Smells Like: Drugs, Music and Life in the 90's

by Amy Asbury, Becky Asbury

Mosh pits, Venice Beach, raves, mind-blowing concerts, snowboarding, hipster record stores...This was the 90's for Becky Asbury. She was part of Generation X, the MTV generation. They were the first generation to be heavily affected by divorce and broken homes. They were the generation whose mothers went back to work in droves. The generation of many latch-key kids, raised in after-school programs. They grew up searching for their identity. They were numb, they were bored, they were angry, cynical, and alienated. They were called unfocused, uncommitted, apathetic slackers. But the truth was, they were lost.

SMELLS LIKE is a true story about a girl who came from a typical eighties middle-class family and what happened after her home life was shattered. Some kids ran off and caused chaos, but Becky Asbury turned quietly to drugs, namely Crystal Meth.

How did she get drugs? What did it feel like to do them? What did it do to her physically and mentally? Read true diary entries from the life of a girl in 1990's Los Angeles trying to figure out who she was; working in record stores, listening to Grunge, and all the while wishing she could get it together and become a ballet dancer.

Grab your flannel shirt and put in your nose ring, it's time to dive back into the decade that reminded us that sometimes you have to lose yourself in order to find yourself.

248 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2013

About the author

Amy Asbury is the author of five books: Once Upon The Eighties, The Sunset Strip Diaries, Confetti Covered Quicksand, Valley Girl and Fuzzie Wuzzie. She is influenced by Truman Capote, J.D. Salinger, Mary McCarthy, John Cheever, and Judy Blume. She also draws inspiration from film (Martin Scorsese, Sophia Coppola, and P.T. Anderson are favorites), creative design, interesting photography, and beautiful animation.

Amy is a collector of vintage books, retro toys, and eighties candy packages. She loves bookstores, libraries, old-time ice cream parlors and antique shops, and is most at home in the classic Hollywood restaurants or the beaches of her hometown in Los Angeles. She is married to an awesome New-Yorker and has one bookish son.

Reviews

[Amy Asbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I'm gonna love it!

[Lorra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, but it felt more like an collection of blog posts than a book. Still pretty fun and nostalgic...except for the meth.