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Pot Dot Com: Tales of a Retired Outlaw
“Pot Dot Com” follows the coming of age of a teenage weed dealer from Greenwich Village who gets involved with a clandestine group of social activists who use marijuana revenue to support the computer revolution in the 80s and 90s. What ensues is a psychedelic romp to discover the true meaning of existence.
226 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2022
1 person want to read
About the author
Crash Taylor
2 booksAn avid young reader, Crash got C’s in English classes until late in high school when in an attempt to push up his GPA he took 3 English classes per semester with Peter who was a Shakespeare buff. That is when his attention shifted from the story to the words. Sentences from Steinbeck, Hesse, Chekhov and others were taped to his walls, written hastily in notebooks, revered. Some of the classes were in poetry and the freedom from prose opened new doors. Whether free verse or any of the known forms, poetry was fertile landscape to sow a love of words. Over the years the notebooks piled up with exercises in form, content, foreshadowing, and dialogue, but the time wasn’t right.
Crash understood that writing is best when the author writes about what they know. To write about what one knows requires experience. As Hemingway said, “In order to write about life, first you must live it”. So while he sorted through scribbled lists of new vocabulary and pages of thesauruses and rhyming books, he lived. And he lived large.
Crash understood that writing is best when the author writes about what they know. To write about what one knows requires experience. As Hemingway said, “In order to write about life, first you must live it”. So while he sorted through scribbled lists of new vocabulary and pages of thesauruses and rhyming books, he lived. And he lived large.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 25, 2022
The recently published novel “Pot Dot Com” tells a story that is gloriously rendered, providing a rich and detailed look into the once secretive business practices of the marijuana trade and the men and women who risked their own freedom and safety to make the best bud available to their customers.
The tales Mr. Taylor recounts are varied and nuanced, and as the subject of illicit dealing might suggest, are inevitably infused with a hint of background tension. Will this warehouse location be secure in this neighborhood? Can this person be trusted? The logistics of the business practices are revealed in startling and fresh detail, perhaps as never before.
But part of what makes this novel such a satisfying read is that its enormously gifted and skillful author, Mr. Taylor, actually manages to go beyond what had long ago become the familiar, stereotypical, and often sordid tales of dealers living on the margins of society while managing an illegal business.
To the contrary, Taylor delivers a narrative that is positive, upbeat, and engages this outsider history from the inside, delivering scenes from the eye of the storm, beyond the finger-wagging, criminalizing, and endlessly castigating messages that flooded the public media for decades as the government attempted to vilify pot smoking as morally reprehensible, a danger to health, and so on.
The problem with that kind of narrative and the reflexive response seen in earlier iterations of dealer narratives is that they typically ignore the real meaning and message of smoking bud, which is to say that for the really tuned in experienced smoker, cannabis and dosing psychedelics holds the possibility of seeing life itself through a new perspective, enhancing one's spiritual journey and deepening one's contact with what many might describe as a search for their own existential truth.
So it is with great joie de vivre and an brilliant knack for telling a great story, that Mr. Taylor moves past the aforementioned tedium of cops and robbers stories, ditches the adrenaline pumping good guys vs bad guys scenarios typical of earlier drug war chronicles, allowing himself, instead, to make the central focus of the novel a sensitive and passionate reveal of his own personal life, rolled out in a way that feels convincingly honest and forthcoming, and due to Mr. Taylor's enormous gift and range as a writer, at the same time, provides a truly delightful, uplifting, rollicking, and celebratory narrative.
It is, in fact, difficult to say too many good things about this book. As many readers who seek out this 264 page volume will surely confirm, it's a pleasure to read this fast-paced but never rushed page turner in which Taylor introduces a wide range of characters, places, and themes that succeed in delivering a bird's eye view of the life of the initially youthful, tousle-haired New York City boy protagonist of the story as he slowly moves into a power position in a larger multi-state distribution network.
Mr. Taylor creates characters who are sophisticated, hard-working and clear minded brokers in every sense of the word and has successfully created a story told through this lens of intelligent people. Through Taylor's skillful crafting of the narrative we sense the bond of trust among participants in the network of business partners, which of course is based upon human nature and includes the very real possibility of betrayals, a theme also sensitively but vigorously laced into the story.
Perhaps one of the most noteworthy and intriguing aspects of this novel is the portrayal of the workings of Mr. Taylor's own mind. While it might not be possible to ascertain this directly from the text with unrelenting authority, because it is also abundantly clear that his thought process was razor sharp, lucidly awake while crafting his text, it does appear that the case could be made that the mind-altering substances which became his bread and butter, and which he unabashedly describes himself using with great frequency, is that in the end the story is actually, in equal measure, about the inner journey that Taylor takes as he moves from teenage pot dealer on the streets of the West Village to eventually become a man of considerable emotional depth capable of well-considered thoughts about the nature of love and just what it means to be alive.
Further, readers might find themselves pleasantly surprised that this is not the heretofore predictable tale of some hippie knuckle draggers, nor, by way of contrast, some glitzy Tony Montana type taking excursions into big cash and losing all self-restraint.
To the contrary, Taylor's take on life includes a fully nuanced embrace and understanding of a feministic perspective, enunciated by both the protagonist of the story as well as elucidated by the characters and lifestyles of the several women with whom he shares intimate dalliances.
Accordingly, there is no easy or facile gloss on the subject of Mr. Taylor's many amorous encounters. Although the story is laced with many explicit and vividly rendered sex scenes, which supply both spice and rhythm as they are interspersed throughout the book, breaking up the business reports from the front-lines, it is, in equal measure, the open and honest way the emotional aspects of these encounters are portrayed, which takes reading them far beyond mere voyeuristic pleasure. In addition to the sensitive characterization of the women with whom he becomes involved, which includes an older woman who is in some regards, his mentor and boss, also reveal Taylor's insights into the minds and lifestyles of the women themselves, as well as offering a realistic and balanced view of his own perception of himself as a lover and a man. The lack of machismo and bravado as these scenes roll out will likely draw accolades from both straight and gay women.
Upon finishing my first read of this novel, I closed the book and found myself hearing these words roll through my head: Roll over Kerouac and tell Hunter Thompson the news because it is in this novel, the In The Air sequel, we might say to Kerouac's On the Road and Thompson's recklessly drunken and drug-fueled escapades that American readers will finally discover the book they always wanted and needed, a truly human, romantic, and honest story about the dreams and visions of the much defamed and often marginalized counter-culture lifestyle.
But even the literary referencing of Kerouac and his friends as the ultimate outsiders bucking the straight up American dream, does not begin to describe the depth and scope of the recasting of personalities and activities of bi-coastal marijuana dealers in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. That is, this is not a cliched and predictable story of bumbling social miscasts standing on street corners hawking their wares, (although there is in fact mention of street dealing in the West Village in NY); nor is it the tired damning narrative typically offered for decades to support heavy-handed policies. Instead here we have the Ginsburgian, angel-headed visionaries turning their dreams for a better America into a cool-headed approach to cannabis entrepreneurial-ism.
This is tour de force writing and we can only hope that there are two major events that follow on the heels of the publishing of this book. First, it is quickly turned into a movie by the qualified name-brand director it richly deserves, and second, Taylor has a sequel up his writerly magician sleeve ready to write and publish soon because the power, beauty, depth, sexiness, and fun nature of this book might very likely create a tsunami of fans, nationwide, begging for more.
The tales Mr. Taylor recounts are varied and nuanced, and as the subject of illicit dealing might suggest, are inevitably infused with a hint of background tension. Will this warehouse location be secure in this neighborhood? Can this person be trusted? The logistics of the business practices are revealed in startling and fresh detail, perhaps as never before.
But part of what makes this novel such a satisfying read is that its enormously gifted and skillful author, Mr. Taylor, actually manages to go beyond what had long ago become the familiar, stereotypical, and often sordid tales of dealers living on the margins of society while managing an illegal business.
To the contrary, Taylor delivers a narrative that is positive, upbeat, and engages this outsider history from the inside, delivering scenes from the eye of the storm, beyond the finger-wagging, criminalizing, and endlessly castigating messages that flooded the public media for decades as the government attempted to vilify pot smoking as morally reprehensible, a danger to health, and so on.
The problem with that kind of narrative and the reflexive response seen in earlier iterations of dealer narratives is that they typically ignore the real meaning and message of smoking bud, which is to say that for the really tuned in experienced smoker, cannabis and dosing psychedelics holds the possibility of seeing life itself through a new perspective, enhancing one's spiritual journey and deepening one's contact with what many might describe as a search for their own existential truth.
So it is with great joie de vivre and an brilliant knack for telling a great story, that Mr. Taylor moves past the aforementioned tedium of cops and robbers stories, ditches the adrenaline pumping good guys vs bad guys scenarios typical of earlier drug war chronicles, allowing himself, instead, to make the central focus of the novel a sensitive and passionate reveal of his own personal life, rolled out in a way that feels convincingly honest and forthcoming, and due to Mr. Taylor's enormous gift and range as a writer, at the same time, provides a truly delightful, uplifting, rollicking, and celebratory narrative.
It is, in fact, difficult to say too many good things about this book. As many readers who seek out this 264 page volume will surely confirm, it's a pleasure to read this fast-paced but never rushed page turner in which Taylor introduces a wide range of characters, places, and themes that succeed in delivering a bird's eye view of the life of the initially youthful, tousle-haired New York City boy protagonist of the story as he slowly moves into a power position in a larger multi-state distribution network.
Mr. Taylor creates characters who are sophisticated, hard-working and clear minded brokers in every sense of the word and has successfully created a story told through this lens of intelligent people. Through Taylor's skillful crafting of the narrative we sense the bond of trust among participants in the network of business partners, which of course is based upon human nature and includes the very real possibility of betrayals, a theme also sensitively but vigorously laced into the story.
Perhaps one of the most noteworthy and intriguing aspects of this novel is the portrayal of the workings of Mr. Taylor's own mind. While it might not be possible to ascertain this directly from the text with unrelenting authority, because it is also abundantly clear that his thought process was razor sharp, lucidly awake while crafting his text, it does appear that the case could be made that the mind-altering substances which became his bread and butter, and which he unabashedly describes himself using with great frequency, is that in the end the story is actually, in equal measure, about the inner journey that Taylor takes as he moves from teenage pot dealer on the streets of the West Village to eventually become a man of considerable emotional depth capable of well-considered thoughts about the nature of love and just what it means to be alive.
Further, readers might find themselves pleasantly surprised that this is not the heretofore predictable tale of some hippie knuckle draggers, nor, by way of contrast, some glitzy Tony Montana type taking excursions into big cash and losing all self-restraint.
To the contrary, Taylor's take on life includes a fully nuanced embrace and understanding of a feministic perspective, enunciated by both the protagonist of the story as well as elucidated by the characters and lifestyles of the several women with whom he shares intimate dalliances.
Accordingly, there is no easy or facile gloss on the subject of Mr. Taylor's many amorous encounters. Although the story is laced with many explicit and vividly rendered sex scenes, which supply both spice and rhythm as they are interspersed throughout the book, breaking up the business reports from the front-lines, it is, in equal measure, the open and honest way the emotional aspects of these encounters are portrayed, which takes reading them far beyond mere voyeuristic pleasure. In addition to the sensitive characterization of the women with whom he becomes involved, which includes an older woman who is in some regards, his mentor and boss, also reveal Taylor's insights into the minds and lifestyles of the women themselves, as well as offering a realistic and balanced view of his own perception of himself as a lover and a man. The lack of machismo and bravado as these scenes roll out will likely draw accolades from both straight and gay women.
Upon finishing my first read of this novel, I closed the book and found myself hearing these words roll through my head: Roll over Kerouac and tell Hunter Thompson the news because it is in this novel, the In The Air sequel, we might say to Kerouac's On the Road and Thompson's recklessly drunken and drug-fueled escapades that American readers will finally discover the book they always wanted and needed, a truly human, romantic, and honest story about the dreams and visions of the much defamed and often marginalized counter-culture lifestyle.
But even the literary referencing of Kerouac and his friends as the ultimate outsiders bucking the straight up American dream, does not begin to describe the depth and scope of the recasting of personalities and activities of bi-coastal marijuana dealers in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. That is, this is not a cliched and predictable story of bumbling social miscasts standing on street corners hawking their wares, (although there is in fact mention of street dealing in the West Village in NY); nor is it the tired damning narrative typically offered for decades to support heavy-handed policies. Instead here we have the Ginsburgian, angel-headed visionaries turning their dreams for a better America into a cool-headed approach to cannabis entrepreneurial-ism.
This is tour de force writing and we can only hope that there are two major events that follow on the heels of the publishing of this book. First, it is quickly turned into a movie by the qualified name-brand director it richly deserves, and second, Taylor has a sequel up his writerly magician sleeve ready to write and publish soon because the power, beauty, depth, sexiness, and fun nature of this book might very likely create a tsunami of fans, nationwide, begging for more.
April 25, 2022
Of course I like the writing, I wrote it!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews