CM - The Heroin Diaries - Nikki Sixx

Born Frank Feranna, Nikki Sixx moved to LA at 17 and in 1981 became the bassist/songwriter for Motley Crue. His book, the Heroin Diaries is a compilation of journal entries he wrote while he self-destructed on a concoction of alcohol, cocaine, pills, acid, and his poison of choice, heroin. “Alcohol, acid, cocaine…they were just love affairs. When I met heroin, it was true love.” – Nikki Sixx

The reasoning behind the book? I’ll quote Nikki Sixx “Someone asked me why I was writing this book and I said, maybe one person will read it and it will help them. They said, that’s not very rock ‘n’ roll is it? I said, fuck off and smirked because I know it’s the most rock ‘n’ rock thing about me – doing what I wanna do in life.”

With more money than he could spend, Nikki Sixx put most of his resources up his arm. He spent years in a state of paranoia hiding in his closet with his drug paraphernalia and guns. The journal gives you a look at his childhood, his relationship with his mom, sister, etc. It also gives you a preview of his lifestyle in Motley Crue. Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, no surprise there.

Kudos to Nikki Sixx for having the courage to face his demons in a very public manner. The critics and reviews promised a raw look at “one of the most unique memoirs of addiction ever published.” I wouldn’t have gone that far. Although it was a good read, you can only read about getting high so many times until it gets monotonous and slightly repetitive. It was interesting to read the opinions of the people who surrounded Sixx and knew him. He was rather ballsy when he asked the co-author Ian Gittins to get the other sides of the story and Sixx wanted all the insults and atrocities itemized in the book- no editing.

As a bonus, almost every page of the book was decorated and animated in a way that made it easier to read. Some of the drawings and quotes were intriguing.

Ratings: I give it a B+