Mr.Nice by Howard Marks

Advantages: An Excellent, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Honest read.
Disadvantages: Sags a bit in the middle but picks up again as soon as he is in prison!

...I found this book to be excellent! It was a really enjoyable read. Howard Marks puts across his entire life in a completely honest and genuine way. He is clearly a likable man and no matter what he has done you really can't help but be on his side! The fact that the basis of this book is his life involved with Cannabis did not really occur to be as a bad point within this book as it is told with such charm, wit, honesty and integrity that he could have been writing a book on anything and I'm sure I would still find him a brilliant writer and man. This is not an easy-to-read stoners book, it is a detailed journey of Mark's life and (as I quickly established) he is not a man with no brains who smokes weed, he is incredibly insightful, clever, funny and intellectual. When he gets to prison I really felt emotion as I read. He...

Caroline202 02.06.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mr Nice - Howard Marks

Maximum Marks

Advantages: Well written, intelligent, descriptive and emotional
Disadvantages: Glamorises drug abuse and smuggling

...I do believe truth can be stranger than fiction. I have just read this book, and it is definitely one of the best books I have ever read. It is the story of Britains' best known cannabis smuggler, Howard Marks, his remarkable life, his operations and eventual incarceration. The thing that strikes you about this book, and the way it is written, is how intelligent,shrewd and emotional this book is. It covers his life from childhood, right the way to his release from Americas' toughest prison. the way it is written is very descriptive and evocative, the places he has visited and his knowledge are all so well written and descriptive. If you are not at least sympathetic to his cause by the end of the book then you are a colder person than I am. The book details his various operations, his family life and prison. It is incredible...

mrbibbly 05.02.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mr Nice - Howard Marks

Russell Howard - LIVE!

Advantages: Histerically Funny
Disadvantages: Might not be your taste

...I have always enjoyed watching stand up and happily spend many evenings with the other half, falling asleep giggling to something silly. My favourite comedians include, Bill Bailey, Eddie Izzard, Jim Davidson, Lee Evans and Tim Minchin. While browsing through HMV a few weeks ago, making a few usual impulse buys in the hope of finding something good, I spotted Russell Howard's "Live" DVD. The name rang a bell and I briefly remembered seeing a 2 minute clip of Russell on youtube and finding it funny. So the DVD was brought for 9.99. If you have never seen Russell Howard before or seen any of his material, I can only describe him as being hysterically funny with a boyish charm. His youthful physical appearance, accompanied by a very cheeky grin really add to the already funny material he produces. He is very active and almost hyper...

chugglebunny 19.02.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Russell Howard - Live (DVD)

MMmmmmm...Nice...

Advantages: Excellently writte. Funny. Sad. And at last, the truth
Disadvantages: Only if you disapprove of cannabis

...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 forged in his early years of the 1960's helped Howard get a toe hold into a very lucrative market. By a gradual process of networking he comes into contact with a variety of people who are ready...

Salgirl 03.03.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Mr Nice - Howard Marks

Nice work until you get arrested..

Advantages: Funny, fast, exciting
Disadvantages: Should we really make a hero of Howard?

...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 oportunity to make money fast, and so begins a life of globe-trotting, money-making, crime, police-evasion and subterfuge that is the stuff of movies. At one point Howard had 43 aliases (some of which are used as chapter headings throughout the book), of which Mr Nice was one. He also had over eighty phone lines going, and owned 25 'respectable' companies which traded dope throughout the world. Throughout it all, he smoked his product constantly, which sort of refutes the claims of the anti-marijuana brigade that the stuff makes you lazy/incapable/slow. Howard justifies his...

sandrabarber 03.02.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mr Nice - Howard Marks

Top Marks!

Advantages: Eat in for £10 for 2 people
Disadvantages: May not have full selection

...Marks and Spencer Dine in for two at £10 offer has been running for sometime now, but I hadn't seen it in the new shop that opened nearly a year ago in Livingston, until quite recently - probably because I went at the beginning of the week and it is only on Thursday to Sunday inclusive. I think it has become so popular at Marks that other supermarkets have followed and copied the idea but I have never been tempted in Tesco, as the selection was quite poor, the wine had run out etc. We have tried this a few times now and only once have been disappointed with one product. Marks and Spencer are renowned for good quality food although they do tend to be quite expensive, but in a world where people want to cook quickly they certainly provide easy to cook and tasty prepared food. Saving on the washing up too as they tend to be in foil...

jo145 24.07.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Marks and Spencers Meal Deal

Top Marks

Advantages: excellent food
Disadvantages: a little costly

...We have all heard the stories of how poorly Marks and Spencer’s is doing in the clothing department, although things have started to improve. One area Marks had proven to be extremely profitable is their food halls. Marks and Spencer without a doubt provide some of the best food around, albeit more expensive than a typical high street supermarket. The food halls at Marks and Spencer’s are usually brightly lit, although the ones I have been in haven’t been brilliantly laid out, and are certainly not we would now class as a typical sized supermarket. Indeed frequently (if not in all cases) Marks and Spencer food halls are placed in an existing clothing shop. Prices are a little steep, but their food products are quality, and any unused food (at least sandwiches) is given to the local homeless when the shop shuts...

dabmim 05.04.2001 (01.05.2002) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Marks and Spencer

marked out of ten? eight

Advantages: Very readable and enjoyable
Disadvantages: Took me a few chapters to really get into, very American

...Marked is the first book of the House of Night saga from mother and daughter team PC and Kristin Cast. Marked is the first book of the House of Night saga from mother and daughter team PC and Kristin Cast. I bought my copy for just £2.99 new, but the jacket price is £5.99, as with most books now, if you shop around you are pretty much guaranteed to get a deal on it. At present the first five books are available, the sixth (Tempted) is due for paperback release on October 27th 2009, but doesn't seem to be being released in hardback. A seventh book, Burned, has been announced with an expected release date of May 2010. **History and background** This is another saga of teenage/young adult vampire fiction, a genre which regularly comes back into vogue. Cast seems to have piggybacked on the huge success of the Harry Potter series, and I...

M.Newcastle 04.10.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Marked - Kristin Cast

Does Marks hit the mark?

Advantages: Ideal location for city centre
Disadvantages: none really

...Having to travel from time to time for work I recently found myself having to spend the best part of a week in Glasgow and in need of somewhere to lay my weary head at the end of the day and Marks hit the spot in terms of distance from the office and located right in the middle of the city centre with shops and bars a few minutes walk away. Now I am not particularly fussy on where I stay and to be honest really dont have a huge say in the matter as we tend to opt for a combination of convenience and price that falls within the allowed budget so the question was would Marks hit the Mark, Marks describes itself as a 'luxury 4 star hotel but is it really? Arriving at the hotel at the end of our 1st day in Glasgow, having got off the train and straight to the office my colleague and I where tired and weary. The hotel itself is easy...

Julieshobs 29.08.2008 (01.09.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Marks Hotel, Glasgow

Nicely Does It!!

Advantages: Interesting, insightful and funny!
Disadvantages: Depends on your standpoint regarding drugs

...Howard Marks was born in a small Welsh coal-mining village called Kenfig Hill in 1945. For those of you who've never heard of this village (of which I'm sure there are many!!) it is situated near Bridgend, South wales. He was fortunate enough to win a scholarship to study at Oxford University and it was at Oxford that a young Howard was introduced to 1960's drug culture and more importantly, cannabis. Little did he know that this introduction would be the start of a journey culminating in his becoming 'the most sophisticated drug baron of all time' (Daily Mirror) via links with the British Secret Service and the IRA amongs others' along the way!! Truth is indeed stranger than fiction!! Published by Vintage in 2001, The Howard Marks Book Of Dope Stories was an eagerly awaited release and came five years after 'Mr Nice', Marks...

Vicky28Vernon 06.01.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of The Howard Marks Book of Dope Stories - Howard Marks