Dope (2006)

author: sara gran

i've always loved watching "noir" movies... that whole style has a certain pulp aesthetic that really draws me in and i never get bored with it even though a lot of it seems to be repetitive in character... but in storyline, it always seems to surprise and shock me.
I guess it was the love of the 50's that my mother instilled in me early in my life that draws me to this particular style so emphatically... or maybe i just dig the "i've got something to hide and for you to find out under these deceiving beautiful eyes and red lipsticked lips with a cigarette in tow" kinda look that a pulp novel "broad" gives the stoned faced guy looking for clues in all the wrong places.

i just started getting into reading mystery/crime novels lately since bumping into Jeff Garlin of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" at Westwood's little bookshop, "The Mystery Bookstore". He was very down to earth and seemed very enthused to recommend me this novel... he even went as far as to write inside the book, "this book is KING" then his signature. he then noted that he was jealous that i got to experience it for the first time, because he loved the feeling when he was first reading it.

i finished the book in two graveyard shifts of work and enjoyed it very much. the book is filled with real "characters"... dope junkies, hustlers, cops, mobs, prostitutes and pimps... and i love the personality of the main character Joe.

the beginning of the book is a little slow and redundant but then it starts to really get good with twists and turns that you'd never expect. Sara Gran has a way with words that makes you feel like you're right there in gritty New York seeing and feeling everything... this is one of the few books that left me with a real smile at the end of reading it from bewilderment.

in the words of Jeff Garlin, "this book (really) is KING!"