Columbia Center for Oral History Portal > Oral history interview with Mason Hoffenberg, 1981Biographical NoteMason Hoffenberg was born of Jewish heritage on December 13, 1923 in New York City. In his sophomore year at Olivet College in Michigan, he was drafted into the Army Air Force to serve in World War II. He was discharged in 1945, moved to MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, and used the G.I. Bill to enroll at The New School. Hoffenberg became a part of a blossoming artistic and literary scene in Greenwich Village in the 1940s and 1950s, where he met James Baldwin, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac, among others. He travelled back and forth between New York City and Paris for much of his life. In 1953, he married a Frenchwoman, and they later had two children. In Paris, Hoffenberg worked for Olympia Press, and Agence France-Presse (AFP). Hoffenberg brought William S. Burroughs's manuscript of "Naked Lunch" to founder of Olympia Press, Maurice Girodias, who eventually published it. Hoffenberg first used heroin at twenty five years of age, and quickly became addicted. In 1962, he went to London for the apomorphine treatment, designed by Doctor John Yerbury Dent. Hoffenberg co-authored the 1958 book "Candy" with his friend Terry Southern. In the 1960s, Hoffenberg separated from his wife and moved to Woodstock, New York where he lived briefly with Bob Dylan, then with Richard Manuel of The Band. Hoffenberg joined a methadone program in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1970. After a year on the program he detoxed from methadone, and moved into the Chelsea Hotel. He began to struggle with alcoholism. In 1980, he joined a methadone program once again. Hoffenberg died of lung cancer in June of1986. Hoffenberg was interviewed for the project that led to the book Addicts Who Survived. The name "Marvin" was used as a pseudonym for the project
Scope and ContentsIn this interview, Mason Hoffenberg discusses his life experiences, both in New York City and abroad, with a focus on his drug use. He describes his time in the Air Force during World War II. He discusses in depth his navigation of the blossoming artistic and literary scene in Greenwich Village in the 1940s and 1950s, where he met Allen Ginsberg, James Baldwin, and Jack Kerouac, among others. He explains that this group was very insular and tight-knit partially because they were among the first in the United States to start recreationally smoking marijuana. He discusses the development of an insider language among people in this scene, and explains that much of the slang originated from black jazz musicians, carnival workers, and drug addicts. He describes his nearly lifelong oscillation between Paris and New York, working for Olympia Press, and Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris, and his marriage to a Frenchwoman in 1953. He discusses his novel "Candy" which he co-authored with his friend Terry Southern in the mid 1950s. He describes his cycles of heroin addiction and detoxification, both in hospitals and independently. He describes traveling to London to recieve apomorphine treatment, designed by Doctor John Yerbury Dent. He compares the price, availability, and public perception of narcotics between London, Paris, and New York, as well as the addict-doctor relationships in the three cities. He discusses his move to Woodstock in the 1960s, and describes the drug scene and his personal heroin connections there. He describes his experience on the methadone program, as well as his experience detoxing from methadone. He compares heroin as a street drug to methadone, a sanctioned drug. He describes drug "supermarkets" that started opening up on the Lower East Side in the 1970s. He describes his reacquaintance with Judaism in recent years, and his studies at Lincoln Center Synagogue
SubjectsAccess ConditionsCopyright by David Courtwright
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