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Stephen Elliott

The Adderall Diaries: A Memoir Paperback – Illustrated, September 28, 2010

by Stephen Elliott (Author)

115 ratings

3.5 on Goodreads

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In this groundbreaking memoir, Stephen Elliott pursues parallel investigations: a gripping account of a notorious San Francisco murder trial, and an electric exploration of the self. Destined to be a classic, The Adderall Diaries was described by The Washington Post as "a serious literary work designed to make you see the world as you've never quite seen it before."

Print length

192 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Graywolf Press
Publication date

September 28, 2010
Dimensions

5.4 x 0.65 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

1555975704
ISBN-13

978-1555975708
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Elliott may be writing under the influence, but it's the influence of genius.” ―Vanity Fair

“Elliott writes with a grace and precision that calls to mind Truman Capote's landmark work, In Cold Blood. He, too, is fascinated by questions of motive, how our capacity to love is disfigured into evil, and our tangled mechanisms of denial.” ―The Boston Globe

“A searing, self-conscious memoir of drug addiction, obsession and art as a means of survival.” ―Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“It opens with this line: ‘My father may have killed a man,' then continues for 208 taut, high-wire, brilliant pages . . . With candor so raw it makes me never want to use ‘fiercely honest' to describe another writer's work.” ―Las Vegas Weekly

“You won't find a more provocative, masterful, thrilling ride than this.” ―San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Stephen Elliott is the author of seven books, including Happy Baby, a finalist for the New York Public Library's Young Lions Award. He is also the founding editor of the online culture magazine TheRumpus.net.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Graywolf Press; Illustrated edition (September 28, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1555975704
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1555975708
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.4 x 0.65 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #504,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,225 in Crime & Criminal Biographies
- #2,059 in Murder & Mayhem True Accounts
- #14,714 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
115 ratings

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Jonathan C. Gagas

Enthralling portrait of addiction and depression

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 14, 2018

Verified Purchase

For Stephen Elliott, living requires writing. In this enthralling portrait of addiction and depression, writing requires Adderall, prescribed by a psychiatrist who barely knows him. By age 12, Elliott had papered his walls with his poems: soon before he ran from his dad's angry outbursts and lived on the street, in and out of group homes. In The Adderall Diaries, he's a struggling writer, 35 years old, living in San Francisco.

For a memoir written while the author abused an amphetamine, Elliott's voice remains refreshingly even. The emotional urgency of expressing pain, and the financial urgency of documenting a murder trial, keeps The Adderall Diaries friendly to readers of literary fiction and memoir rather than self-indulgent. It's only 208 pages, after all. The memoir's accessibility may speak to careful editing --- Elliott's attention to craft after he eased up on the Adderall --- the success of his coping skills while he wrote the book, or both.

The author's voice speaks to the central drama of the book: not the murder trial or his brief masochistic relationships, but rather his struggle to live. By using the trial and relationships as coping strategies, he avoided sinking into anhedonia. This inability to feel pleasure could have led to abusing harder drugs as Elliott did during his teenage years, and thus another heroin overdose, or following his friends into suicide as he felt drawn to do when off Adderall. Yet he remains alive and writing.

His personal life continues to suffer as he ups his dose and snorts it near the end of the book. But by following the murder trial to the end, he cuts back on the drug and reconciles with his father.

Elliott doesn't set out to shock, including mundane anecdotes like working for a tech startup in addition to the darker, more sensational parts. Hence The Adderall Diaries have humor: the flat irony of a comedy of errors. Through it all, prose that hangs together emerges: even empathy with other writers who struggled with depression and amphetamine addiction. A must-read.

4 people found this helpful

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Nuke Town

Definitely liked this book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 9, 2022

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I liked this book and look forward to reading other works by the author. I saw the movie years ago, and although the movie was disappointing, I had always wanted to read the book.

Helpful

Alise

Some parts very good, others overdone

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

Stephen Elliott certainly was ambitious in writing The Adderall Diaries. I had mixed reactions:
I completely related to the writing struggles, still don't have any interest in BDSM, and found the true crime aspects fascinating.
As were some of the Adderall comments. I agree with Elliott that speed is speed; but also that Adderall is or has been in the past extremely helpful for my focus during episodes of ADD or whatever it was/is.

I have to admit to being somewhat bored by forced, hard driving prose--OK we get it, tough childhood. Someone mentions James Frey's A Million Little Pieces mixed with Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I agree with the comparison.
The Adderall Diaries memoir aspects seem at times to be more like semi-novelization, but Elliott is making a good point about memory and how it plays tricks, distorting recollection.

3 people found this helpful

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Breanna

Don't judge a book by its cover.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 15, 2012

Verified Purchase

The Adderall Diaries wasn't quite what I expected. Even after reading the reviews I was a little surprised with the book. Nonetheless, a good read. Taking adderall myself, I thought the book would have a little more focus on the medication. While he does often mention it, it's not as detailed as I had assumed.

I love the way and style in which the book is written. I could've done without all of the S&M parts, but this is his life and I respect how open he was. It takes a lot of courage to share so much of your story. Once I got past my expectations for the book, I was able to appreciate it for what it was. Stephen did a fantastic job on this memoir and it's definitely not one to pass up.

3 people found this helpful

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good time johnny

A Million Little Pieces x A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius = Adderall Diaries

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 27, 2010

Verified Purchase

It was a fun read, especially if you live in San Francisco and are familiar with Adderall. His Adderall habit is about as serious as that of a 17 year old high school girl, so he fails in making his drug abuse very compelling. His S&M stuff is also pretty boring. You'd have more fun reading Craigslist or going to the Power Exchange. But it's fun to read a book that references familiar SF landmarks, and despite the Adderall usage being quite tame, it's fun to read about that too.

The critical acclaim is bizarre, and must result from some kind of group think. It's not a great novel, but it's a fun read. I read it on vacation, and that was the right way to read it. An enjoyable little book.

And no, I'm not his mean and terrible father (read the book if you don't get the reference).

5 people found this helpful

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Gladiator

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 4, 2009

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Publishers Weekly calls him "the most underrated writer in America". So I guess that makes me the most underrated dad, and my dog Lucky the most underrated dog.

Steve Elliott grew up spoiled in an upper middle class Jewish home.

At 13 he was caught abusing his dying and disabled adoptive mother, causing her death, and was put in Read Mental Hospital by the State of Illinois. He has never been homeless or lived in group homes.

Since then he has published 12 books, all of which claim vaguely that he was abused as a child--without providing specifics-- and that he "grew up in group homes". He portrays himself as a sadly oppressed street kid who became successful through his own pluck with no help from a difficult world. He has promoted an elaborate con job into a career as a sad figure.

Recently his adoptive father donated $3,000 to help him start Rumpus, a popular blog, where he pontificates for those with literary pretensions, and rants about what a mean guy his adoptive dad is.

In THE ADDERALL DIARIES, he talks about how his thuggish, larger-than-life father might have killed a man, linking this to a famous murder case that he was pursuing for a television documentary. But since his father is a veteran of two wars, Elliott's guess that "he might have killed a man" can only provoke "Gosh, d'ya think?" as a response. Ed Harris is playing his father, Neil Elliott, in the film, co-starring James Franco.

32 people found this helpful

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