Baudelaire's book "Artificial Paradises" (Les Paradis Artificiels) was first published in May 1860. It consists of two parts: "The Poem about Hashish" and "The Opium Eater", which recounts and comments on the autobiographical story "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" (1821) by the English writer Thomas de Quincey. The book is a poetic and philosophical reflection on the use of psychotropic substances, their impact on consciousness and the creative process, as well as the addictions caused, based on personal experience.
