Junkie Love, Joe Clifford, is another of the must reads for anyone curious
and/or naïve about the effects of drugs (to include crack, cocaine, OxyContin and
the star of the show, heroin). I remain as naïve as they come regarding drugs.
This story is a real one about the life of a much celebrated writers these days,
a man who was once a certified heroin addict (the kind that used a needle). Here’s
one of many passages I found to be a great message for those thinking drugs are
cool.
You are not William
Burroughs, and it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference if Kurt Cobain was
slumped over in an alleyway in Seattle the day Bleach came out. There is no
junkie chic. This is not SoHo, and you are not Sid Vicious. You are not a
drugstore cowboy, and you are not spotting trains. You are not part of
anything--no underground sect, no counter-culture movement, no music scene,
nothing. You have just been released from jail and are walking down Mission
Street, alternating between taking a hit off a cigarette and puking, looking
for coins on the ground so you can catch a bus as you shit yourself.
This is the author’s story. The revelations are what you
might expect, except Clifford removes the wrappings and presents a raw insight
daring readers to digest the realities of a drug life. Readers used to a more refined, less graphic narrative beware.
The author doesn’t pull punches. He also persecutes himself in no self-serving
way. He describes himself as a ten-year fuck-up, doing what drug addicts do:
stealing from whomever they could steal from in order to maintain their junkie
health. It is an exceptionally well-written tale that exhibits the kind of
debauchery I suspect the Marquis de Sade his own bad self would cringe from reading.
I tried to read Williams S Burroughs Naked Lunch too many times
without getting very far. Eventually I tossed the thing aside and said, “Fuck this
shit. Life is too short.”
I couldn’t put Junkie Love down. FACT.
There’s a movie I’ve always thought should be part of every
high school syllabus--American History X. Junkie Love is a book I’d add to the
list of every high school syllabus.
Listen to me: It’s a hell of a read.
Pre-ordered … In the
Evil Day: Violence Comes to One Small Town, by Richard Adams Carey.
Rick was my third semester mentor in the SNHU MFA program. A
great guy, the ultimate humanitarian, and a great writer, Rick is also a magnificent
teacher. He's also a devoted Moonachie Blue fan who still revels in the fact that
Eli owns Giselle’s husband (a.k.a. Shady Tom Brady). I heard some of this incredible story when
Rick read for us in the program. It is compelling and heartbreaking.
I just did … Hello Charles Stella, Thank you for shopping with us. You ordered "In the
Evil Day: Violence...". We’ll send
a confirmation when your item ships.
SNHU MFA News … Captain Merle Drown donated blood at a RedSox game …
Check out Merle’s author’s page here: Merle is a terrific author (reviewed here several times) as well as a terrific editor.
When James Morrow, a social worker, first meets Kevin Flynn,
he suspects the teen is being abused. To learn more about Kevin’s home life, he
gets to know the boy’s father, Tucker, who’s a lobsterman. James is able to put
his suspicions to rest, and the two families begin to form a friendship.
When a kid at the local recreation center dies of an
overdose, Detective Maya Morrow adds the case to the long list related to the
drug problem plaguing the small New Hampshire coastal town of Newborough. But
her investigation gets her much too close to the dangerous players.
Both the Morrows and the Flynns are holding dark secrets,
and when their lives collide, tragedy is inevitable.
Hey, take a look-see … like Bernie, I don’t take coin to
promote … this comes from the heart, amici. I recognize so many fellow-writers in this promo (students and
faculty) … Cindinator! Lil’ Gronk! (she’s
a recently married doll who still owes me a dance!) Mitch Wieland (who
has a drummer son featured down below--a 17-year old me and the Principessa saw
play in Asbury Park a year or so ago--he’s terrific). Bestseller’s Leslie
Jamison and Wiley Cash are in that video … so is the desert father, Craig Childs,
Rick Carey, Diane Les Bequets (Lil Vince) … forgetaboutit … like Craig says
toward the end: “I think people imagine writing and they don’t actually do it.
Or they save it to some other time.”
Amici ... just do it!
—Knucks
Mitch’s son’s band interviewed at a Portland Radio station … check
them out!
