InAmerican Junkie,Tom Hansen takes us non-stop into a land of desperate addicts, failed punk bands, and brushes with sad fame, selling drugs during the Seattle grunge years. It's a story that maps his heroin addiction, from the promise of a young life to the prison of a mattress, from budding musician to broken down junkie, drowning in syringes and cigarette butts, shooting heroin into wounds the size of softballs, and ultimately, a ride to a hospital for a six-month stay and a painful self-discovery that cuts down to the bone. Through it all he never really loses his step, never lets go of his smarts, and always projects quintessential American reason, humor, and hope to make a story not only about drugs, but a compelling study of vulnerability and toughness.
Read as both a cautionary tale and an occasion for empathy as we struggle to reclaim lost lives and minds from the irresistible clutches of oblivion, Hansens nightmarish odyssey is one of the most potent memoirs of its kind. Seattle Times
“Heavy like the dark stuff itself” – Mark Lanegan
“ . . infused in equal measures with brutality and beauty.” —Gina Frangello, author ofMy Sister’s Continent
“American Junkietakes you to the gristle-chewing tracks of the gnarly Emerald City before the first wave of Sub Pop loving kids arrived, back when our dreams here had more to do with New York City and Los Angeles than being known locally…It’s the period of post-punk fear and desperation that drives Hansen through most of the book that rings true for anyone who lived in the wastelands where the city’s clubs would spring up. . . . The opiated alternative doesn't seem like such a bad choice in a port city with little respect for its young people; not until your IV wounds are oozing liquid the color and consistency of olive oil and you've long ago forgotten about playing out.”
—Chris Estey, KEXP l32
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