The Hard Drug Chronicles

From Cocaine, that most troubling and fascinating of substances; through Speed, an oft demonized and misunderstood drug and on to Heroin, long seen as the most 'literary' of narcotics - the contributors to this all-new original anthology reveal that those who partake are forever changed, but the price of paradise is often steep.

The Cocaine Chronicles: that most troubling and fascinating of substances is the subject, the subtext, the whys and whereofs in this collection of original short stories that are funny and harrowing, sad and scary, but at all times riveting. In this bold anthology by a cross-section of today's most thought-provoking writers, we meet the casual sniffers, the heavy users, the dealers, the victims and the unsuspecting victims - hysterical romps, tragic characters and unfathomable lows - rendering cocaine a drug that is anything but glamorous.

The Speed Chronicles - Deprived of the ingrained romantic mysticism of the opiate or the cosmopolitan chic of cocaine, there is no sympathy for this devil. Speed - crystal meth, amphetamines, Dexedrine, Benzedrine, Adderall; crank, spizz, chickenscratch, oblivious marching powder, the go-fast - twice the productivity at half the cost, and equal opportunity for all. It feels so good and hurts so bad. The first contemporary collection of all new literary short fiction on the drug from an array of today's most compelling and respected authors. These are no stereotypical tales of tweakers - the element of crime and the bleary-eyed, shaky zombies at dawn are here right alongside heart-wrenching narratives of everyday people, good intentions gone terribly awry and dreams going up in flames.

The Heroin Chronicles - That most "literary" of narcotics - the enigmatic opium poppy and its various derivatives - and as these stories reveal, those who partake of the sacred flower are forever changed, but the price of paradise is often steep: overdose, hepatitis C, degradation and self-destruction. The editor, Jerry Stahl, himself a recovering addict with long-term sobriety, has assembled an impressive array of writers to create this 'encyclopedia of bad behaviour.' Indeed, these tales of chasing the dragon, with corollaries often violent and savage, will satisfy devotees of noir fiction and outsider art alike.

The Hard Drug Chronicles runs to over 700 pages and contains more than 40 all new stories from Lee Child, Jerry Stahl, Ken Bruen, Laura Lippman, Nina Revoyr, James Franco, Sherman Alexie, William T. Vollmann, Megan Abbott, James Greer, Tao Lin, Joseph Mattson, Eric Bogosian, Gary Phillips and Jervey Tervalon.

CONTENTS - COCAINE

Ten Keys - Lee Child

The Crack Cocaine Diet - Laura Lippman

White Irish - Ken Bruen

Beneficent Diversions from the Crackdkins Diet - Donnell Alexander

Poinciana - Susan Straight

The Screenwriter - James Brown

Twilight of the Stooges - Jerry Stahl

Chemistry - Robert Ward

Shame - Kerry E. West

Viki, Flash, and the Pied-Piper of Shoebies - Deborah Vankin

Golden Pacific - Nina Revoyr

Sentimental Value - Manuel Ramos

Just Surviving Another Day - Detrice Jones

A.K.A. Moises Rockafella - Emory Holmes II

Camaro Blue - Bill Moody

Serving Monster - Jervey Tervalon

Disco Zombies - Gary Phillips

CONTENTS - SPEED

How to Go to Dinner With a Brother On Drugs - Natalie Diaz

War Cry - Sherman Alexie

Bad - Jerry Stahl

Labiodental Fricative - Scott Phillips

Osito - Kenji Jasper

Amp is the First Word in Amphetamine - Joseph Mattson

Addiction - James Franco

Wheelbarrow Kings - Jess Walter

Tips 'n' Things by Elayne - Beth Lisick

Pissing in Perpetuity - Rose Bunch

51 Hours - Tao Lin

Everything I Want - Megan Abbott

The Speed of Things - James Greer

No Matter How Beautifully It Stings - William T. Vollmann

CONTENTS - HEROIN

Fragments of Joe - Tony O'Neill

Hot for the Shot - Sophia Langdon

Dos Mac + The Jones - Nathan Larson

Possible Side Effects - Jerry Stahl

Going Down - L.Z. Hansen

Baby I Need to See A Man About A Duck - Michael Albo

Godhead - Eric Bogosian

Gift Horse - Jervey Tervalon

Ghost Town Lydia Lunch

The Monster - John Albert

Black Caesar's Gold - Gary Phillips

Sunshine for Adrienne - Antonia Crane

Poppy Love - Ava Stander