Winner of the Robert-Cliche Prize in 2017 for his novel Master Glockenspiel, Philippe Meilleur saw his life turned upside down when his publisher refused his second manuscript, Enceladus, a utopian science fiction. A setback that was the starting point for a reflection on his consumption and his relationship to cannabis and addiction, which he recounts with authenticity and a good dose of humor in 420 grams.
Posted at 4:00 p.m.
Is it a story of introspection, an essay, a playful illustrated notebook on marijuana? A bit of all that at the same time, and that’s fine.
With 420 grams, published by Éditions Cardinal, Philippe Meilleur has taken up the challenge of telling an unfiltered and authentic account of his love-hate relationship with the cannabis flower. “Hello, my name is Philippe and I smoke jar every day for 15 years”, he announces bluntly in the introduction to his book.
Go back. In 2017, Philippe Meilleur, then a journalist and desk officer at The Presswon the Robert-Cliche prize, awarded to a first novel, with Master Glockenspiela satirical story steeped in absurd humor featuring a dictator with crazy whims, which unanimously won over the jury.
During the following years, the young man devoted himself to writing his second novel, Enceladus. At the same time, he decided to quit his job at The Press and to enroll in the National School of Humor (ENH), a way for him to affirm his identity as an artist and writer, and to explore humorous writing, he who has always had a penchant for absurd humor and satire, notably with his satirical media project Le Navet.
With Enceladushe wants to push the envelope even further with a very ambitious utopian science-fiction project, which he is finishing in the midst of a pandemic, when his marijuana consumption is experiencing unprecedented heights.
But there. After sending his manuscript, the author is ignored for six months by his publisher, who ends up refusing to publish it, he says in 420 grams.
If the news hit him like a punch, he assures today that he does not blame his publisher at the time: “I understand the reasons. At the time, it was still brutal. I had worked on it for three years, it was 400 pages, a big deal. But it made me think about what I wanted to talk about, what I wanted to do as an artist. The conclusion I came to was that I was really too much in my head with this work. It was heavy and painful to write, but when I smoked, I thought I was awesome! »
Stories of jar
A few months later, one morning in January 2021, things are not going well. “I said to myself, ‘That’s enough, I’m quitting smoking.’ This is where it clicked. My new project must document, in reality, my approach and my relationship to weed. »
I wanted to be honest and sincere. With my novel, I was so outside of myself. I decided to do the complete opposite.
Philip Best
Therefore 420 grams took shape – the amount he estimated he smoked each year, and also a nod to the phrase 4/20, associated with the counterculture of jar. The author recounts his long relationship of dependence with marijuana. Over the course of short chapters, he goes back in time, recounting how cannabis entered his life and never came out again. And how what started out as an overall positive and enjoyable relationship became more and more problematic over the years.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Philip Best
“I don’t want to prioritize addictions, say mine is worse or less worse than another. But I believe that there are several people who are in my situation; I’ve always been functional, I have a family, a condo… Yes, it had an impact on my morale, but it would have been a little dishonest to present myself as a victim. I still wanted it to remain funny and fun. »
Forget the moralizing tone or the dramatic finale; while speaking sincerely about his consumption and the twisted effects of addiction on his life and that of his loved ones, 420 grams is also a book that tackles, with a good dose of humor and self-mockery – and lots of footnotes! – the culture of “pots”.
From the first joint rolled up with a sheet of paper and white glue that makes him think he’s Krusty the clown (the glue rather than the grass is probably responsible here) to the buzz which plunge into joy and joy through mental fog, social isolation, abstinence and relapses, Philippe Meilleur offers a bittersweet look at this drug, accompanied by humorous winks such as ” five worst ways to roll a joint” or even the “Diagram of a poteux coffee table”, with the contribution of the illustrations of his friend the cartoonist Cab.
And in his trip to the country of abstinence, the former journalist also realized that the latter was not a panacea and did not miraculously solve all his problems. ” The weed wasn’t the root of all my problems, the stakes haven’t gone away. I have been consulting a psychologist for a long time, and I continue to see him! But for now, I have found some form of balance. That said, I don’t have a universal answer. »
Now a graduate of the ENH, Philippe Meilleur collaborates on the popular show See you next week and already has several projects in mind. And Enceladus, in all of that ? “I’m convinced that one day I’ll release it, but not in the current form. I’m going to have to rewrite it… But not right away, I’m still too traumatized! “, he concludes, bursting out laughing.
In bookstores on April 19
420 grams
Philip Best
Cardinal Editions
128 pages