The Book of Drugs - by Mike Doughty (Paperback)

About the Book

Doughty, the world-renowned solo artist and former lead singer and songwriter of Soul Coughing, delivers a brutally honest memoir of addiction and recovery.

Book Synopsis

Mike Doughty first came to prominence as the leader of the band Soul Coughing then did an abrupt sonic left turn, much to the surprise of his audience, transforming into a solo performer of stark, dusky, but strangely hopeful tunes. He battled addiction, gave up fame when his old band was at the height of its popularity, drove thousands of miles, alone, across America, with just an acoustic guitar. His candid, hilarious, self-lacerating memoir, The Book of Drugs -- featuring cameos by Redman, Ani DiFranco, the late Jeff Buckley, and others -- is the story of his band's rise and bitter collapse, the haunted and darkly comical life of addiction, and the perhaps even weirder world of recovery.

Review Quotes

Billboard.com, 12/7/11"Chronicles his treacherous, intoxicated years as frontman of Soul Coughing in the 90s, through his transition into a fruitful (sober) solo career, with plenty of self-deprecating humor, band squabbles, music biz debauchery, and notable cameos from Jeff Buckley, Dave Matthews and Ani DiFranco and along the way."
Library Journal, December 2011"[A] soul-baring memoir...Much more than a musician's autobiography, this is a tale about the resurgence of the human spirit; Doughty captures a little bit of all of us in his journey. Recommended." Jambands.com, 12/16/11
"Not only an open look by Doughty at his past addiction problems, but a smart, funny, and honest view of the late 80s/early 90s NY music scene, Doughty's years with the band Soul Coughing, and what it was like to reach the other side of a very dark place. Don't for a moment think that Mike Doughty has written your typical I-got-clean-and-now-I'm-above-all-that sort of book."
Relix, January/February 2012"Love stories to drugs that [Doughty] had to quit. Suddenly, the fine points of 'The Huffer and the Cutter, ' about love between damaged people, takes on an even deeper meaning." Booklist, 12/28/11

"It seems almost unfair that a talented singer/songwriter like Doughty should also turn out to be a good writer, but there you have it. The Book of Drugs is informative but not confessional, rock-snarky but tempered with a round of amends. It is also whip-smart and bitterly funny."

Salon.com, 1/26/12
"The unspoken rule of rock 'n' roll memoirs--especially ones about drug-addled players who get clean--is that the author tends to mend fences rather than sling mud. Mike Doughty: not so much. In The Book of Drugs, the former Soul Coughing frontman writes with a lacerating candor about his family, his narcotic and sexual excesses, the idiocy of the music industry, and, most of all, his former band mates."

Penthouse, February 2012"Doughty strips away the glamour many people associate with the rock-star life, and his sharp writing reinvigorates even the most overdone clichés about recovery." The Daily, 1/22/12"Being a Soul Coughing fan, or a fan of Doughty's solo career, isn't required to enjoy reading The Book of Drugs...The warts-and-all approach of The Book of Drugs works." New York Post, 1/29/12"[A] riveting new memoir."

About the Author

Mike Doughty is a musician, journalist, and prolific blogger. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee.