The Book of Drugs: A Memoir - Softcover

Doughty, Mike

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0306818779 ISBN 13: 9780306818776

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2012

Synopsis

Mike Doughty first came to prominence as the leader of the band Soul Coughing then did an abrupt sonic left turn, much to the surprise of his audience, transforming into a solo performer of stark, dusky, but strangely hopeful tunes. He battled addiction, gave up fame when his old band was at the height of its popularity, drove thousands of miles, alone, across America, with just an acoustic guitar. His candid, hilarious, self-lacerating memoir, The Book of Drugs—featuring cameos by Redman, Ani DiFranco, the late Jeff Buckley, and others—is the story of his band’s rise and bitter collapse, the haunted and darkly comical life of addiction, and the perhaps even weirder world of recovery.

About this title

Product Description

Title: The Book of Drugs( A Memoir) <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: MikeDoughty <>Publisher: DaCapoPress

Review

"A tell-all account of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll...Doughty advocates the need for self-acceptance, making The Book of Drugs a universal read...Doughty shines as a writer. His prose, both didactic and insightful, is nothing short of extraordinary." Phawker.com, 5/5/12"Wickedly funny." Souciant.com, 5/10/12"A memoir that's stark in its depiction of family dysfunction, abusive relationships and the incessant hunger for drugs." Boston Globe, 5/4/12"[A] funny, smart, and candid memoir." Metro Boston, 5/4/12"Detail[s] the journey of a man thawing out from an icy military childhood, breaking through a series of crippling addictions and finding a renewed salvation in the sound of music. [Doughty's] narrative voice is vivid, confident and funny." Quincy Patriot Ledger, 5/4/12"Doughty's book is an unvarnished view of someone who was lost in the haze of drugs and drink, disillusioned at the price of success in the music world, and frankly disappointed in the success he had. It's candid, perhaps nasty in spots, but ultimately triumphant."

"An occasionally cringe-inducing and jawdroppingly honest recollection of [Doughty's] myriad addictions. But to limit it--to suggest as Doughty's title does--that it is a memoir only about drugs, is to do disservice to Doughty's sharp wit and acute memoirist's eye...Drugs is a self-deprecating, apologetic, fuck-off, roller coaster that reveals Doughty's emotional wiring at its most exposed. But more than any such salacious adjectives, The Book of Drugs is also a subtle observation on the 90s alternative rock scene and the excesses that made that decade simultaneously abhorrent and jubilant...You may not think there needs to be one more drug narrative in an already crowded field of drug addicted memoirists, but The Book of Drugs is like a sharp knife to the skin. It's quick and painful and bloody, but fascinating and tragic nonetheless. And it can make you feel stronger in a twisted way once the healing begins." MiddleMojo.com"A literary middle finger to the artist's salad days. It puts the mental in unsentimental. It screams goodbye to all that--the band, the junk, the tunes, the willful inscrutability." KUT Radio (website), 2/14/12

"Written in more of a conversational collection of anecdotes, remembrances and one-off stories, though largely chronologically, Doughty eschews the traditional chapter by chapter story in the life of, opting for a more original take on the standard rock memoir...His time in Soul Coughing and his relationship with drugs clearly made for some fascinating stories." The Nervous Breakdown, 2/6/12"The Book of Drugs reads like a late night conversation, Doughty's candor charged by a quick wit and a merciless sense of humor that bring an electric edge to the stories within his story...The Book of Drugs is much more than Doughty's memoir, however--it is a bare-knuckled take on the 90s and the cultural icons who informed that period." St. Paul Pioneer Press, 2/2/12"A frank dissection of [Doughty's] dual careers in music and addiction." Creative Loafing Atlanta, 2/3/12

"A fascinating read that's as much a chronicle of the music industry in the waning days of the 20th century as it is a story of addiction and recovery...What makes this memoir so moving is the author's unabashed honesty about his artistic and personal insecurities...A satisfying, moving, and at times hilarious study of drug addiction, the music industry, and, above all, the cacophonous jangle of bizarre and often contradictory impulses that define the human condition." Culturemap Austin, 1/31/12
"Fans of Doughty, those who hang on his drawn syllables and poetic songs, will appreciate the book. It has all the sardonic humor that someone familiar with his live show would expect." Offbeat.com, 2/10/12"Chronicles Soul Coughing's rise and fall, Doughty's tragic, funny and strange struggles with addiction, and his even weirder experiences in recovery." New School Free Press, 2/7/12"[Doughty] invites readers into his sardonic world." The Agit Reader

"Much like his music, The Book of Drugs is intimate, witty and driven by Doughty's masterful sense of storytelling." Reference and Research Books News, April 2012
"[Doughty] describes his neurotic former bandmates and his own outrageous behavior with self-deprecating humor and brutal honesty." Georgia Straight (Canada), 4/4/12"There's a fascinating story tucked away amid the one-night stands and near-overdoses."
LAist.com, 4/10"[Doughty] pulls no punches in his book, telling candid tales." Pitch, 4/4"Readers will be hard-pressed to find a more sensational--or entertaining--glimpse into the world of dysfunctional band dynamics...Brisk, finely chiseled language." Portland Mercury, 4/6
"[A] spectacular new memoir...A whirlwind, flash-fiction-style account of [Doughty's] life...A painful, funny, acidic memoir."
New York Times, 4/20/12"His unreserved autobiography...[is] a vibrant surprise."

"Full of weird and spastic drug stories, and desperately trying to stay off drug stories, and the glimpses of grace that come between those events. Doughty is a compelling writer, even when he rackety-rambles...The bones in a chair scenes of utter addiction are as throttling as any you've read...The eviscerating honesty, sometimes very charming self-deprecation, and attention to personal and musical cultural detail makes Book of Drugs an awesome read, more than once." Curled Up with a Good Book, 3/10/12"Doughty is a fine writer...[The Book of Drugs] take[s] you inside the head of a creative mind, and that's worth reading about." Norridge Harwood Heights News, 3/13/12"Doughty doesn't pull any punches in the book." KDHX.org, 3/12/12
"Doughty's humble voice and one foot forever in the indie underground makes this book more "Cash" by Johnny Cash than "Life" by Keith Richards...[Doughty] writes as memory occurs to everyone, and his tone is loose and familiar enough to feel like a conversation...His humor is wry and self-deprecating." BoingBoing.net, 3/22/12

"The themes are often dark, but they also underscore the absurdities that often accompany life's greatest traumas. The book recalls, in places, the wildest work of Hunter S. Thompson but with considerably more heart." Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 2/16/12"The Book of Drugs is very funny, although Doughty is brutal in both his self-evaluation and his thoughts of others around him." New Orleans Times-Picayune, 2/11/12"Written matter-of-factly, it has little use for sentimentality or sloganeering." LargeHeartedBoy.com, 2/17/12"A captivating and brutally honest story of addiction and recovery." StereoSubversion.com, 2/16/12

"The book reads as straightforward as the title, striking in its chillingly honest, matter-of-fact tone that still makes for an intensely readable tale...Unlike many drug memoirs, the stories here are devoid of the hint of self-congratulatory pride of having a crazy story to tell--and having survived to tell it...It's the clear-eyed self-awareness that makes this book so compelling and keeps you turning the page even if you're disgusted, surprised or disappointed...The Book of Drugs is an intimate and compelling tale of one musician's drug abuse and recovery, refreshingly devoid of hyperbole and self-congratulatory platitudes." InfoDad.com, 2/16/12
"[If] you are a fan of Doughty and want to hear his version of how he became a better musician and better person through and beyond drugs, then The Book of Drugs is for you."
Buffalo News, 2/17/12"[An] autobiography of art and self-abuse...[A] harrowing and hilarious memoir...[Doughty] writes with an openness that routinely borders on the disturbing about his lengthy dalliance with drugs and booze." Lexington Herald-Leader, 2/17/12

You're Beautiful, New York, January 2012
"Full of succulent period errata, much like Patti Smith's Just Kids and Eileen Myles' Inferno. We go to legendary places and meet legendary people along the way...Like Smith and Myles, Doughty recreates downtown Manhattan in his formative moment with adroit and insouciant deftness. One comes to see and know as he has. It is a deeply enchanting backdrop for a deeply disenchanting behind-the-scenes."
PopMatters.com, 1/17/12"The Book of Drugs can simultaneously be a rock 'n' roll tell-all, harrowing drug account, and a uniquely personal tale all in one, without ever feeling like it's playing any of those angles deliberately. The reason why The Book of Drugs works is because it's absolutely unflinching...A highly entertaining read...All in all, The Book of Drugs is an outstanding book. It's a litany of stories filled to the brim with personality, wit, and humor...One of the best books you'll read this year." Addiction Inbox (blog), 1/14/12

Billboard.com, 12/7/11"Chronicles his treacherous, intoxicated years as frontman of Soul Coughing in the 90s, through his transition into a fruitful (sober) solo career, with plenty of self-deprecating humor, band squabbles, music biz debauchery, and notable cameos from Jeff Buckley, Dave Matthews and Ani DiFranco and along the way."
Library Journal, December 2011"[A] soul-baring memoir...Much more than a musician's autobiography, this is a tale about the resurgence of the human spirit; Doughty captures a little bit of all of us in his journey. Recommended." Jambands.com, 12/16/11
"Not only an open look by Doughty at his past addiction problems, but a smart, funny, and honest view of the late 80s/early 90s NY music scene, Doughty's years with the band Soul Coughing, and what it was like to reach the other side of a very dark place. Don't for a moment think that Mike Doughty has written your typical I-got-clean-and-now-I'm-above-all-that sort of book."
Relix, January/February 2012"Love stories to drugs that [Doughty] had to quit. Suddenly, the fine points of 'The Huffer and the Cutter, ' about love between damaged people, takes on an even deeper meaning." Booklist, 12/28/11

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0306818779
• ISBN 13: 9780306818776
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256