cover image The Story of Junk

The Story of Junk

Linda Yalbonsky, Linda Yablonsky. Farrar Straus Giroux, $23 (336pp) ISBN 978-0-374-27024-7

Set in New York City, Naples, Bangkok and elsewhere during the 1980s, this stark but engrossing story of heroin addiction reads like a ripped-from-the-headlines-made-for-TV movie. The narrator, Laura, who comes from an upper-middle-class background, is fatally drawn to the glitterati of New York City. Initially an aspiring writer who supports herself by cooking in a restaurant, she progresses from hanger-on to addict to dealer and finds herself spiraling down and out with girlfriend and lover, Kit, a rock musician. The surrounding cast of characters includes Laura's father and stepmother, who can't begin to fathom the depth of Laura's hell; Honey and Grigorio, the ""perfect couple'' whose loyalty proves stronger than the ravages of their degradation; Angelo, the ruthless dealer who will always shadow Laura for turning state's evidence. This is not a multidimensional novel or a nuanced one, but it is striking for the strong, often comic powers of observation Yablonski gives Laura, who describes the powerful whirlpool that sucks her down. The passages evoking the anguish of deprivation and the temporary surcease heroin provides anchor the narrative. But while Yablonski conveys the degradation of an addict's life, the narrative lapses into sentimentality and a certain vagueness about how Laura can consider addicts the ""best people I ever knew'' if their precious friendships spoil when the feds close in. Arguably, it's just this emptiness and lack of self-knowledge that she has tried to fill with drugs. For those who can stomach the graphically described junkie scenes, this fiercely candid debut will be a gripping experience. (Apr.) FYI: Yablonsky is the host of a literary series called Nightline Readings in New York. Her documentary, Addicted, will air on cable TV.