Mr Nice - Howard Marks

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is an auto biography about Howard Marks, who went to Oxford University, and was involved in Dope smuggling. It tells his story from an early age right up to being released from an american prison. The writing is compelling( I read this book cover to cover in about three long evenings.) His story is extraordinarily interesting, as it details his smuggling and associates with such detail, that you finish the book, and are always on the look out for his accomplices. He is a very likeable person, who appears to be very intelligent, and very witty. He has a regular column in Loaded magazine, which I would like to read ...  Read the complete review

Howard Marks, son of the Welsh valleys, Oxford student and international dope smuggler, writes his autobiography with the speed and panache with which his life has been lived. Initiated into the joys of marijuana whilst at Oxford, Howard quickly spies an opportunity to make money fast. Dope is really taking off in the halls of academia and it’s pretty difficult to get hold of. What is needed is an entrepreneur with nerves of steel who can supply the ever-increasing demand. And so Marks begins a life of globe-trotting, money-making, crime, police-evasion and subterfuge that is the stuff of action movies. At one point Howard had 43 ...  Read the complete review

Depending on your viewpoint on the use of cannabis, you will either tut loudly all the way through, or have a right good belly laugh. Either way, this is a highly entertaining and informative look at the world of drug smuggling. Howard Marks still possesses his slow, rather deep and drawling Southern Welsh accent, and if you've heard his voice the once you can clearly hear it telling you his stories. Stories about growing up a intellectually gifted child; his rise to the world of academia and universities; the gradual drift into the world of quick money drug dealing; the friendships that would haunt him in later life. The relationships ...  Read the complete review

Not being a big biography reader I saw somewhat sceptical when I was given this book by a friend. I'd heard the press stories about Howard Marks, read some of the spate of articles that were around when he came back to the UK and I'd even played his smuggling game on his website (it's very addictive by the way). But I really wasn't sure that an auto-biography was going to be in my reading list. The bedside usually holds William Gibson (of Neuromancer fame) or Terry Pratchett (and if you don't know who he is, then you are already a lost cause), so I didn't know just how well Howard Marks was going to fit in with these sci-fi, comic, ...  Read the complete review

There are some people who would never read a book like this, for whatever reason. This review is aimed more at people who are interested, but want to know whether this book is a good read or just a cash in. I can tell you now, it is well written and enjoyable to read. While I might not condone what Howard Marks did, reading this book did make me marvel at and admire the way he did it. At no time does Marks try to paint a picture of himself as an angel. On the other hand, the reader is left with the impression that they have read an honest, open and at times bitter tale of a man of principle whom, one suspects, may have been treated unfairly by the system. ...  Read the complete review