BOOK REVIEW
Laurence Cherniak
Estate Studios
Make no mistake. Laurence Cherniak’s books covering the hash-making capitals of the world are the best documents, nay, tributes to the mystique and allure that has always dogged the reputation of this most concentrated of cannabis products. Through absolutely beautiful and detail-minded photography, Cherniak (a noted contributor to High Times and a world traveler) takes readers through the fabled lands of Morocco, Lebanon, Afghanistan and the Himalayas—places most of us have only heard about in anecdotes (or mused about in dreams)—to bring them up-close to every step of the hash-making process. Each image is timeless and full of a million and one details: the shiny surface of Nepalese temple balls, dust from Moroccan kief dancing in the sunlight, the moist interior of Lebanese blond. Cherniak is a one-man National Geographic and a superb guide into our expanded universe of cannabis culture. To quote the book’s introduction by Michael R. Aldrich (the then-curator of the Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library), Cherniak reminds us that hashish-making is no mere industry or enterprise. It’s “a labor of heart and mind.” Read this book and you’ll see. (Michael Carlos)
