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Jim Carroll's classic about growing up hip on New York's mean streets is now a feature film from Island World Productions and distributed by New Line Cinemas. The Basketball Diaries will open . . .
. . . starring Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim Carroll. Directed by Scott Kalvert and also starring Lorraine Bracco, Bruno Kirby, Mark Wahlberg (aka Marky Mark), James Maddio, and Michael Imperioli, this electrifying film-and our tie-in edition-is certain to captivate audiences across the country.
The Basketball Diaries chronicles Jim Carroll's alternatively hilarious and horrifying urban coming-of-age from twelve to fifteen. The excerpts published in The Paris Review in the 1970s created a sensation-a response that continues to this day. Here is Carroll prowling the streets of New York-playing basketball, hustling, stealing, getting high, getting hooked, and searching for something pure. Since the period covered in this book, Carroll has become a poet and rock performer of renown, but The Basketball Diaries continues to be the distillation of the Carroll charms-wised-up wit, free-wheeling rebellion, and intense vision.
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August 15, 2009: Saw the movie, liked it so much I bought the book. The book was as good as the film or better. I'll make my boys read it. Will keep on shelf permantly.
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July 18, 2009: This is a beautifully written book about an ugly subject, teen drug abuse. Jim Carroll had so much going for him with his talents on the basketball court, yet sacrifies it all for the next high or low. It is compelling to read how low a junkie will sink to get his next fix. While not the worst story in terms of drug use, what drives this story is Carroll's truely talented writing. It is amazing that this was written by a young man between the ages of 12 and 15.