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Harley Loco: A Memoir Of Hard Living, Hair, And Post-Punk, From The Middle East To The Lower East Side (2013)

by Rayya Elias(Favorite Author)

3.76 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0670785164 (ISBN13: 9780670785162)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Viking Adult

review 1: Rayya Elias bares her soul in this tale of immigration, fitting in, drug abuse, and trying to stay alive. Born in Syria, Rayya and her family moved to Michigan when she was a child to escape war. She found a different war, however, in the form of cruel bullying and emerging sexuality. Discovering that she loved women, she hid her true self from her family for years. Thanks to a co-dependent, convoluted relationship with a certain woman, Rayya experimented with drugs, which lead to addiction, homelessness, jail time, and near-death experiences. "Harley Loco" is a journey that will leave you knowing much more than you probably ever wanted to know about addiction and the street-level drug trade. 3.8 stars.
review 2: Well-- I finished it. Not terribly written, but... more not terribly insightful. The author finds humility in the end, but does little else to make me like her. Addiction is always interesting enough. Blood on the walls. Terribleness. Men with nicknames like Crusty Joe or Pete, or whatever. All that. Lesbianism. That's fine too, but not so terribly interesting anymore. I'm still not sure why this woman's story is interesting enough to warrant a book. She's good at cutting hair, getting into painful romantic relationships, doing drugs, and disappointing people. So, I'm glad she sobered up. A memoir without significant reflection and insight is always a bit of a narcissistic bummer. In the end she concludes she's not all that special and unique, which is fine, but it's nothing everyone else didn't already figure out. less

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