Jerry Stahl's seminal memoir of drug addiction and a career in Hollywood,
Permanent Midnight is a classic along the lines of Hubert Selby, Jr.'s
Last Exit to Brooklyn. Illuminating the self-loathing and self-destruction of an addict's inner life,
Permanent Midnight follows Stahl through the dregs of addiction and into sobriety. In 1998, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Maria Bello starred in a film version of
Permanent Midnight to much acclaim. Nic Sheff, author of
Tweak, writes the introduction to this edition.
About the AuthorNovelist, screenwriter, and journalist,
Jerry Stahl has written nine books, including the novels
Perv,
Pain Killers,
Happy Mutant Baby Pills, the highly acclaimed and bestselling
I, Fatty--optioned by Johnny Depp--and his latest collection of personal essays,
OG Dad. He has written for a variety of publications including
Details (where he was Culture columnist),
The Believer,
The New York Times, and
Esquire, and is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize for short fiction.
Stahl is that rarest of writers, one whose work has been embraced by both the underground and mainstream alike. His extensive film and TV credits range from the X-rated cult classic
Cafe Flesh to
ALF, the highest-rated episode of
CSI to the HBO film
Hemingway & Gellhorn. Stahl has taught at Sylmar Juvenile Hall and San Quentin. Most recently, he writes for the IFC series,
Maron, and is completing a new novel,
Ten-Cent Apocalypse.
Nic Sheff is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. Still in his early twenties, he continues to fight daily battles with his addictions. His writing has been published in
Newsweek, Nerve, and the
San Francisco Chronicle. Tweak is his first book. Both Stahl and Sheff live in Los Angeles.