“The thing is, all my heroes were junkies. Lenny Bruce, Keith Richards, William Burroughs, Miles Davis, Hubert Selby, Jr... These guys were… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
“Just because I'd kicked junk, after all, did not mean I'd kicked being a junkie. And junkies lie. It's their primary addition.” — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
“This was, I sometimes thought, the last gift my father gave me. And the best: His death stood out as the supreme-o excuse for… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
I think there's a phenomenon of people who want to be around something that seems "dangerous." It makes them feel more real. — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
I always figured I myself would never be lucky enough to die, I'd just live on and on in this increasingly dreary spiral. — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
“Not until I stopped doing drugs altogether did I feel like a man. Not until I walked out of that fire did I have… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
“Not doing something crude right off is about as close as a guy like me ever gets to class.” — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
A waft of sweet hash drifted by, and I wanted to float after it like Wimpy levitating at the scent of a hamburger. — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
I always tell myself, when I remember the non-stop self-generated hell party that used to be my life, I wouldn't be here if I… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
My own theory is that people are just so desperate for somebody they can feel better than, in America. Now that everyone's going broke… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
“...with enough rock in your system, you could hear every noise in the universe.” — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
I think that a lot of people are in love with stress. It's the dirty little secret of Western civilization. People often mistake stress… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
“There are stories you don't want to tell, and there are stories that scald your brainpan right down to the tongue at the mere… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
Heroin spread that soft blanket over everything. But once the blanket was ripped off, it took a layer of skin with it, leaving nothing… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
“In some odd gush of patriotism, my mother had once vomited on the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, and a bust of Benjamin… — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
“Being a junkie, when you broke it down, was nothing more than a crazed day job.” — Jerry Stahl Copy Share Image
