowski

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Henry Charles Bukowski  (August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994)  Charles Bukowski kept no secrets when it came to his writing.  All of his works centered around addictions to women and his words seemed to reek of the whiskey he wrote about.  Bukowski, to some was a womanizer and a drunk, but to many was able to take words and make them appear alive on the page.  Bukowski died of Leukemia at the age of 74 after publishing his last novel Pulp.