"An extraordinary accomplishment. . . . A remarkable book that will be
of great value to people who feel isolated, alienated and overwhelmed by
the circumstances of their lives."--Hubert Selby, Jr., author of Last
Exit to Brooklyn
"[Stahl] is a better-than-Burroughs virtuoso."--Thomas Mallon, The
New Yorker
"Original, appalling, indelible picture of a man trying to swim and
drown at the same time. Stahl has nerve, heart, a language of his own
and a ghastly, riotous humor."--Tobias Wolff, author of This Boy's
Life
"Permanent Midnight is one of the most harrowing and toughest accounts
ever written in this century about what it means to be a junkie in
America, making Burroughs look dated and Kerouac appear as the
nose-thumbing adolescent he was."--Booklist
A searing confessional infused with the darkest humor, Permanent
Midnight chronicles the opiated abyss of a Hollywood screenwriter and
his formidable climb into sobriety.
Made into a major motion picture starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson,
Permanent Midnight is revered by critics and an ever-growing cult of
devoted readers as one of the most compelling contemporary memoirs.
Jerry Stahl was born in Pittsburgh. He is author of the novels
Perv: A Love Story, Plainclothes Naked and I, Fatty, the paperback
edition of which will appear in 2005. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
