7 /10 1 Votes
3.5/5 Barnes & Noble Language English Pages 256 pages Originally published 10 January 2012 Publisher Da Capo Press Media type Paperback | 3.6/5 Goodreads Country United States Publication date January 10, 2012 ISBN 978-0306818776 Preceded by Slanky: Poems | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Subjects Addiction, Music, Soul Coughing, Autobiography | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mike doughty talks about his memoir the book of drugs on soundcheck
The Book of Drugs is a 2012 memoir by the musician and songwriter Mike Doughty. The book details Doughty's struggles with drug addiction, his musical career, both before and during his time with the band Soul Coughing and during his solo career.
The book was noted for its acerbic take on Doughty's Soul Coughing band mates, as well as its unflinching look at the damage caused by addiction.
The book covers Doughty's experiences growing up in a military family, his education, first experiences with drugs and alcohol, his friendship with Jeff Buckley, and his antagonism with his (unnamed) fellow Soul Coughing band members. It also covers his experience with 12-step programs, his travels to Ethiopia and Cambodia, his experience with bipolar disorder, and his post-Soul Coughing solo career.
The book received a generally positive reception for its unflinching narrative and engaging writing. The Village Voice review called it a "quickly paced, finely observed, and often mordantly funny read"—though some reviewers wondered, as Jay Trachtenberg of the Austin Chronicle did, why "...if the atmosphere was so rancid, Doughty stuck around."