''Cain's Book'' is a 1960 novel by Scottish

beat writer Beat reporting, also known as specialized reporting, is a genre of journalism focused on a particular issue, sector, organization, or institution over time. Description Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with th ...

Alexander Trocchi Alexander Whitelaw Robertson Trocchi ( ; 30 July 1925 – 15 April 1984) was a Scottish novelist. Early life and career Trocchi was born in Glasgow to Alfred (formerly Alfredo) Trocchi, a music-hall performer of Italian parentage, and Annie ...

. A

roman à clef ''Roman à clef'' (, anglicised as ), French for ''novel with a key'', is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship b ...

, it details the life of Joe Necchi, a

heroin addict Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Op ...

and writer, who is living and working on a scow on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The book alternates between Necchi/Trocchi's attempts to score and flashbacks to his experiences as a child in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

, and later as a young man in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. It is also an account of what it means to be a

junky Junkie is a pejorative usually referring to a person with an addiction. Entertainment and media * ''Junkie'' (novel), a novel by William S. Burroughs * "Junkie" (song), 2013 song by Medina featuring Svenstrup & Vendelboe * ''The Junkies'', a ...

and an outsider from society. On occasion it can descend into ranting about the hypocrisy and stupidity of drug prohibition and the general inequities of the world. It describes with an eye for detail the rituals of heroin, the cooking up and the search for a suitable vein. In 1963 in the UK, ''Cain's Book'' was one of many books and magazines seized by the police at a bookseller's shop in Sheffield. Its publisher,

John Calder John Mackenzie Calder (25 January 1927 – 13 August 2018) was a Scottish-Canadian writer and publisher who founded the company Calder Publishing in 1949. Biography Calder was born in Montreal, Canada, into the Calder family associated with the ...

, sought a separate trial for ''Cain's Book'' distinguishing it from the hundreds of others that had been confiscated, intending to prevail on the book's literary merit as

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the last novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Italy, and in 1929, in France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960, w ...

''. ''Cain's Book'' had been published without restriction in the US and France. In April 1964 the UK edition went to trial for

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be u ...

, with six defense witnesses, including author

Kenneth Allsop Kenneth Allsop (29 January 1920 – 23 May 1973) was a British broadcaster, author and naturalist. Early life Allsop was born on 29 January 1920 in Holbeck, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was married in St Peter's Church, Ealing, i ...

, testifying to its literary value. Three

magistrates The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicia ...

found against Calder. The case is notable in that the court's judgement was the first in the UK to condemn a book for obscenity not for sexual content but for "the lifestyle it advocated." Alistair McCleery wrote, "The case gave a new lease of life to the use of obscenity charges against literary works where it could be argued that illegal behavior or behavior detrimental to social norms was being promoted." In response to the unfavorable verdict Trocchi held a public burning of his book, with fireworks.

References

{{Reflist 1960 British novels Scottish novels Roman à clef novels Novels set in New York City Grove Press books