Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair, and Post-Punk, from the Middle East to the Lower East Side
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.95 (570 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0143125052 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-12-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Eventually, Elias’s passionate affairs with lovers of both sexes went awry, her (more than) occasional drug use turned to addiction, and she found herself living on the streets—between her visits to jail.This debut memoir charts four decades of a life lived in the moment, a path from harrowing loss and darkness to a place of peace and redemption. Bullied in school and caught between the world of her traditional family and her tough American classmates, she rebelled early.Elias moved to New York City to become a musician and kept herself afloat with an uncommon talent for cutting hair. “Terrific .Rayya’s stories blew mine away.” – Elizabeth Gilbert “A classic, blood-stained love letter to bohemian NYC.” – Craig MarksWhen she was seven, Rayya Elias and her family fled the political conflict in their native Syria, settling in Detroit. At the height of the punk movement, life on the Lower E
"Doing drugs like a rock star does not make one a rock" according to JA. From the website: "This debut memoir charts four decades of a life lived in the moment, a path from harrowing loss and darkness to a place of peace and redemption." In what world is continuously shooting heroin/cocaine and using and abusing friends and family called "living in the moment"? I found this poorly written memoir to be repetitive and self-congratulatory. Very little insight. Doing drugs like a rock star does not make one a rock star.. crazy stories and happy Its over. I couldn't go through a new story of relapse. tuira Easy read considering English is not my first language. I liked the stories she uses for the reader to understand who she is and where she comes from. I got a bit bored and frustrated after reading page after page of her neverending vicious drug problem. at some point it becomes too much and you just want to move on and get to the end.. "I wanted to like this book" according to MN Poetry Reader. I went into this memoir expecting to like it. It's about a time and place that I know well, and seems to take on issues with which many of us have or do grapple. However, the deeper I got into the book, the more I saw that the book itself is not deep. There's not nearly enough real, critical self-reflection here, and the narrative, overall, isn't solid. It reads like a series of short ideas that have been stitched together.
She lives in New York City and Little York, New Jersey. Rayya Elias was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1960 and moved to Detroit in 1967. . She is a musician, hairdresser, filmmaker, and also sells real estate to make some extra scratch
In fact, quite often the author’s behavior is so stupidly self-destructive—and blatantly selfish—that one is tempted to give up on her. But there was one thing that made her feel tough and cool in people’s eyes: drugs. In 1967, at the age of seven, she emigrated from Syria to the U.S. with her family. While growing up in the Detroit area, she was bullied by her American classmates; she felt alienated and like a prisoner in her own skin. Elias paints an indelible portrait of New York City, especially the East Village, during the bad old days of the 1980s, when every street corner seemed to be inhabited by hookers and drug dealers. In a memoir of darkness and, ultimately, redemption written by a gay ex-junkie, ex-con, musician, hairdresser, and filmmaker, Elias offers a unique lit