My Thoughts on Permanent Midnight

(affl. link)

  • an autobiography of alf and porno mag writer and la aficionado jerry stahl
  • i wanted to like this book i really did
  • i got the suggestion to read it from the netflix show loudermilk
    • which the writers team took it upon itself to drop a few pop culture references per episodes like family guy
  • i still have yet to watch the ben stiller movie, which may redeem the book
  • some of jerry stahl's stories are very funny, some very sad and gritty
    • his stories about his sex life are vivid (see example quote at the very bottom of this post for a great example of "show don't tell")
  • overall it was repetitive, and there was a lot of whiplash moving from event to event
  • quite impressive that he was able to live a long life filled withe events in spite of (or perhaps because of) his heroin addiction
  • there's a lot you can learn about a person from the medicine cabinet in their bathroom