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The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

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The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star narrates Nikki Sixx's

journey when his life had down spiraled and his life-changing decision to pick himself up from

the low to have a fresh start. It is a shocking, gruesome, and hilarious memoir in which Nikki

Sixx presents a firsthand account of his yearlong battle with heroin addiction and cocaine

addiction. The memoir states that when the rock band Motley Crue was in its fame era, Nikki

spent outrageous amounts of time alone, with his friends, or with other drug addicts, dazed and

high on coke and heroin (Sixx, 2008). Nikki shares his journal entries with some poetic and

bizarre moments of his life to show how addiction affected him, making him hit rock bottom. He

describes that when the drug’s highs were high, he felt euphoric and always happy and content.

However, when the lows hit his lowest, he ended up in his closet, wrapped in paranoid delusions

and drug paraphernalia, with a gun tucked next to him (Sixx, 2008). Alongside his diary entries,

commentaries from people who were close to him at the time, like Timmy Lee and Mick Mars,

also provide riveting and mesmerizing stories of the year he spiraled out of control due to

addiction and commentaries from Nikki's new self

After reading the memoir The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star

by author Nikki Sixx, I can rate it as a four-star. I thought it was an exciting and intriguing read

with a believable descriptive story. I devoured this book within two days. Author Nikki

accurately describes how his addiction was not a pretty moment of his life. The story itself was

very enthralling. He narrates his life from Christmas 1986 to the next Christmas 1987, when his

drug issue was at its highest, with two overdose occasions (Sixx, 2008). In his overdose in late

1987, it was believed that he had died, but miraculously he did not. Nikki goes into deeper depth
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about the background information on many rock music's god’s who also had the same addiction,

such as Vanity and Rick Neilsen. On top of his drug addiction, he also accurately narrates his

depression and troubled childhood and how they are attributed to the ugly downward spiral of his

life. Interestingly, after each diary entry, he adds comments from his current self and other rock

gods involved with him at the time. The comments provide more on the journal entry, and often

they were very unflattering, making me think how brave it was for him to put this gruesome

story out there to the public. Adding photographs, poems, and lyrics made this book even more

interesting, emotional, and heartbreaking, making it believable and relatable.

The book follows Nikki Sixx's yearlong addiction journey making him the main character

in this shocking yet exciting memoir. As I read Nikki's well-written journal entries, I realized

that he is a brilliant and forthright person. I can firmly say that Nikki is likable. As a reader, I

interacted with a young, successful rock star who spent most of his time in 1987 unwashed,

naked, and dazed in delusions hiding in his closet that had his enormous drug supplies and a gun

to protect himself from his imaginary enemies. Even though the book's artwork was sometimes

too hard to look at, the accurate description of addiction makes Nikki and his life story more

relatable and more likable as a character. Lastly, knowing that the book narrates real-life events

plus the knowledge that Nikki is long-recovered makes his character in the book even more

likable as he gives us hope for a better future even when we hit rock bottom, as he did.

Yes, I would 100% recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It is a terrific read, so

difficult to put down. Who would not want such a reading experience? After I finished this book,

I was stunned by the miracle life of Nikki, what he has gone through, and his willingness to air

the dirty and low moments of his life. I recommend this book, as it gives us a reality check and
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provides a challenge to get rid of whatever is blocking or preventing us from living correctly.

The book “The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star” opens one's eyes to

the reality of addiction, loss of sanity, and self-control. Everybody has once in a while hit rock

bottom, be it financially, emotionally, or mentally and felt like giving up. Often, we develop

unhealthy ways to cope with this kind of situation. These coping ways can be like a drug

addiction. By reading Nikki Sixx’s book, people can learn a lot to encourage them not to give up.

I chose to read this book because, after reading its review, I found its storyline interesting

and relatable. The book hits close to home. In today’s society, the number of young people

affected by drug addiction is very alarming, and I can assert this because I am close to some

people who also have a sort of addiction. The book teaches us a lot about the struggles of

addiction. I was very interested in learning and experiencing Nikki's addiction journey to

understand better those around me with addiction and how to help them. I also chose it because I

thought I would immensely enjoy reading this book. Nikki Saxx is a well-known bassist, rock

star, songwriter, and co-founder of Motley Crue. This information alone made me want to know

more about his life, which I knew I would immensely enjoy.

References

Sixx, N. (2008). The heroin diaries: A year in the life of a shattered rock star. Simon and

Schuster.