December 1st, 2008 
James Shotwell Author: Nikki Sixx
Title: Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life of a Shattered Rock Star
Publisher: Pocket Books
-Now Available in Paperback!-
It seems that every month UTG exists, we change and are better because of it. Having only done one previous book review, I never really thought we’d get the opportunity again as we obviously focus on music for the majority of our time, but low and behold, here we are again. This time, instead of dealing with one musician’s redemption, we dive into the dark beast of addiction and it’s effect on one’s life with the real diary of Nikki Sixx [of Motley Crue fame]. Heroin Diaries is a bullet bound to pages and the target is the heart and attention of anyone willing to give it some of their time. We don’t really do “books of the year,” but if we did, this would be on the top of the list.
Heroin Diaries covers 1987 for Sixx and the troubles and fun he experienced. For those unfamiliar with his work in Motley Crue, this would be one of the year’s he was on top of the musical world with access to excess and that’s where Sixx took a wrong turn. From the haunting first entry which depicts Nikki curled up under a Christmas tree, strung out, alone in his house, to the multiple dabbles in near and complete overdose, each page just screams for you to continue on. Now, I realize that there are many diaries out there, but unlike most where you just have to take the writer’s word for things that happened, Sixx has recruited friends and acquaintances that were with Nikki during this period and asked them to write in the book as well. Accompanying each entry is a cliffnote from someone who either was there or new of what happened to both confirm and discuss the life of Nikki Sixx at that time. This takes everything to a new level of depth and simple engrosses the reader in details you both want and don’t want to be aware of. Fans of the Crue will most likely revel in the tales of excess and those who know little of the band or prefer to not listen to them will simply feel sorry for Sixx. I couldn’t put this book down from page one and I don’t think anyone can say differently.
Outside of the words themselves, which of course is key, the layout of the book is beautiful. Unlike most books which are filled with plain pages and times new roman font in a simplistic top to bottom format, the words are near scribbled everywhere to capture the frantic state in which they were written. In addition, every page is covered in splashes of black, white, and red with occasional dootles to go along. Even if you hate to read you will be absorb in the sheer effort put into this presentation. No expense seems wasted in captivating the reader as much as possible and knowing now how great it is in general lets me know this wasn’t done to sell a bad book, but to simply enhance the experience.
Nikki Sixx has conquered the rock world and now the literary world. Sure, it’s just a diary, but the honesty displayed is unmatched by anyone. Real life has never been captured so well as in Heroin Diaries and even those not familiar with Sixx’s musical record will be entranced with his tales of debauchery and hopes for redemption. Heroin Diaries is not recommended book, but a must read for any and all music fans. This book takes biographies to a new plateau and sets a standard I think few will be able to match. Find this book, buy it, and then buy it for anyone you need a gift for. It’s simply great.
*Written By: James Shotwell*
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im glad you reviewed this book because i was debating whether or not to buy it. im going to now :)
You web site is great!!