Escape from Bellevue: A Memoir of Rock 'n' Roll, Recovery, and Redemption

by Christopher John Campion

Read Christopher John Campion's posts on the Penguin Blog.

Indie rock raconteur Chris Campion-one of the few patients ever to escape from Bellevue's locked ward-recalls his band's tumultuous ride, his plummet into addiction, and the strange road back to sobriety

Chronicling more than twenty years in the life of a Long Island kid who became a hardcore fixture of Manhattan's indie rock scene, Escape from Bellevue is a coming-of-age tale like no other. As the lead singer of New York-based indie rock band Knockout Drops, Campion got a taste of fame (but, alas, no fortune) on a wild ride that lasted from the early 1980s through the 1990s.

Escape from Bellevue puts the spotlight on the collective psychosis of twenty years spent in a rolling bacchanal. Just as the Knockout Drops reached the height of their success, Campion began his downward spiral. After finally coming to grips with his addictions, Campion molded his songs and stories into a sold-out off-Broadway musical. Now, presenting these tales in a memoir of madness and redemption, Campion once again proves to possess the creative genius of a die-hard front man.

Genres: Autobiography, Nonfiction, Drugs, New York, Memoir

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Marc Weidenbaum]

I went to high school with the author of this book. That's pertinent because it spends a lot of time talking about my home town, from a perspective I had a sense of in my youth, but never really had confirmed until now -- a place that the movie Trees Lounge does a good job of depicting, one of a drunkenness whose recidivism is generational. This is northern Long Island, about an hour out from New York City, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The book tells of Campion's attraction to rock'n'roll, and of his descent into near-suicidal alcoholism and drug abuse. He's funny as heck, which is helpful, because what he submits himself to its harrowing.

I read with some trepidation as to whether or not his and my brief musical collaboration would make it into the book. It didn't, which is probably for the best, because the real story kicks in when he gets to college. As for that collaboration, we were in a high school musical together our senior year. It was titled The Dracula Spectacular, which rhymes if you're on Long Island. He played Dracula, and I was his henchman. Man, that was a long time ago.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in this book. It entertained me enough to finish it, but the author seems like a) he's a d*ck and b) he's full of sh*t. I didn't believe half his "true" stories, and he seems way too proud of his "exploits" for someone who is supposedly recovered. Also, I checked out his "alternative" band online and they were cheesy and awful.

[Joe Rodeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good descent into alcoholic Hell story. Nice that Chris Campion avoids the usual cliches like the mouse-and-the-bat dt's sequence; mercifully, he doesn't end it with a boring recovery fable. You'd probably have to be a rock and roll fan to appreciate this bio as many names (singers/bands) will be foreign territory. I don't like when they brag about drinking, drugs and sex; and he never makes any of it heroic. If anything, he puts his gf's on a pedestal. There are big laughs and savvy satire to lighten things up. It will hit home with any unemployable who can't graduate into adulthood, simultaneously dealing with a spiritual crisis.
On the critical side, it gets repetitious: one spree after another. Half of Campion's problem is that he picks barfly losers to be drinking buddies. You're too smart to be hanging around with wastrels.

[Michael Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A raucous yarn from the singer of perpetually unsigned New York bar band Knockout Drops who loses the battle with drugs and alcohol and his demons and ends up in the psych ward at Bellevue--three times, in fact. A colorful raconteur, Campion offers up a unique and funny memoir that's tinged with darkness as he transforms into just about the worst person ever. As an author, Campion can't say no to a cliched turn of phrase, and one wonders how some of his tales would hold up if held under the kind of microscope that other addiction memoirs, such as A Million Little Pieces, were subject to.
Escape reads at times like a 5-minute song that would've played better as a tidy 3 1/2 minute track, but as far as rock memoirs go, this is an entertaining read. Bonus points if you grew up in Huntington, came of age in Greenwich Village bars such as the Red Lion, Fiddlesticks and the Blind Tiger, and listened to the Bogmen--Campion's brother's band.

[Rory Costello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in the '90s I was a casual friend of Chris Campion's. We had (and still have) a number of other friends in common. I can hear his gravelly voice and laugh in my head still (he does a spot-on Tom Waits impression). Knowing how madcap the guy is, I expected this book to be funny, and it was. What I didn't expect, though, is how capably he made the shift from in-person raconteur to book author. I liked and enjoyed his writing a great deal.

It's possible that some of the details are embroidered, and he does a fair bit of name-dropping, but that didn't bother me. Although I'd seen one of his post-recovery performances, I didn't realize just how deep he had to go to hit bottom in his personal life. He lays it all out in unsparing terms --
there's a heaping helping of sad to go with the funny. But he made it out the other end intact, and I'm glad. You go, Campy!

[Michael Alan Grapin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Campion, front man for the indie rock band The Knockout Drops and off Broadway playwright lived much of his life through a drug and alcohol induced stupor. Often living on the edge of success and never quite achieving it, his memoir tells of his decline into thoughts of suicide and eventual turn-around after bottoming out. It's an autobiography that reads like a novel filled with humor and angst, a fascinating read.

[Freddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i understand why people like this book. it was fun. sad at times but a fun ride. i just didnt like the main character. and i know that's awful. i dont like the bands that inspire him and a lot of his sense of humor. im not saying he probably isnt talented. hes just not for me. if i would have been more into his influences i might have appreciated the book more.

[John Marr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty typical oddessey of a lampshade-wearing type drunk, differing only in that inbetween blackouts he was singing for indy rock also rans The Knockout Drops. Deduct 10 hipster points for playing intercollegite lacrosse!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir that is disturbing and funny and from the bottom of the author's heart. Chris is an addict that finds himself in and out of a mental hospital. Described truthfully. You can visualize the Catholic upbringing to his rock and roll lifestyle.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was seriously laughing out loud. I'm sure the neighbors thought I'd lost it at 2 a.m. At least for the first half. Then as the disease progressed, not so funny, maybe too close to home. But a great read. And recommended for recovery .

[Krysia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Your standard 80s rock-n-roll saga.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't read too much at a time - you'll die laughing.

[Sirreene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe many of the music references and locales that I was very familiar with made me enjoy the book more than I may have had the author and I not been the same age and from the same area.

[Gato Negro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crazy, reckless, rock and roll at its low down, drunken, dirtiest.