Harley Loco, by Rayya Elias, is a a memoir about a woman who has had one hell of a life. Elias grew up in affluent area in Syria and moved to the United States when she was young, her family eager to leave the growing political unrest. Once in America Elias must deal with the challenges being an immigrant brings- fitting in with others, learning English, and navigating Detroit during the race riots. She ends up find solace in punk music and drugs, becoming more entrenched in both as she grows older. As Elias grows older she also determines that she is a lesbian, a hard pill to swallow given her more conservative, old-school family. Elias spends her late teens and twenties working on her music and also making herself into a well-respected hair stylist. She ends up moving to New York, juggling her girlfriends, drug habit, music, and professional life. She continues through her twenties and thirties becoming more and more involved in the drama of relationships and settling into drug addiction. The rest of her book is about hitting bottom and how the only person that can help beat addiction is the addict herself.
To say I "enjoyed" this book feels wrong- it's heartbreaking and frustrating at times. You can't help but to like Elias and want her to stop making the horrible decisions she's making. She's obviously incredibly smart and very talented, but struggles so much with her inner demons. Her story is incredibly interesting, and you can't help but to appreciate the raw honesty of her writing.
Oh, and you'll learn a lot about drugs. I mean a lot. I could probably go out and shoot heroin now, if I wanted (I do not... I repeat, I do not).
No comments:
Post a Comment