What do you think?
Rate this book
Kensington Beach: Loss and Survival on the Streets of Philadelphia
He was a correctional officer who upheld the law. Then he became a homeless addict in America's largest open-air drug market.
Budd's life was built on a foundation of order and discipline, following his father's footsteps into a career in corrections. But beneath the uniform, a relentless addiction was tearing his world apart, brick by agonizing brick. In a harrowing descent, he lost his job, his family's trust, and finally, his home.
He ended up on the streets of Kensington, Philadelphia—a neighborhood ravaged by a new, flesh-eating drug called "tranq." His slow suicide was broadcast to the world through live-feed YouTube cameras, a modern-day hell where he became a "hitter," a street doctor paid in drugs and cash to inject others who could no longer find their own veins.
Kensington Beach is an unflinching, first-hand account of a world most people only glimpse through their car windows, the internet, or TV.. It is a journey into the heart of the American opioid crisis, where unspoken rules govern a community of ghosts and fierce loyalties are forged in the fire of desperation. It is a story of enduring brutal street violence, near-fatal health crises, and the gruesome reality of a drug that eats you alive.
After years on the street, Budd wakes up in a hospital bed with a choice that will alter him months of grueling surgeries to save his frostbitten feet, or a bilateral amputation that offers the only sure path to walking again.
This is not a story for the faint of heart. It is a scream for help from a place where so many have fallen silent. It is a raw, intimate look at the bonds of love and survival, and a testament to the brutal, beautiful, and often contradictory nature of hitting rock bottom. Ultimately, Kensington Beach is the story of what happens when you lose everything—including parts of yourself—and are forced to find a reason to live again.
This powerful and visceral memoir is for readers of Beautiful Boy, Tweak, Hillbilly Elegy, and Dopesick, and for anyone seeking to understand the human face of a crisis that is consuming our nation, one soul at a time.
Budd's life was built on a foundation of order and discipline, following his father's footsteps into a career in corrections. But beneath the uniform, a relentless addiction was tearing his world apart, brick by agonizing brick. In a harrowing descent, he lost his job, his family's trust, and finally, his home.
He ended up on the streets of Kensington, Philadelphia—a neighborhood ravaged by a new, flesh-eating drug called "tranq." His slow suicide was broadcast to the world through live-feed YouTube cameras, a modern-day hell where he became a "hitter," a street doctor paid in drugs and cash to inject others who could no longer find their own veins.
Kensington Beach is an unflinching, first-hand account of a world most people only glimpse through their car windows, the internet, or TV.. It is a journey into the heart of the American opioid crisis, where unspoken rules govern a community of ghosts and fierce loyalties are forged in the fire of desperation. It is a story of enduring brutal street violence, near-fatal health crises, and the gruesome reality of a drug that eats you alive.
After years on the street, Budd wakes up in a hospital bed with a choice that will alter him months of grueling surgeries to save his frostbitten feet, or a bilateral amputation that offers the only sure path to walking again.
This is not a story for the faint of heart. It is a scream for help from a place where so many have fallen silent. It is a raw, intimate look at the bonds of love and survival, and a testament to the brutal, beautiful, and often contradictory nature of hitting rock bottom. Ultimately, Kensington Beach is the story of what happens when you lose everything—including parts of yourself—and are forced to find a reason to live again.
This powerful and visceral memoir is for readers of Beautiful Boy, Tweak, Hillbilly Elegy, and Dopesick, and for anyone seeking to understand the human face of a crisis that is consuming our nation, one soul at a time.
478 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 6, 2025
35 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 29, 2025
Incredible Memoir
This was easily one of the most insightful books I've ever read. A true cautionary tale that is not for the faint hearted. Reading this memoir compelled me to make the choice of a lifetime of full sobriety. I am sure I will recommend this book to others in the future who need to hear this powerful message.
This was easily one of the most insightful books I've ever read. A true cautionary tale that is not for the faint hearted. Reading this memoir compelled me to make the choice of a lifetime of full sobriety. I am sure I will recommend this book to others in the future who need to hear this powerful message.
November 1, 2025
Absolutely wild read, Budd is an amazing person who I'm so glad has been able to share his story with us. It's a huge insight on the lives of people whose people have been consumed by addiction, very humanizing. Working in Healthcare, I've seen many people with his same struggles that a lot of us on the outside looking in just miss entirely.
Keep it up, man.
Keep it up, man.
December 26, 2025
Gripping, read in one day!
Not sure why, but was expecting self published mumbo-jumbo. This wasn’t that at all. Bud’s story was fascinating to read and I wish the absolute best for him.
Not sure why, but was expecting self published mumbo-jumbo. This wasn’t that at all. Bud’s story was fascinating to read and I wish the absolute best for him.
November 5, 2025
Like most junkie memoirs, this a very repetitive read. Heavy on the victim mentality, light on the accountability. YMMV; if you're an addict or "in recovery," you may not see it that way at all. That said, fantastic insights into Kensignton and the surrounding area. Especially "hitter culture." If you aren't familiar with that... you should read this book yourself.
Interestingly enough, this book made me rethink the whole idea of harm reduction. Definitely not his intention, but for this very unique area and problem, the act just seems enabling. Where people are laying in their own urine and feces, their flesh literally rotting off, you don't give them a pack of gauze and some over-the-counter medicine. Even the ones that wash their wounds and try to dress them up professionally. These people need to go to a hospital, to physically be removed from this unsanitary environment, and have that environment removed from their routine.
And for those that think money is the issue, not at all. Junkies know this better than anyone else in the population. The issue is they can't shoot their particular brand of dope while admitted. And I will give Budd full credit, he admits this flat-out, something similar memoirs conveniently leave out. But let's not pretend addicts don't abuse anything at their disposal;
There's plenty more examples, but I suggest you read them yourself. It's a very unique area, a very unique problem. From my perspective, it shows leniency leads people to spiral further and further down. When it comes to caring for addicts, there's a blurry line between empathy and enabling. As brutal as it may be, jail time (detox you can't voluntarily leave), is exactly what so many of these people need.
In the end, Budd only got sober because he lost his goddamn legs. Pretty hard to run out of the hospital without feet. I suppose it's a happy ending in that sense. Sadly, that hasn't stopped others from going back to the beach.
Interestingly enough, this book made me rethink the whole idea of harm reduction. Definitely not his intention, but for this very unique area and problem, the act just seems enabling. Where people are laying in their own urine and feces, their flesh literally rotting off, you don't give them a pack of gauze and some over-the-counter medicine. Even the ones that wash their wounds and try to dress them up professionally. These people need to go to a hospital, to physically be removed from this unsanitary environment, and have that environment removed from their routine.
And for those that think money is the issue, not at all. Junkies know this better than anyone else in the population. The issue is they can't shoot their particular brand of dope while admitted. And I will give Budd full credit, he admits this flat-out, something similar memoirs conveniently leave out. But let's not pretend addicts don't abuse anything at their disposal;
We’d try to get away with throwing a fake needle. I used to keep a “burner work” next to me–one filled with water or juice, if I was getting high in a heavily trafficked area ... At least we avoided arrest; anywhere else in the country, merely appearing under the influence could lead to jail time, let alone being caught actively using drugs.
There's plenty more examples, but I suggest you read them yourself. It's a very unique area, a very unique problem. From my perspective, it shows leniency leads people to spiral further and further down. When it comes to caring for addicts, there's a blurry line between empathy and enabling. As brutal as it may be, jail time (detox you can't voluntarily leave), is exactly what so many of these people need.
In the end, Budd only got sober because he lost his goddamn legs. Pretty hard to run out of the hospital without feet. I suppose it's a happy ending in that sense. Sadly, that hasn't stopped others from going back to the beach.
October 23, 2025
From the heart
I know this person and the spiral of decent that he took. But I never knew of all the things he went through or how he felt. This is truly written from his heart. I suggest you read it. It gave me a new understanding that addicts are still people too. Someone’s loved one.
I know this person and the spiral of decent that he took. But I never knew of all the things he went through or how he felt. This is truly written from his heart. I suggest you read it. It gave me a new understanding that addicts are still people too. Someone’s loved one.
October 31, 2025
Budd is a joy. That might seem like strange word to us to describe a book of this subject matter, but it’s the one I’m choosing. This is a fantastic read, and Budd should be so proud of himself.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews