Smokescreen: A True Adventure

With his drug-smuggling documentary short on financing, moving marijuana seemed the obvious way for cinematographer Allen Long to raise the necessary cash. Millions of dollars later the film had not been made, but Long's own life as a pioneering pot smuggler had played out like a Hollywood movie… seat-of-the-pants flights in a decrepit DC3 into the Colombian badlands, numerous near misses with law enforcement… fast boats, fashion models, fortunes earned and blown… From Mexico to Marin County, from the boardrooms of Manhattan to the midnight streets of Miami, Allen Long's true story is as entertaining as the greatest fiction, a hilarious piece of hair-raising reportage that will keep your pulse racing to the very last page. Robert Sabbag is the bestselling author of the classic Snowblind, Down Around Midnight and other works of nonfiction. His journalism appears in Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, New York, Playboy, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and other publications. He is co-writer of the film Witness Protection, based on his The New York Times Magazine cover story "The Invisible Family." It was nominated for two Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture.

Review :
"A tour de force... a documentary classic." Time Out "A wild non-fiction ride through the weed-smuggling days of the seventies... Both history and an evocation of a long-gone world, before the Drug War of the early eighties turned the gangsters to coke and the potheads to domestic growing." High Times "A sensational inside view of how the drug trade, particularly marijuana, started in this country -- and grew to epidemic proportions." Library Journal "A funny, stylish, entertaining book, and... the traffickers, even at their most addled and odious, prove strangely congenial company." Financial Times "More one-liners than a convention of comedians. It's hard to imagine that doing the drugs Sabbag writes about is as fun as reading him." Austin Chronicle "A compelling biography... makes perfect sense if you're stoned and is a great read if you're not." Playboy "An exciting, page-turning adventure, complete with a cast of characters few fiction writers could conjure... An appealing behind-the-scenes look at a more innocent time in America's infamous drug history." Book Page "It will undoubtedly keep your pulse racing and adrenaline pumping." The Times (London) "This true-life tall tale is like a cannabis version of the film Blow, featuring countless near-death episodes in a rickety, marijuana-stuffed DC-3." The New Yorker "Blistering reportage with a matchless line-up of renegades." Observer (London) "Filled with scenes that practically demand a life on the big screen." Kirkus Reviews "A truly remarkable tale." Publishing News (London) "Brilliantly told." Irish Independent "Shocking, irreverent and impossible to put down." Scotsman "A tour de force… a documentary classic." Time Out "A wild non-fiction ride through the weed-smuggling days of the seventies… Both history and an evocation of a long-gone world, before the Drug War of the early eighties turned the gangsters to coke and the potheads to domestic growing." High Times "A sensational inside view of how the drug trade, particularly marijuana, started in this country -- and grew to epidemic proportions." Library Journal "A funny, stylish, entertaining book, and… the traffickers, even at their most addled and odious, prove strangely congenial company." Financial Times "More one-liners than a convention of comedians. It's hard to imagine that doing the drugs Sabbag writes about is as fun as reading him." Austin Chronicle "A compelling biography… makes perfect sense if you're stoned and is a great read if you're not." Playboy "An exciting, page-turning adventure, complete with a cast of characters few fiction writers could conjure… An appealing behind-the-scenes look at a more innocent time in America's infamous drug history." Book Page "It will undoubtedly keep your pulse racing and adrenaline pumping." The Times (London) "This true-life tall tale is like a cannabis version of the film Blow, featuring countless near-death episodes in a rickety, marijuana-stuffed DC-3." The New Yorker "Blistering reportage with a matchless line-up of renegades." Observer (London) "Filled with scenes that practically demand a life on the big screen." Kirkus Reviews "A truly remarkable tale." Publishing News (London) "Brilliantly told." Irish Independent "Shocking, irreverent and impossible to put down." Scotsman