Dopefiend [Mass Market Paperback]

Donald Goines (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2007

For twenty-three years of his life Donald Goinse lived in the dark, despair-ridden world of the junkie. It started while he was doing military service in Korea and ended with his murder at the age of thirty nine. He had worked up to a hundred dollars a day habit and out of the agonizing hell came Dopefiend! It is the shocking nightmare story of a black heroin addict. Trapped in the festering sore of a major American ghetto, a young man and his girlfriend- both handsome, talented, and full of promise- are inexorably pulled into death of the hardcore junkie!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: Holloway House Publishing Company (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870679384
• ISBN-13: 978-0870679384
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donald Goines was a career criminal and addict who took up writing during one of his seven prison sentences. From 1969 through 1974 he published 16 novels with Holloway House, which are now recognized as blood-soaked and almost unbearably authentic portraits of the roughest aspects of the black experience.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scary, April 4, 2001

By 

Gayle Jackson Sloan "Author" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dopefiend (Mass Market Paperback)

Whoa. This is truly one DEEEEEEP book. If The Coldest Winter, by Sistah Souljah shows you how the dealers and their families live large (until caught) then this book shows you the effects of using. And I mean down and dirty, in horrifying graphic detail the author tells how a junkie shoots up. What it feels like not to have a fix, how they lie, cheat and steal to get that next fix. I won't lie, this book scared the hell out of me! And anyone who knows somebody who might be even REMOTELY tempted to try that most devastating drug of all, herion, then they should read this book. You'll be afraid to take an asprin!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw, Gritty almost sickening and Donald Goines best book., August 14, 2000

By 

"williedynamite" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dopefiend (Mass Market Paperback)

And I've read a few. I believe dopefiend was his first published book and it feels like it. It's about two middle class kids a couple actually that get involved in drugs (heroin). Donald goines striaghforward style and gritty narrativew fits this story perfectly. And the characters... let me say this I hope i never run even remotely like into Piggy in my lifetime. Goines description of him was enough to make my stomach queasy, let along some of the things he does. Donald goines really had an ear for the street life. He mad it real. So real at times when I read this book I almost felt sick reading it. Goines pulls no punches, in fact some of em doubled me over. (the dogs) Not for the faint of heart. if you are easily offended by drug use, violence and a story that doesn't end happily this isn't the book for you. But if your like me and you enjoy a good story that is not only told well but one that look a things in a in a different and exciting way. You'll like this book. This book isn't uplifting but it does teach a lesson, of sorts street style about what really happens to those who become involved in the street life. Dopefiend is about as raw and gritty as it gets. The story isn't a happy but it definetely is a satisfying read.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dopefiend (Paperback)

I hate reading and I am a college educated man. But this book totally engrossed me. The detail and vividness of Mr. Goines' writing is amazing! Everyone in life thinks they have some kind of insight in the world of a drug addict. Donald takes three main characters and watches their world unfold. You have the drug dealer, the drug addict, and his girlfriend who is the perfect girl and we watch each life evolve. This book gives you a deeper understanding of the individuals many of us despise and become disgusted with. I have a new understanding of a dopefiend and in many ways feel sorry for them. The book was fabulous. It is a must read, and for anyone who doesn't enjoy the wonderful world of Literture get ready to be entrapped in it. Donald, why did you have to go, many of our peers on the edge must pick up the book and use it as a guide for ceasing and dismissing!