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  • Published: 15 July 2012
  • ISBN: 9781609804015
  • Imprint: Seven Stories Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $34.00

Drugs

A Novel




A book with strong appeal to fans of humorous realistic fiction and serious social literature alike, whose author already has a loyal cult audience.

A modern homage to William S. Burrough’s classic Junky, the new novel Drugs is the sparse, beautifully unassuming account of one man’s life of drug use.

As Robert Crumb, who illustrated the book jacket, says,
“J. R. Helton really speaks to me—starkly honest, darkly funny, acutely observant, and captures the tragic absurdity of human life. . . . [H]e’s right up there with the best of them.”

This fictionalized memoir is told in masterfully wry, Spartan prose with no apologies for a drug-user’s lifestyle, and instead looks back on it with clever insight and an appreciation for everything felt and observed. With self-awareness and conviction, Helton avoids the sensationalist commentary so common to drug memoirs and instead favors the honest details, the effects of each drug on his body and on his soul. The result is a sincerely told tale of adventure, debauchery, and absurdity.

  • Published: 15 July 2012
  • ISBN: 9781609804015
  • Imprint: Seven Stories Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $34.00

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Praise for Drugs

"J. R. Helton really speaks to me--starkly honest, darkly funny, acutely observant, and captures the tragic absurdity of human life. I love that. It's not that common in literature. I think he's right up there with the best of them." --Robert Crumb

"Helton . . . writes with passion, clarity and fairness, sometimes pointing out the merits of people he doesn't seem to like much." --Harvey Pekar, author of American Splendor