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Robert Sabbag

Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade Paperback – October 1, 1998

by Robert Sabbag (Author), Howard Marks (Introduction)

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Called "a triumphant piece of reporting" (The New Yorker), Snowblind is an all-out, nonstop, and now classic look at the cocaine trade through the eyes of smuggler Zachary Swan. In a brief Roman-candle career, Swan served an elegant clientele, traveling between Bogota and the nightclubs of New York, inventing intricate scams to outmaneuver the feds. Creating diversions that were characteristically baroque, surviving on ingenuity and idiot's luck, he discovered in the process a hip, dangerous, high-velocity world that Robert Sabbag evokes with extraordinary power and humor. "One of the best books about drugs ever written." -- Robert Stone "A flat-out ballbuster. It moves like a threshing machine with a fuel tank full of ether...." -- Hunter S. Thompson "One of the first books about the cocaine trade and it is still among the best." -- Norman Mailer

Print length

304 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Grove Press
Publication date

October 1, 1998
Dimensions

5.75 x 1 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0802135897
ISBN-13

978-0802135896
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"A flat-out ballbuster. It moves like a threshing machine with a fuel tank full of ether. . . . Sabbag is a whip-song writer."-Hunter S. Thompson

Snowblind is an all-out, nonstop, and now-classic look at the cocaine trade through the eyes of smuggler Zachary Swan. In a brief, Roman-candle career, Swan served an elegant clientele, traveling between Bogota and the nightclubs of New York, inventing intricate scams to outmaneuver the feds. Creating diversions that were characteristically baroque, surviving on ingenuity and idiot's luck, he discovered in the process a hip, dangerous, high-velocity world that Robert Sabbag evokes with extraordinary power and humor.

"One of the best books about drugs ever written."-Robert Stone

"One of the first books about the cocaine trade and it is still among the best."-Norman Mailer

"An extremely rare cut of dry wit, poetry, rock-hard fact and relentless insight."-Rolling Stone

"A triumphant piece of reporting."-The New Yorker

"A witty, intelligent, fiercely stylish, drug-induced exemplary tale."-Los Angeles Times

"The ultimate slide down the precipice of hip."-Susan Brownmiller

"One of the most dazzling and spectacular pieces of reporting I have ever read."-Nora Ephron

"A classic."-The National Review

Robert Sabbag is a regular contributor to Rolling Stones and writes for numerous national magazines. His book Too Tough to Die brought the U.S. Marshals to their current prominence in the popular media. His New York Times Magazine cover story on the Witness Protection Program is being adapted by HBO.

Product information

Technical Details

Publisher

‎Grove Press; First Thus edition (October 1, 1998)

Language

‎English

Paperback

‎304 pages

ISBN-10

‎0802135897

ISBN-13

‎978-0802135896

Item Weight

‎12.5 ounces

Dimensions

‎5.75 x 1 x 8.25 inches

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Customer reviews

5 star		82%
4 star		4%
3 star		8%
2 star		3%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Liz192

Son read it years ago and was looking for it to read again

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

My son says it is a quick and fascinating read sure to entertain.

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Marcy Powell

VERY interesting true story

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

I find this story facinating. I read it as a library book years ago and couldn't find that it was still available in my current library system, so I ordered it here.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Too detailed, where's the excitement

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2001

Verified Purchase

After seeing the movie Blow and reading the related book, I enjoyed the subject so much I bought this book. I was disappointed. First, this is a very old book written in the 70's. Almost an amatuerish attempt. This book describes the drug smuggler, how he gets in the business, how he imports and makes his connections, and how he eventually is caught. Unfortunately, the author didn't know how to edit the book and instead starts on a story and then decides to give you an education on everything he has read about the subject. Then he goes back to the story. Therefore, I found this book to be verrrrry slow.
On the positive side, it's almost comical how this guy falls in the business and decides to go to Columbia to set up his product. Not really knowing anyone, he just meets street people and eventually runs into connections. The smuggler's real talent is concocting the scam on bringing the product in. Most of his shipments are not stopped, but even if they were, he develops stories so his mules can act like they had no knowledge and won't be charged. You should be aware, this is really not a big-time smuggler on the scale of the Blow character, but rather this smuggler brings in enough to last him a few months, then goes back for another trip.
If you're interested in drug smuggling, this book may fill in the holes. But from a pleasurable fascinating pleasurable read, there are better books like "Blow".

15 people found this helpful

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cayman

Great condition

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

8th copy I've had. Nobody wants to return them.

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2009

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I thought this book was a really neat read. The story tells one mans journey through the cocaine trade. The story catches you from a two angles. First the look into world of drug smuggling and smugglers and second the charaters in the story and how their lives are chnaged and different because of their connection with the drug world

One person found this helpful

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Edward F. Meyers

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2014

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Enjoyable, originally read it in 1976, lost the book, bought a replacement.

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

Excellent book, had the paperback and wanted a hard cover 1st edition.

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Imperial Topaz

Interesting, But Dated

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2002

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I enjoyed this book, but it was a slow read. I thought it was interesting how Swan smuggled in the 70's, but I'm sure none of these techniques would work today--if for no other reason, the cocaine-sniffing dogs! The author writes very well, but he was so sharp and witty, that I'm afraid a lot of those witticms flew right over my head, and I had to re-read many times to figure out what was meant, and even then, sometimes couldn't.

5 people found this helpful

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Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade Paperback – October 1, 1998

Editorial Reviews

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Robert Sabbag

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