“A helluva compelling story.” —Elle“Storm Large is a force of nature. Her ballsy, heartbreaking, hysterical, tour de force of a memoir is not to be missed.” —Chelsea Cain, New York Times bestselling author“Edgy, gritty, and fearless.” —The Portland ObserverYes,Storm Large is her real name, though she’s been called many things. As a performer, the majority of descriptions have led with “Ama...

** SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING RENÉE ZELLWEGER, LOUIE ANDERSON AND OWEN TEAGUE **Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising sporting career - if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between this unlikely pair is Kel's ...

Julie grew up in the heart of Dublin’s north inner city, in Sheriff Street. Living in this tough area, she was exposed to crime and drugs. She started using heroin when she was 16. By the time she was 18 she was a chronic addict. This story details how she spent the next four years living on the streets of Dublin; dealing drugs and stealing to feed her habit. It is a snapshot of how a young girl became a victim of circumstances. It happened in Dublin, but it could have happened anywhere in...

“Honest and moving . . . Her painful tale is engrossing.”—Washington Post Book WorldFor most of us, it was just another horrible headline. But for Deborah Spungen, the mother of Nancy, who was stabbed to death at the Chelsea Hotel, it was both a relief and a tragedy. Here is the incredible story of an infant who never stopped screaming, a toddler who attacked people, a teenager addicted to drugs, violence, and easy sex, a daughter completely out of control...

For more than eight years, I lived and worked in the dark underworld of Las Vegas as an exotic dancer. Some things are worth repeating-others you try to forget. Unfortunately, you never forget. I decided it was time that somebody told the truth about what really happens in Las Vegas strip clubs and their VIP rooms. Is there "sex in the champagne room?" With the right dancer and for right price, there is anything you want in the champagne room! This book gives a lot of insight into what rea...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A haunting, unforgettable mother-daughter story for a new generation—the debut of a blazing new lyrical voiceNAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY**Domenica Ruta grew up in a working-class, unforgiving town north of Boston, in a trash-filled house on a dead-end road surrounded by a river and a salt marsh. Her mother, Kathi, a notorious local figure, was a drug addict and sometimes deale...

Even though Oren Elow had never tried heroin, hed always heard that it was a gift from the goddess. So he didnt hesitate to try it when his buddies offered him his first hit of heroina hit that would make him a heroin slave and one that would define so many of his following years. In this memoir, Elow shares his lifes narrativefrom growing up in Louisiana with an alcoholic father and loving mother who later divorced, to his years on Bostons streets as a heroin addict, to his time spent beh...

At age 14, Lori Stephens was thrown out into the streets by her mother. This was the beginning of a life no one deserves to endure, ever.Through her struggle to stay alive, in a world she barely understood. Lori survived the next 30 years of drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness, rape, domestic violence, assault, conflict with the Law and jail. See how she was forced to resort to physical violence to stay alive.How she escaped with the courage and the will to stay alive,...

This is the frank, harrowing, and true story of one young woman’s descent into addiction and prostitution, and the long arduous struggle to reclaim her life. A shy, bookish college graduate, a nice girl from a solid middle-class home but uncertain of her way in life, Kate Holden tried her first hit of heroin as a one-time experiment—an adventure with friends—but the drug took over. Hooked, she lost her job and her apartment, and she stole from her family.Desperation drove her onto t...

Rachael Keogh was catapulted into the public consciousness when a shocking image of her needle-ravaged arms – skin burnt from injecting heroin into her wasted veins – made front pages around the country. Desperate for help, she made a public appeal to secure one of just 27 detox beds in Ireland so that she could reclaim her life from the drugs that had consumed it. What followed was an extraordinary story of grit and determination as she embarked on her recovery journey. Dying to Survive i...

Marc Lewis's relationship with drugs began in a New England boarding school where, as a bullied and homesick fifteen-year-old, he made brief escapes from reality by way of cough medicine, alcohol, and marijuana. In Berkeley, California, in its hippie heyday, he found methamphetamine and LSD and heroin. He sniffed nitrous oxide in Malaysia and frequented Calcutta's opium dens. Ultimately, though, his journey took him where it takes most addicts: into a life of addiction, desperation, decept...

As a young man from a loving, middle class family living in a small English village, Ben Rogers appeared to have it all….but then he found drugs. As his life descended into chaos and despair, Ben began to chronicle his daily struggles with the aid of a video camera. He was hopeful that one day his experiences could be used to educate others. Ben lost his battle against addiction and died when he was 34 as a result of medical withdrawal. His family decided to release the tapes in the hope t...