The Diary of a Drug Fiend
Crowley’s own fiction mixes the occult with drugs, sex, and spiritual searching.
Read our take
The Magician
by W. Somerset Maugham
A sinister magician modeled partly on Aleister Crowley enters bohemian Paris and turns fascination into occult terror.
- 1908
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeMaugham begins in Parisian café society, then follows hypnotism, sexual fascination, occult seduction, and black magic through a Gothic confrontation.
What's inside
A charismatic occultist draws a young woman away from ordinary life as her friends try to understand the power he holds over her.
Why we recommend it
Paris and Crowley-style occultism
The novel turns Crowley’s reputation into Gothic fiction full of seduction, ritual, and supernatural menace.
What this book explores
Book editions
- Ebook
- Vintage Digital
- 2009
- 9781407019871
Reader reviews
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Aleister Crowley
English occultist, poet and founder of the religion he called Thelema. Paris was his home from 1924 until the French government expelled him in 1929, and he had worked there earlier: the ritual sequence he and Victor Neuburg conducted between December 1913 and February 1914 is known as the Paris Working. He was a figure in the city's avant-garde circles as much as its occult ones, which is the part usually left out.
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Oscar Wilde
Irish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and editor whose social comedies, only novel, fairy tales, and prison writing joined wit to serious questions about art, class, sexuality, punishment, and freedom.
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Simone de Beauvoir
French writer and philosopher whose novels, memoirs, and social analysis examined freedom, gender, responsibility, aging, and the material conditions that shape a life.
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References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document The Magician, its publication, and its place in literary history.
1The Magician
NovelW. Somerset Maugham, 1908Used forThe primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.
2The Magician
Official recordPenguin Books UKUsed forOfficial record used to verify names, dates, institutional details, or other factual information on this page.
3The Magician
NovelProject Gutenberg, 1908Used forPrimary text included as part of the documented record for The Magician.
4The Magician — 1909 edition record
Official recordOpen Library, Internet ArchiveUsed forOfficial record used to verify names, dates, institutional details, or other factual information on this page.
5Aleister Crowley in Paris: Sex, Art, and Magick in the City of Light
BiographyTobias Churton (Inner Traditions)Used forBiographical evidence used to verify chronology, relationships, and historical context connected to The Magician.
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Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
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