"Drugstore Cowboy"

Paper Summary:

The main characters in James Fogle's "Drugstore Cowboy" subscribe, to various degrees, to what might be called "The Junkie Philosophy." For the bulk of the book, the characters, especially ringleaders Bob and Diane, live their lives with one object in mind--acquiring and taking drugs, especially the high quality drugs located in pharmacies, which they rob. The paper shows that all other activity is insignificant in comparison. They live for drugs. The paper shows that within that fixation on drugs, however, there is indeed a philosophy of sorts which includes a world view, a set of attitudes and behaviors that the characters adopt as expressions of that world view and a sense of higher purpose which is achieved through the exercise of that philosophy.

From the Paper:

"This philosophy is not a crude one with respect to drugs, but includes a connoisseur's refined appreciation for individual drugs and for the interrelationships of different drugs as they react in the junkie's body and brain. Each addict finds what gives him or her the most pleasure, but for each of them the heart and soul of the junkie philosophy is the experience of becoming and being high. Without that high, there would be no junkie philosophy."

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