New York City Junky Days

by Michael Cline

A wild ride into the rabbit hole of heroin addiction in old-school New York City. A glimpse into a man's descent into madness as he falls deeper into addiction, hitting new lows and eventually finding redemption. Poignant, raw, and honest, this memoir lets you experience a dark world few have ever encountered. Set against the gritty backdrop of the East Village in the 80s and 90s, it includes stories of random meetings with three of the four Ramones, working for Michael Alig, a hilarious encounter with Allen Ginsberg, and a darker one with Herbert Huncke. This stream-of-consciousness memoir offers a visceral and honest eyewitness account of downtown culture, addiction, survival, and the dawn of recovery. FIND IT ON LULU.

176 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2022

About the author

Michael Cline writes raw, honest memoir about addiction, recovery, travel, and the places that shape us. His books include NEW YORK CITY JUNKY DAYS, a stream-of-consciousness account of heroin addiction in New York's East Village during the 1980s and 90s; NEW YORK RECOVERY DAYS, which follows the difficult road from getting clean to genuine recovery; and MY ADVENTURES IN TUVA, an account of his fascination with the remote Russian republic and the throat-singing tradition that became an unlikely part of his recovery.

Cline's writing takes readers from the dive bars and streets of a vanished downtown New York to the Siberian steppe, the Peruvian jungle, and eventually Barcelona, where he now lives.

His books explore addiction, survival, recovery, second chances, and the strange experiences that can change the direction of a life. ALL THREE ARE AVAILABLE ON LULU.COM

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man did this book bring back memories. It is a brutally honest account of the trials and tribulations encountered while drug addicted. Along the way are various funny East Village slice of life stories like running into Iggy Pop and Marky Ramone.

The book could have used a solid proofread but the intention behind the book was great and the book had good flow.

[Andrea Durrheim]

I couldn't stop reading until I reached the end. I loved the stories about New York City in the bad old, creative old days - packed with eccentrics, artists, and YOLO energy. I followed Michael into the hell of addiction, rooting for him all the way.

It's honest. It's real. It feels like he's telling you his story in person. What a ride! I'm happy that he survived to tell his tale - and what a tale it is! Read it when you have time to get so absorbed that you can't put it down, even if the world is ending around your ears.

Recommended: the sequel, "New York Recovery Days," is no less absorbing and even more adventurous.

[Lara Ernest · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lived on the Lower East Side when this memoir takes place, and Michael Cline gets it right. The dive bars, the people, the internal logic of that world all felt authentic to me. That New York is gone now, and I’m grateful Michael Cline took the time to write it down. Cline writes about addiction with remarkable restraint. He writes from the inside and trusts reality to do the work, revealing how people gradually find themselves living lives they never imagined. If you’re interested in a vanished New York or in the complexity of human nature, I highly recommend this book.

[olivia bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

New York City Junky Days by Michael Cline is as raw and unfiltered as it gets. This isn’t a glamorized version of addiction, it’s messy, painful, chaotic, and at times surprisingly reflective. Cline doesn’t hold back when describing how deep he fell, and that honesty is what makes the book so compelling.

What really stood out to me was the backdrop of old,school East Village in the 80s and 90s. The stories about meeting The Ramones, working for Michael Alig, and even the unexpected encounter with Allen Ginsberg add this surreal cultural layer to an otherwise dark spiral. It feels like you’re witnessing a lost era of New York through someone who lived on its fringes.

It’s gritty, sometimes uncomfortable, but ultimately human. A tough read, but a powerful one.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventure, Bold, Crazy, Death! If you know, you know. I just finished New York City Junky Days, and it stuck with me in a way that I didn’t expect. Michael Cline pulls you straight into 1980s New York – the music, the nightlife the chaos, the grit and all the strange beauty woven into that era. If you’ve ever wondered what that world felt like from the inside, this book does a remarkable job of putting you right there. What I appreciated most is that Cline tells his story without excuses or self-pity. He writes openly about addiction – the pull of heroin, the damage it caused, the people who drifted in and out of his life – but he does it with a kind of clear-eyed honesty that’s surprisingly moving. It’s never preachy, never glamorized, never bitter. Just real. There’s also this sharp sense of place running through the whole book. The City becomes its own character – sweaty clubs, dive bars, subway nights, loud music spilling out of every doorway. It’s messy, dangerous, energizing and strangely nostalgic all at once. What makes the book land, though, is knowing he survived it. He’s looking back from the other side, and that perspective adds weight to every chapter. If you’re into memoirs, NYC history, music culture, or just raw human stories told well, this one is absolutely worth your time. --Keith Reynolds

[Symon Cope · Rating 5 out of 5]

New York City Junky Days is a remarkable and unsparing document of addiction as lived in the late 1980s through the 1990s. Michael Cline does not merely write about heroin; he preserves an entire vanished human culture — the dirty, dangerous, pre-sanitised New York of the streets, bars, subway platforms, cheap rooms, pawnshops, shelters, shady dealings, and celebrity outlaws. The book’s power lies in its refusal to romanticise the junky underworld while still recognising its specific rituals, economies, and behaviour. Cline’s addict is not an abstract symbol of collapse but a real person surviving as we never could. The city becomes more than setting; it becomes antagonist, witness, marketplace, trap, and map.
What makes the book brilliant is its documentary sharpness. Like Burroughs and Selby Jr., Cline understands addiction as a system of control, but his voice is distinct, immediate, physical, and historically vital. He captures the last outlaw city before gentrification and cultural nostalgia turned urban ruin into aesthetic property. This is addiction before it retreated indoors — public, kinetic, brutal, communal, and exposed. New York City Junky Days is not just a memoir of dependency; it is a street-level epic of exile, survival, and ruin.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Junky Days” is an exceptionally well-written account of the author’s experience descending from an exciting move the heart of NYC’s alternative culture to the disjointed survival mentality of a junky. The author opens with a sense of optimism, and his early chapters read like steady march toward realizing his dreams and hopes. His descriptions of the move, the local bar, the friends, the vibe start out as nuanced and happy. As he begins to recount his early steps and ultimate fall into the life of a junky, the nuance evaporates, and the anecdotes read like the foggy haze of the author’s drug-addled mind. The details he recalls are the ones that became important to getting his fix, and the sense of optimism we start with becomes a distant memory. So the reader is pulled into the mind of the author albeit through the same voice and perspective. We can actually see through his eyes, and feel through his words how his addiction progresses. This makes for a great read beginning to end, and teaches the reader about both writer and his world in a way that outshines many autobiographies.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir is a raw and emotional look into the harsh reality of heroin addiction in old-school New York City. The writing feels very personal, almost like you’re inside the author’s mind as everything unfolds. It doesn’t try to glamorize anything—instead, it shows the pain, confusion, and consequences that come with addiction.

What stood out to me was how honest and unfiltered the story is. The moments with well-known figures from the downtown scene add an interesting touch, but they don’t overshadow the main journey. It’s really about the author’s struggle, the mistakes, and the slow path toward redemption.

At times, the stream-of-consciousness style can feel a bit chaotic, but it actually fits the story and makes it more real. Overall, it’s a powerful and eye-opening read that gives insight into a world many people never truly see.

[Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was truly an incredible journey. I was so amazed at the courageousness of Michael, but the stories that were told, they are just so amazing. I have spent a little time in NYC when I was growing up, but so far and removed from what Michael discusses. I don't need to imagine what he went through, he tells it beautifully, intricately and so easy to read for such a tough and complex topic. I can't recommend this book enough. I am glad he put this up on Goodreads, he is wonderful to follow on Socials and I will definitely be reading the next book now that I am aware it is out.
The book ranges from comical to dark and it does it so well, gracefully and poetic. I can not recommend New York City Junky Days enough.

[Michael Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

AUTHOR'S THOUGHTS:

Out of the three books that I've written, this one has sold the most copies. If you'd like to see old-school NYC of the 80s and 90s, this is your chance to do so without getting mugged! Set in the East Village, you can almost taste the tastes and smell the smells of a downtown scene that no longer exists. It's not just a drug memoir; it's a dive back into the way things used to be.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surface-level recollections. The author is no doubt sincere, and he goes out of his way not to glorify his past indiscretions. But there's little left to these tales that bears repeating all these years later.

[Bescos Menendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gripping life story of survival in NYC in the 80s as a drug addict.It is raw, no filters. You can see it, you can hear it, you can feel it, you can smell it. An amazing journey which will leave you anything but indiferent. Enjoy!

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Row and real. Super well written. 100% recommend.

[Bunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A raw, gritty, and gut-wrenchingly honest narrative from a true survivor. Michael paints such a vivid picture, it feels like you are right there with him. Would definitely recommend!

[Brian Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Michael is an excellent writer who takes you deep into the dark world of heroin addiction. He doesn't pull any punches or try to sugarcoat his addiction. This is as real and raw as it gets.