Description
From Cocaine, that most troubling and fascinating of substances; through Speed, an oft demonized and misunderstood drug and on to Heroin, long seen as the most 'literary' of narcotics - the contributors to this all-new original anthology reveal that those who partake are forever changed, but the price of paradise is often steep.
The Cocaine Chronicles: that most troubling and fascinating of substances is the subject, the subtext, the whys and whereofs in this collection of original short stories that are funny and harrowing, sad and scary, but at all times riveting. In this bold anthology by a cross-section of today's most thought-provoking writers, we meet the casual sniffers, the heavy users, the dealers, the victims and the unsuspecting victims - hysterical romps, tragic characters and unfathomable lows - rendering cocaine a drug that is anything but glamorous.
The Speed Chronicles - Deprived of the ingrained romantic mysticism of the opiate or the cosmopolitan chic of cocaine, there is no sympathy for this devil. Speed - crystal meth, amphetamines, Dexedrine, Benzedrine, Adderall; crank, spizz, chickenscratch, oblivious marching powder, the go-fast - twice the productivity at half the cost, and equal opportunity for all. It feels so good and hurts so bad. The first contemporary collection of all new literary short fiction on the drug from an array of today's most compelling and respected authors. These are no stereotypical tales of tweakers - the element of crime and the bleary-eyed, shaky zombies at dawn are here right alongside heart-wrenching narratives of everyday people, good intentions gone terribly awry and dreams going up in flames.
The Heroin Chronicles - That most "literary" of narcotics - the enigmatic opium poppy and its various derivatives - and as these stories reveal, those who partake of the sacred flower are forever changed, but the price of paradise is often steep: overdose, hepatitis C, degradation and self-destruction. The editor, Jerry Stahl, himself a recovering addict with long-term sobriety, has assembled an impressive array of writers to create this 'encyclopedia of bad behaviour.' Indeed, these tales of chasing the dragon, with corollaries often violent and savage, will satisfy devotees of noir fiction and outsider art alike.
The Hard Drug Chronicles runs to over 700 pages and contains more than 40 all new stories from Lee Child, Jerry Stahl, Ken Bruen, Laura Lippman, Nina Revoyr, James Franco, Sherman Alexie, William T. Vollmann, Megan Abbott, James Greer, Tao Lin, Joseph Mattson, Eric Bogosian, Gary Phillips and Jervey Tervalon.
CONTENTS - COCAINE
Ten Keys - Lee Child
The Crack Cocaine Diet - Laura Lippman
White Irish - Ken Bruen
Beneficent Diversions from the Crackdkins Diet - Donnell Alexander
Poinciana - Susan Straight
The Screenwriter - James Brown
Twilight of the Stooges - Jerry Stahl
Chemistry - Robert Ward
Shame - Kerry E. West
Viki, Flash, and the Pied-Piper of Shoebies - Deborah Vankin
Golden Pacific - Nina Revoyr
Sentimental Value - Manuel Ramos
Just Surviving Another Day - Detrice Jones
A.K.A. Moises Rockafella - Emory Holmes II
Camaro Blue - Bill Moody
Serving Monster - Jervey Tervalon
Disco Zombies - Gary Phillips
CONTENTS - SPEED
How to Go to Dinner With a Brother On Drugs - Natalie Diaz
War Cry - Sherman Alexie
Bad - Jerry Stahl
Labiodental Fricative - Scott Phillips
Osito - Kenji Jasper
Amp is the First Word in Amphetamine - Joseph Mattson
Addiction - James Franco
Wheelbarrow Kings - Jess Walter
Tips 'n' Things by Elayne - Beth Lisick
Pissing in Perpetuity - Rose Bunch
51 Hours - Tao Lin
Everything I Want - Megan Abbott
The Speed of Things - James Greer
No Matter How Beautifully It Stings - William T. Vollmann
CONTENTS - HEROIN
Fragments of Joe - Tony O'Neill
Hot for the Shot - Sophia Langdon
Dos Mac + The Jones - Nathan Larson
Possible Side Effects - Jerry Stahl
Going Down - L.Z. Hansen
Baby I Need to See A Man About A Duck - Michael Albo
Godhead - Eric Bogosian
Gift Horse - Jervey Tervalon
Ghost Town Lydia Lunch
The Monster - John Albert
Black Caesar's Gold - Gary Phillips
Sunshine for Adrienne - Antonia Crane
Poppy Love - Ava Stander
