I have always been
attracted to memoirs, as good ones usually give you more bang for your buck
than any work of fiction. My favorites are the ones written by criminals,
druggies, and general social outcasts. They usually did not initially set out
to become professional writers, but they all lived real lives and had real
stories to tell. They are the adventures and struggles of people who couldn’t help
but go against the grain, but who wore their hearts, even if they were cold, on
their sleeves. For me, there are too many to list, I could write forever about
Charles Bukowski alone…but for no nonsense fuckery, these are my five
favorites.
Junky by William
Burroughs
Junky was the book
that started it all. When it was first published in 1953 as "Junkie",
it was doubled up with a book about a narcotics agent to help balance it all
out. Although it was largely considered a cheap sensationalized paperback upon
its initial limited release, Burroughs did not write it in a sensationalistic
manner. The stories were written with such a dry, yet revealing tone, that when
I’d first read it as a teenager, I found its honesty to be a revelation. I'd
never read anything detailing aspects of addiction and homosexuality in such a
matter of fact way. And when you put it in the context of its time, it may as
well have been written by someone from another planet. Although I suspect the
publisher may have intended it for it to be received as a cautionary tale, the
beauty of it lays in the fact that Burroughs offers absolutely no apologies. He’s
also occasionally funny as hell. Even when he was clearly not having such a
great time of it, especially during his time in New Orleans and Mexico, at no
point does he attempt to entice any kind of empathy from his readers. And while
it’s been sixty-five years since he first described his experiences with opiates,
his portrayal of addiction still remains equally true today. The world may have
changed…but junk is forever.
You Can’t Win by Jack
Black
You can’t mention
Junky without bringing up the book that was one of Burroughs biggest
inspirations, and that, of course, is “You Can’t Win” by Jack Black. You Can’t
Win is the autobiography of a burglar with a penchant for opium and riding the
rails. While Black clearly lacked the sophistication of other more notorious
thieves like Joseph “Yellow Kid” Weil, or Willie Sutton, (who also both wrote
great autobiographies), Black’s descriptions of traveling around, cracking safes,
and crashing at hobo camps—when he wasn’t getting locked up—paint a much more
colorful picture of the criminal underworld as it existed in late 19th
century America. Somehow, despite a few stints in prison, Jack Black expresses
a sense freedom that would be almost impossible to imagine trying to capture
now.
Pimp: The Story of My
Life by Robert “Iceberg Slim” Beck
Pimp is just about the
heaviest book ever written. As the title suggests, the book is about a pimp who
got into the game in the mid 1930’s. Although pimping has probably been around
in one form or another since the dawn of humanity, no one has ever laid out all
of the subtle intricacies of the profession better than Iceberg. It wasn’t easy
being a black man in America in those days, and to not only be able to survive,
but thrive in Iceberg’s environment required a special set of skills that few
men could ever stomach, let alone acquire. According to Slim—the cold,
calculating life of a pimp required just the right balance of tenderness and
violence to be successful…and there was a reason why he was one of the best.
Although it’s almost impossible (for most of us) to have any empathy for a man
who exploits women’s bodies and minds for personal gain, there are good reasons
why many rappers regard this book along the same lines as the bible. And even
if you can’t allow yourself to justify his profession, it is impossible to
dismiss Iceberg’s insights into capitalism, race, psychology and more than anything
else: the nature of man.
Underworld of the
East by James S. Lee
Underworld of the East
is such an amazing book, it’s almost hard to believe it was actually ever
written, let alone released. Lee was an engineer from Yorkshire who left the UK
to work in India at the turn of the last century. Written at a time when there
were none of the same social and criminal stigmas regarding drugs, Lee decided
to indulge in them all. Morphine, cocaine, hash, and a few currently unknown
drugs that most of us would probably love to get our hands on. Add to this the
backdrop of all the different ports in Asia, with their red-light districts,
and opium dens, and it’s enough to make anyone feel nostalgic for a world that
has long since disappeared. For a British subject during the Victorian era, Lee
was well ahead of his time…and the best part about all of it, is how he not
only lets us in on his journey of self-discovery, but the enthusiasm he exudes
while explaining all the virtues of a living a better life through chemistry…
Fear and Loathing in
Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
There is little I can
say about Fear and Loathing that hasn’t already been said. Fear and Loathing
was a game changer that still has not been surpassed. It not only changed the
way people thought about writing, it changed the way people thought. Period. Forget
about all of the stuff about Gonzo journalism, all the drugs that were
consumed, and all of the remnants of the 60’s generation—and you still have a
book that is perhaps more relevant today then it would be at any other time in
our nation’s history. The heart of the story for me, is about the evolution of
humanity and the cold war being fought for the soul of America. Hunter was not
only detailing the “us and them” world of the Vietnam era, but a battle that is
still being fought today. The right-wing-conservative-Christian faction of the
country are still flexing their muscles, and still trying to essentially
control the dialogue about patriotism and morality. But as Hunter so eloquently
said, “Lord…the final incredible truth is that I am not guilty. All I did was
take your gibberish seriously…and…my primitive Christian instincts have made me
a criminal.” The honest truth is—all of the progressive freaks, the dreamers, the
wanderers and seekers, all of the social outcasts and social warriors—are all still
just searching for the same thing…a place where we are not marginalized,
criminalized, or relegated to feel like foreigners in our own country. We all
just want to feel like we’ve finally made it home, and for me, there would be
no place more comfortable to live— than in the sanctuary of Hunter’s world.
Joseph Davida is the pen name of a successful Nashville- based entrepreneur, former rock musician, and New York native. He is currently at work on his next book, as yet untitled. Connect with him on the web:
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