Reviews for Permanent Midnight: A Memoir

The average rating for Permanent Midnight: A Memoir based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-03 00:00:00 Sharon Acton Permanent Midnight sets its tone in the first few pages, beginning with its author - Jerry Stahl - wearing a diaper to soak up the blood from his bleeding, post-op testicles. From there it descends into a story of debasement and self-loathing that is one of the finest and most enjoyable memoirs I've read. Permanent Midnight is a crazy, strung-out taxi ride though a life where a near unquenchable addiction met a salary almost big enough to slake it. This is no rock'n'roll I-took-lots-of-drugs-and-went-a-bit-far memoir. This is a dirty, life ruining, career ruining story where the profoundly negative impact of Stahl's substance use on his life is never far from the reader's mind. This is a fascinating tale of a motivated man who combined a powerful work ethic with self-hatred and drug abuse. Jerry Stahl is a guy who would go for regular jogs, but would blast himself with a dose of speed beforehand so he could run faster. He regularly got into work early so he could prepare an intravenous breakfast speedball and sterilise his needle with the office bottle of photocopier cleaner. This is a guy who started out writing for adult magazines and on porn films and became a successful screenwriter in the eighties, pulling down five large a week at his peak. Remember ALF? Stahl wrote for that show. Moonlighting? That one too. And he hated all of it, with a self-loathing passion that fueled his habit. We see Stahl (who is Jewish) befriending a neo-nazi drug dealer (complete with Swastika tattoos), taking his baby daughter along to heroin deals, flaking out in a toilet during an important production meeting, and explaining the strange, perma-long-sleeved life of the injecting drug user. He lives a tightrope double life of public success and secret squalor, blowing his relationships and opportunities for genuine, meaningful work while he pumps out dross for the shows that employ him. There's no happy ending here. Stahl doesn't cheat his readers with false redemption, rather he records his descent in full, and gives us the full trajectory of his dissolution. The bestselling story of a drug addict's fall from the top to rock bottom (and back up again after the publication of said bestseller) is a publishing cliché, but Stahl's story transcends the genre. What separates Permanent Midnight from the masses of such stories is Stahl's ever-present dark humour. Stahl possesses a sharp wit, an eye for his own absurdities and the writing chops to bring seriously funny moments into an otherwise grim tale - I was genuinely appalled by his story almost as often as I laughed aloud, and I laughed aloud a lot. This book is a real ride, and I've not read a more memorable story of addiction and its consequences. Permanent Midnight, is an important work in the drugs-ruined-my-life genre, right up there with Burroughs' Junky.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-10-08 00:00:00 Jose Martinez Years ago, I had a great job working as a media broker for a major television network. I was also heavily addicted to heroin and crack. So here I am going to network meetings in L.A, nodding in and out, and trying to balance both lives simultaneously. One of my best friends told me that my life was remiscent of a guy named Jerry Stahl and reccomended the Ben Stiller film, Permanant Midnight. I really identified with it. Fast forward a few years later and I am jobless, scoring in East L.A, and selling large quantities of heroin. I got busted and was hauled off to federal prison for four years. I rememebered the movie and knew that it was a also a book. So I had my dad order it. Jerry Stahl is one of the genuine talents of his generation. The book blew me away. I'd classify it as a literary memoir, Stahl really flexes his writing muscles and tells his story in a refreshingly honest way. It wasn't self-indulgant as some reviewers have lamented. This was an indictment on the materialistic, ego-driven, who-do-you-know, world of Hollywood. This guy knows what he's talking about and it seems that some readers have mistaken his sincerity for something they don't understand because they haven't inhabited the world he desribes. Another complaint that reviewers seem to have is that his story somehow lacks validity because he was given so many opportunities for success. The fact of the matter is that he is a great writer. He attended Colombia University and worked his way from a seedy Hustler magazine job to writing for various television programs. He earned the opportunities presented to him. And heroin addiction doesn't discriminate... It can sink its claws into you no matter what socioeconomic class you are part of. Addiction is still just as horrific and the struggles are just as arresting. Humor really makes this memoir standout as the masterpiece that it is. Humor is the last coping mechanism that an addict has, after all of their other emotional responses have been stripped away. When I was an addict I made everything a joke, no matter the degree of damage I was inflicting on myself. When I was arrested, when I contracted hepatitis c, when I had to get a puss-filled abcess lanced; it was all something to laugh off. The majority of memoirs about drug addiction are overly morose. They talk about the misery and never make light of it. Consequently, they lack emotional honesty. This memoir examined addiction and was sure to point out its absurdity when it was needed, all done so in this dark satirical way, that any true junkie will find humor, truth, and comfort in.