Wow. Who is this guy, Tony O'Neil? He seems like a brother from another side of town. As a native of Los Angeles myself, I can tell you this British ex-junkie who used to play with such bands as the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Gary Numan, not only knows Los Angeles - its smell, the feel of the streets, the bullshit on the surface and the grimy horror underneath - he knows its language. This ain't NY. We don't have a historical idiom in this town. This place is based on fame, fear, drugs, love, death and how quickly you can renew yourself. Family is dead in this town. You fuck or fight in Hollywood, and O'Neill knows that implicitly. He knows how the modern Los Angeleno thinks. Period. It's important to note that Sick City is not his confessional novel dealing with his days as a junkie in LA and London (that would be his equally incredible, "Down and Out on Murder Mile"). No, Sick City is his homage to the noir genre. But it's unlike any noir novel I've ever read. He's Elmore Leonard on heroin and crack. He makes Rum Punch look like a comedy. But this book is also laugh out loud funny. Where else will you read about a murdering meth head who sings Phil Collins' "Against All Odds" before torturing his next victim? This is some sick, twisted, funny shit. I couldn't put it down. O'Neill's talent lies in his ability to make you laugh while grossing you the hell out. The characters are well drawn and three dimensional. You care about them even though they're on the skids. They're real, but you'd never want to meet them. O'Neill is Bret Easton Ellis, if Ellis decided to infuse his characters with personalities. I can't wait to read every book this guy writes. Most simply, O'Neill is the brainchild of Jerry Stahl, Hubert Selby Jr., Bukowski, William Burroughs and the fucking Sex Pistols. Man, I loved this book. O'Neill's 2nd novel is better than his first and quite a bit funnier too. The plot circles around drugs again but this time there's also a rare porn film involved (involving Sharon Tate and other stars). The whole subplot with Dr. Mike (a thinly veiled Dr. Drew character) and his affair with a junkie transsexual is especially delicious. O'Neill read at Powell's recently and it was one of the best readings I've been to in a long time.
What do You think about Sick City (2010)?
made it about half way thru, it's starting to get better. may or may not come back to it.
—Julissa
I really did hate it.The book just idolized the junkie lifestyle.
—clarketinlin
This book is just raw and leaves nothing out.
—emiannarone
