The Basketball Diaries
by Jim Carroll
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jim CarrollEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1987-07-07
ISBN: 0140100180
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of The Basketball Diaries
Book Review: Brutal and Uncompromising
Summary: 5 Stars
Basketball Diaries doesn't sanitize anything, which is an unusual accomplishment. This book, you see, takes place in 1960's New York; a city of trash-strewn streets, dark and dangerous subways, filthy hallways, shady characters. It's the NYC of Taxi Driver, Death Wish, Kojak, Mean Streets, and all those films and tv shows that make us nostaligic for the Lindsay-Beam-Kotch era. By reading The Basketball Diaries, I felt as though I was smelling the vomit on the sidewalk!
Jim Carroll was one of the few White teens in his Washington Heights neighborhood. His friends were a mix of Irish, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Blacks, etc, and the one thing they all had in common was that they were all low-lifes from broken homes. He goes to the exclusive Trinity School, plays basketball, gets hooked on heroin, and ends up prostituting himself to support his habit. From the very first diary entry, he's stepping in vomit everywhere he goes. The descriptions are so graphic, that when he mentions getting an STD, you can almost feel your nuts itch!
Now you might ask, what is this book really about? Do we need to know about a teenager's hroin addiction? Do we need to hear about Times Square Theatres where transvestite prostitutes took their clients? Do we need a graphic description of of a kid shooting up with dirty needles and having sex with in a vomit-covered subway restroom?
The answer is no, we don't need to hear any of this. But I read this book because I wanted to learn history. I wanted to know what Manhattan was like in the 1960's, who lived there, what the people did with their lives. I first read this back in 1995, when I was taking art classes at Pratt Manhattan. Soho had a certain charm in those days, because it was all art galleries and interesting stores. The streets were still grimy, but no longer unsafe. As I read this book, I wondered "where are all the places mentioned in the book?" They were still there, but they were all transformed.
Manhattan has always been popular with single men and women, but not with families. I find that once the kids are old enough to run up and down the hall, the parents want more space, and end up moving to a house somewhere. Perhaps those of us who are born in Manhattan quickly forget what it's like to live in this city?
Summary of The Basketball Diaries
The original classic story about growing up with drugs and sex and about learning to survive on the streets of New York--once again in print. An urban classic of coming of age.Authors Books
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