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Kreckamp7349

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The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

by Nikki Sixx

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Kreckamp7349 said: " Overall, I enjoyed the 300 pages of the book that I read. Coming from my relatively sheltered suburbian viewpoint, it was interesting to see the inside of a true addict. The way the book was formatted basically showed us Nikki Sixx's actual diary ent Overall, I enjoyed the 300 pages of the book that I read. Coming from my relatively sheltered suburbian viewpoint, it was interesting to see the inside of a true addict. The way the book was formatted basically showed us Nikki Sixx's actual diary entries during the peak of his addiction. Then, they contacted people relevant to the story to provide commentary years later. This was an especially interesting part, because it allowed the reader to see multiple viewpoints on the same issue. Also, the reader could see where the characters are today. For example, Nikki's crazy ex-girlfriend Vanity has turned into a full-out, intensely religious evangelist, despite her less-than-moral role in this book. In addition, seeing Nikki slowly dip in and out of addiction has been very interesting. Actually, despite what one would expect, he tends to do drugs in a sort of pattern. He tries very hard to get off of heroin and cocaine while in the comforts of his home. Then, when the band goes on tour, he does not have the same structure as he does at home. He is also away from his rehab advisor. Thus, especially in the big cities like New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, he tends to get hooked again.

Some reviewers have given this book five out of five stars. While I do think this was an interesting read, I think due to its nature as a diary there is a decent bit of irrelevant information. The same ideas are repeated over and over again, and at times the reader is given very specific detail which is not relevant at all to the story. This can make it confusing to decipher what is the most important information to remember. Some of the information I initially brushed aside as irrelevant showed up later in the book, leaving me confused.

Although I never made it to the end of the book, I do wonder how exactly Nikki got off of all drugs entirely. As he narrates it seems as though he does not even do lighter drugs. In the book, an accomplishment for Nikki would be getting off of just heroin, so it seems unrealistic in his current state of mind that he could get off of pot, cocaine, and alcohol as well. It would be interesting to see if that was a result of a gradual personality shift or one specific incident that led him to that. He did worry often about dying from an overdose. ...more "

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(page 300 of 413)
"F-- "I need to quit--this is killing me. Vanity is killing me. Drugs are killing me...or am I already dead?" Nikki will say stuff like this all the time in his diary. Even though this is painfully evident to the reader, it seems Nikki is too immature or too addicted to heed his own advice." — Oct 13, 2016 05:55AM

Oct 13, 2016 06:14AM · see review