Needle Paperback – July 12, 2012

I finished reading "Needle" at 6:30 this morning after starting it last night. I didn't intend to do that.I picked up the book because as an indy writer myself, (writing as G.F. Gustav, the Jeremy's Run series), I needed a deeper understanding of the world of heroin addiction for a character in an upcoming book. I was looking for books by more or less "regular people" as opposed to journals by famous rock stars, etc.I expected to find plenty of expositions by regular people, but I did not expect to find a jewel like this one. As I mentioned to Craig on his Facebook page, I admit, and this probably sounds crappy, but I was astonished at the quality of the writing. I kept thinking, How can a guy who has put his poor brain cells through all this turn around and write a book that rises to this level? It's incredible.Yes, I've read the 1- and 2-star reviews here. For some reason, people often pay more attention to them than to the 4- and 5-star reviews. Negative votes outweigh positives ones. But they shouldn't. There's no validity in it. There's one which says it's full of mistakes, etc. Nonsense. It's very clean. Someone said it was "not very detailed." I don't know what the reviewer is looking for... a description of pubic hair follicles? Craig's writing is exceptionally honest, raw and detailed.There were those who said it was "boring" or "tedious." I suppose that depends on your attention-span, and your appreciation of a writer's brutal honesty combined with whether or not you enjoy realistic dialogue and immersion into a different world. Because that's what Craig delivers. He immerses us into the world of the self-delusional heroin user as the "weekend warrior" descends into full-fledged junkie. He brings us down to the gritty streets of New York City.There is a point at which it does begin to feel a bit tedious, but it's not all that long, and I took that to be by design. I don't mind that if it serves the story objective, which I think it does. I began to FEEL, within myself, some of hopeless despair and the tedium of the needle-tracked junkie who is no longer living, but simply existing, or perhaps more accurately, medicating himself/herself out of existence. It was dark, brutal, and most importantly, honest. Ergo, powerful.The reviews that most impact me are those by people who start out, "I was an opiate addict" or "I've been clean six months now..." If THEY read the book and tell me, yeah, this is right on, then I know Craig is being straight and it's right on. According to them, he is. And they should know.Someone didn't believe that a person in Craig's condition would skate through with the breaks he got. Really? Why not? Seemed realistic to me. This is non-fiction. And real life is full of weird crap. Stuff you'd never believe if it hadn't happened. It's more a problem for the fiction writer. As Mark Twain famously said, "The difference between fiction and non-fiction is that fiction has to be believable."As to the writing, yes, there are aspects of it that a professional editor would address. The multiple punctuation (!! ???). The ALL CAPS stuff. I find I can ignore those minor infractions. Hey, it's a $3 book. I think he should price it at $3.99.What grabs me about Craig's writing is the biting humor, the great use of sarcasm in the dialog, the way he instinctively writes subtext into his dialog (something most amateur writers aren't even aware of), and his kind of "tragic-hilarious" self-depreciating humor. It's brilliant. In places, he's so good he reminds me very much of Pat Conroy (The Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, etc.). No, he's not at Conroy's level, yet, but Craig Goodman has some serious talent.Finally, Craig's ability to describe the human condition in all its endearing and sometimes tragic imperfections is rarely matched in any books, indy or otherwise. What I'm trying (poorly) to say is that the writing craft is as good as the story craft, and that's rare. It's fun to read great writing, even if the story is often raw and tragic.So, I thank you, Craig, for being so honest, and for gifting us with your talent and sharing your struggle and triumph-to-date.Thank you for being so honest, so real and authentic. Fantastic work. I look forward to future work from you, and like others, I do want to hear more about your recovery. (Redemption is inspiring!) All the very best to you.

Synopsis:Being born and raised in New York, Craig Jordan Goodman had an advantage on all those dreamers who flocked to the city during the 1990s and early 2000s to make their dreams of stardom come true. He had the musical talent to make his music career dream a definitely reality until he began down the path of becoming heroin junky. Alongside his good friend, Perry, Goodman follows the dope-bricked road as it leads him further and further into a world of desperation, sacrifice and near-deadly consequences. In his honest and brashly descriptive memoir, he admits his faults, insecurities, and poor decisions. As it was his friend who introduced him to the drug, Perry also helped to lead him away from an almost certain death.Review:I fined memoirs to be interesting, moving and often times, truly inspiring. This book fulfilled those qualities and then some as I dove into the world of a city and drug that I had absolutely no idea about. To me, the most refreshing quality of the book was the brash honesty that Goodman puts forth as he writes about everything in his life from his own hypocrisy in drug use, the rise and downfall of his music career and the levels at which he went in order to obtain his fix. Although there were moments of clarity and amusement, the overall journey with heroin was an intensely dark one for the author. Most disturbing to me was the level of detachment that I felt the author had toward the end of the book. He was not only detached from the severity of his situation in any regard, but he appeared to be detached from any and all human interaction unless it was absolutely necessary. This was a complete 180 degree turn from the beginning of the book where he was closely tied to a wide circle of people. A harrowing portrait of how isolating drug use can become, the story of the author's life serves as a wake-up call to those who are ready to listen.While I couldn't relate to much of what the author had been through in terms of the drug use and related consequences, the emotions stemming from the isolation and despair came across in such a way that anyone could have empathized with him. It's truly a remarkable turnaround to see that the author is now living the type of life is meant to life and doing something positive with his time and energy by giving abused and abandoned dogs a second chance. The proceeds from his book sales go to help fund programs to help eliminate animal cruelty and homelessness among animals. If you're looking for an honest depiction of life in the midst of addiction, this book gives a truly honest portrayal.

What a story! Completely riveting from start to finish, a tale at times tragic and often heartbreaking, but always told honestly by a man who knows himself - and knows junkies.Craig Goodman tells a truth in this book that should be read and digested by everyone involved in drug enforcement policy. ... basically the the truth for those policy makers is: you have no idea what you are dealing with and your efforts to control drug abuse are an expensive waste of time. I have a feeling the politicians and the cops know this already, but are more than happy to lap up the funds anyway.But don't think this book will leave you feeling depressed. It's funny too, sometimes laugh out loud funny. You can't help but like sarcastic Craig and some of his friends. Their ingenious efforts to score, sometimes against all odds is amazing. Can't wait for the sequel. Stay safe Craig.

Horrified and fascinated in turn as I read this honest and extremely well written book, I kept thinking how could such a clearly super intelligent man with such self awareness, be such an utter fool? Well, I think there was some early abuse hinted at that may explain his need to obliterate with drugs but it was never really explained. He is a superb writer and, it seems from the animal work he does, a pretty decent human bring. I wish him well and will look out for a sequel.

Very funny and harrowing at the same time. A great read. Have read it twice now. Still made me laugh out loud.

An honest and frank narrative of an addict caught up in the throes of his addiction. I immediately warmed to the author who, although admittedly did some deplorable things, is not beyond reproach. I was impressed that he manages to tell his story without trying to turn himself into a martyr, which I have often found to be the case with other books of this genre. I am eagerly awaiting the follow up novel & hope to also find out what became of some of the supporting characters in Craig's down-the-rabbit-hole misadventures.

I couldn't put it down. Heartbreaking, truthful, terrifying and victorious! The loyalty between Craig & Perry is beautiful. I don't know about his music, but the man is eloquent with the English language, and very, very funny.