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Using narrative accounts from a sample of 69 New York City-based musicians of various genres who are self-acknowledged heroin users, the book addresses the reasons why these musicians started using heroin and the impact heroin had on these musicians´ playing, creativity, and careers.

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1. Introduction 2. Jazz 3. Rock 4. R and B 5. Latin and Caribbean Music 6. American Folk Music 7. Conclusion

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"The book read to me as a labour of love and is a model of scholarship. . .As such, it is a fine example for students of the imaginative use of secondary data and, rather like the board game Monopoly, is a methodology that could be copied to another big city, only with a comparative dimension to boot." - Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

"Spunt´s study of heroin use amongst New York City´s musicians is an exciting academic journey for those who appreciate the merits of qualitative research and especially scholars working in urban ethnography and cultural criminology. Readers will discover that Spunt´s groundbreaking study engages the critical academic mind and also the human heart: this book confronts the reader with a vast human tragedy where many of our best musicians have ruined their artistic excellence with heroin." - Thaddeus Muller, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Erasmus University, The Netherlands

"Spunt clearly and comprehensively demonstrates the connection between heroin and music and the need for a better understanding of that nexus." - Henry H. Brownstein, Senior Fellow, University of Chicago, USA

"This work promises to make a unique contribution to the sociological literature on music and drug use. Spunt is eminently qualified to make this statement, having distinguished himself as a veteran ethnographer of the New York City heroin scene. His depiction of New York City heroin-using musicians is simply fascinating, sure to become a classic in the field." - Mark S. Hamm, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Indiana State University, USA, and author of The Spectacular Few: Prisoner Radicalization and the Evolving Terrorist Threat

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Barry Spunt is an associate professor in the Sociology Department, at John Jay Criminal College, City University of New York

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