Permanent Midnight: A Memoir

by Jerry Stahl

Book Overview

"An extraordinary accomplishment. . . . A remarkable book that will be of great value to people who feel isolated, alienated and overwhelmed by the circumstances of their lives."--Hubert Selby, Jr., author of Last Exit to Brooklyn " Stahl] is a better-than-Burroughs virtuoso."--Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker "Original, appalling, indelible picture of a man trying to swim and drown at the same time. Stahl has nerve, heart, a language of his own and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976082209
• ISBN13: 9780976082200
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Process
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Permanent Desperation

Surprisingly, I found this book to be an excellent read. Stahl's extremely honest and no-holds-back dipiction of his "arrival" into Hollywood and his "departure" into heroin addiction, was incredibly exciting and moving. I've read 'em all (regarding addiction) and this is right up there on top. As a recovering addict myself, I find it hard to find an author who is genuinely honest of where the drugs and alcohol take them, and just how hard it is to get back, without having ego replace honesty. Hats off to Stahl for being able to accomplish the far and few between.

Fast, Dangerous, Sad and True:Addiction and the Human Spirit

This book reads as a wonderful and contemporary account of Hollywood, television, drugs, and most importantly, the life and drama of one lonely man. This man also happens to be an incredibly intelligent and brilliant writer, who is able to not only re-tell strange, funny, and sometimes disturbing tales from his years under the gun of heroin, but at the same time, provide subtle insights into the nature of addiction, and the faults and lies which are an inherent facet of modern American life, (something junkies tend to do all too well). An excellent read for someone looking for realism, humor, and insight into the mind of a fairly ordinary guy. Also would be a valuable asset to someone contemplating the personal challenge of a memoir.

The best memoir I have ever read!

I read this book over four years ago, and still think about it often. I love to read well-written memoirs, and this is the best-written one I have ever read. Stahl is incredibly funny, and articulate, yet the description of his devastating life with drugs is nothing short of amazing. If you know little about drug addiction, this book will educate you like no book can. This blows the stereotype on junkies - here is a White, professional , well-educated (Columbia Univ. grad), whose world explodes over and over again due to his heroin and cocaine use. There were times reading this book where I nodded my head and said "he can't possibly survive this addiction, it's so deep-seated; it's his whole life". Yet he manages to. I only wish he would write a sequel. I have not had a drug problem myself, yet I work with people who are addicts, and this book educated me better than anything else has about their behavior, and their world. Stahl has done what no one else has - He has shown us the life he has lead, and he leaves no stone unturned, even if it reveals some horrifying things about him (like taking his infant daughter along literally to a den of hell in order to buy drugs). Don't pass this book up.

Energetic, irresistable, sexy, sad and funny

This is a most incredible book: Jerry Stahl manages to show us how disgusting and dangerous the life of a drug addict can be, and make us laugh out loud at the same time. I have never read a book that made me laugh and cry in turns. This book succeeds on several levels: as a cautionary tale against drug-taking; as a look inside the empty, meaningless 80's in Hollywood; at the life-altering experience of anti-Semitism (his childhood); as a testement to the redemtive experience of being a parent; and as a prime example ofhow to write a memoir. And frankly, I have to come back to my original point: the book is hysterically funny -- Jerry Stahl survived because he's big enough to be able to laugh at himself. Read it ASAP.