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First published in America, this is the account of Stringer's life and career, starting from his first piece of writing, produced under a station platform where he slept. A book rich with small acts of kindness, humour and heroism, alongside the expected violence of life on the street. There is always room for one more diamond in the rough.
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A Story from the Streets of New York City. With a Foreword by Kurt Vonnegut
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Curled deep in his burrow in a Grand Central Station crawlspace, Lee Stringer--ragged, homeless, addicted to crack--is digging around for something he can use to clean his crack pipe. Finally his fingers latch around "some sort of smooth straight stick": a pencil. In the days that follow, he carries it with him wherever he goes. "So I have this pencil with me all the time and then one day I'm sitting there in my hole with nothing to smoke and nothing to do and I pull the pencil out just to look at the film of residue stuck to the sides--you do that sort of thing when you don't have any shit--and it dawns on me that it's a pencil. I mean it's got a lead in it and all, and you can write with the thing." And so that's what he does. "Pretty soon I forget all about hustling and getting a hit. I'm scribbling like a maniac; heart pumping, adrenaline rushing, hands trembling. I'm so excited I almost crap on myself. It's just like taking a hit."
Grand Central Winter is the tale of Stringer's twin addictions--writing and crack--and the lengths he went to in order to satisfy each. But Stringer dwells on neither his descent into hell nor the long journey back. Instead, he paints a nuanced portrait of street life itself, its pleasures as well as its terrors. Hustlers, hookers, dealers and addicts come to life in a series of vignettes that are tough, unsentimental, but compassionate to the core. There's honest rage to be found in Grand Central Winter, but precious little political posturing. "Policy is never the real issue," he writes in "Dear Homey," his advice column for New York's homeless paper, Street News. "The real issue is the hearts of men."
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- PublisherHeadline Review
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0747273634
- ISBN 13 9780747273639
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages256
- Rating
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Grand Central Winter: A Story from the Streets of New York City
Published by
Headline Publishing Group, United Kingdom, London
(1999)
ISBN 10: 0747273634
ISBN 13: 9780747273639
Used
Paperback
Quantity: 2
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First published in America, this is the account of Stringer's life and career, starting from his first piece of writing, produced under a station platform where he slept. A book rich with small acts of kindness, humour and heroism, alongside the expected violence of life on the street. There is always room for one more diamond in the rough. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003406024
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Grand Central Winter : A Story from the Streets of New York City
Published by
Headline Publishing Group
(1999)
ISBN 10: 0747273634
ISBN 13: 9780747273639
Used
Softcover
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Condition: Good. Ships from the UK. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 40491620-20
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Grand Central Winter : A Story from the Streets of New York City
Published by
Review, UK
(1999)
ISBN 10: 0747273634
ISBN 13: 9780747273639
Used
Trade Paperback
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Trade Paperback. 250 pages. *** PUBLISHING DETAILS: Review, UK, 1999. *** CONDITION: This book is in very good condition. More specifically: Covers have no creasing. Spine has minor lean and minimal reading creases. . Pages are clean and unmarked and in excellent condition. *** ABOUT THIS BOOK: Whether Lee Stringer is describing "God's corner" as he calls 42nd Street, or his friend Suzy, a hooker and "past due tourist" whose infant child he sometimes babysits, whether he is recounting his experiences at Street News, where he began hawking the newspaper for a living wage, then wrote articles, and served for a time as muckraking senior editor, whether it is his adventures in New York's infamous Tombs jail, or performing community service, or sleeping in the tunnels below Grand Central Station by night and collecting cans by day, this is a book rich with small acts of kindness, humor and even heroism alongside the expected violence and desperation of life on the street. There is always room, Stringer writes, "amid the costume" jewel glitter.for one more diamond in the rough." Two events rise over Grand Central Winter like sentinels: Stringer's discovery of crack cocaine and his catching the writing bug. Between these two very different yet oddly similar activities, Lee's life unwound itself, during the 1980s, and took the shape of an odyssey, an epic struggle to find meaning and happiness in arid times. He eventually beat the first addiction with help from a treatment program. The second addiction, writing, has hold of him still. Among the many accomplishments of this book is that Stringer is able to convey something of the vitality and complexity of a down and out life. The reader walks away from it humming its melody, one that is more wise than despairing, less about the shame we feel when confronted with a picture of those less fortunate, and more about the joy we feel when we experience our shared humanity. *** Quantity Available: 1. Category: Biography & Autobiography; ISBN: 0747273634. ISBN/EAN: 9780747273639. Inventory No: 21050179. Seller Inventory # 21050179
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Grand Central Winter: A Story from the Streets of New York City
Published by
Headline Review, London
(1999)
ISBN 10: 0747273634
ISBN 13: 9780747273639
Used
Paperback
First Edition
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: As New. First Edition. 250 pages. Book appears to have hardly been read and is in As new condition throughout. Seller Inventory # 191003
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Grand Central Winter - A Story from the Streets of New York City
Published by
Headline Publishing Group
(1999)
ISBN 10: 0747273634
ISBN 13: 9780747273639
Used
Paperback
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Paperback. Once a homeless person himself, Lee Stringer writes about the large population of people who live on the street, taking us inside a world that few outsiders see. This is a used book in good condition, meaning that it shows signs of wear but has no major defects.Most of our images are sourced automatically, so the book cover shown might be different to the edition we have in stock. 2.1 Centimeters X 13.5 Centimeters X 21.5 Centimeters. Seller Inventory # 16907949
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