Customer Reviews

Permanent Midnight: A Memoir

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was my favorite of a long string of [auto]biographies I have read about (at least in large part) substance abuse (including Basketball Diaries, Blow, Disco Bloodbath, Long time Gone (about David Crosby), A Drinking Life, etc.). I enjoyed Stahl's writing style a great deal- he's got a dry wit, and writes a droll account. However, his "hipness" did leave me in the dust a few times. He facilely rattles off names and movies by way of analogy and metaphor, and I am either too young or watch too few movies to understand them all. The book is through and through Hollywood in its groovy tone; even when Stahl inveighs against Tinseltown's excesses and characters, you can see that he is a part of the scene (e.g., he was killing himself with smack yet was a staunch vegetarian and long distance runner). Still, the book is hilarious, especially if you like things viewed through a sardonic lens.

Permanent Midnight is as objectively recounted as I suppose can be, and while Stahl doesn't seem to ask the reader for pity, I felt he tried to paint his environment as bleakly as possible, so as to lead one to think his drug use was inevitable. Truth be told, Stahl didn't seem to have it so bad, and fell blindly into a series of enviable career positions that probably only led to drugs because of the capital it gave him with which to feed his habit.

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.

This is as well-written a memoir as I've ever read and the subject matter is utterly fascinating. While I enjoyed the film they made of this book, the book itself does far more to illuminate the dysfuntional aspects of Stahl's life and the reasons behind the self-loathing behavior. The bottom line for readers, though, is that the book is a page-turner--as entertaining and gripping as the best suspense novels and as hilarious as the best comic novels. The fact that all this actually happened makes the book even more haunting. A classic of our time.

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.

First let me say that Jerry Stahl is a good writer. This book does not disappoint because Stahl can't get his point across clearly or in an entertaining way. It's just that he covers the same ground again and again and again. He tries for self-depracating humor which works early on, but by the half-way point the reader knows what's coming next. More self-loathing, more flashbacks to a cruddy childhood and more platitudes about loving his child while simultaneously shooting up. Apparently, Stahl finally kicked his addictions, but he doesn't ever really explain his enlightenment. I give Stahl an A for realism and showing that the life of an addict sucks, but I give him a C for redundancy and a C on his self-analysis.

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.

For those who like no holds barred non-fiction about sub-cultures this book will will be hard to put down. As in Leaving Las Vegas, I kept wondering how this guy was able to avoid getting arrested or seriously hurting or killing someone or himself for so long. I also wondered why he never tried to commit suicide, since his suffering seemed unbearable. As I read this book I kept waiting for him to finally clean up and get on with his life. It was frustrating to read how easily he would relapse after making the difficult effort to detox. After several of these cycles, I expected that by the end of the book he would have finally made it, but the ending leaves you hanging with uncertainty. It seems that he failed at every method of recovery that he tried. I can't imagine what finally worked, but if he writes another book, I will probably read it.

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.

Permanent Midnight is a journey of horrific proportions into the underbelly of addiction. Stahl's account of his experiences are vivid and a sometimes terrifying firsthand account of the depths an addict can sink. This book is comparable to other accounts such as Burroughs or any biography about Kieth Richards. The sheer sensational quality of this book is enough to make for evocative reading, yet Stahl seems to fall victim to a great deal of name dropping which adds too much punch to an already "punch drunk" experience. Stahl's writing style is scattered and wordy in spots, which is either a result of his substance problem or due to years writing for television. Where Stahl shines is his ability to describe the subject ,in all its scarry details, from his first "taste" to his eventual plunge into full blown junkie status. The episodes read as a strung out confessional of how twisted and tattered a human can become before truly breaking. This book should be read by any aspiring drug addict for its shock value alone. Stahl proves with his account it is possible to sink to the lowest levels of existence and survive to tell the story to others. Where this book will be a success is in steering others away from his mistakes in his use of heroin and various other substances, which are many and their quanity astounding. A good read for those unaccustomed to the despicable elements of the drug culture and how taxing the life of a junkie can actually be. Stahl gives an all too close insider's view of a world few will ever know nor survive to tell about.

I don't read a lot of memoirs, but this one sparked my interest. Jerry Stahl is a writer, obviously, who has written for Playboy, Hustler, Penthouse and then on to screenwriting in Hollywood. Somewhere along the way he picked up a very nasty drug addiction.

He starts with acid in High School, and quickly moves on to cocaine and heroin.

This book is very honest. Stahl makes plenty of excuses for his addiction but also admits that he shouldn't have any excuses. He's a very well paid TV screenwriter (ALF, Moonlighting, Thirty Something) with a $6,000 a week heroin addiction.

One story that sticks but in my mind is when Jerry is given a week to write a sample for Twin Peaks. He is in such an extreme drug haze, that when the messenger arrives to pick up the script, Jerry thinks it's only been two days. Sorry, Jerry, it's been seven. Then there's the time Jerry smokes crack while living out of his car and realizes he's `one of those people.'

Jerry tries to clean up multiple times. Sometimes he succeeds, but he always seems to find his way back into the arms of his addiction. Not even his newborn baby can save Jerry.

I enjoyed this book. It is dark and at times disturbing. But, Jerry remains hopeful. This book was written in 1994, and I hope Jerry is clean.