Chris Brown 2007-03-13

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Jim Carroll is one of the greatest writers of our time, and all he is doing is recording testiments of his life. The Downtown Diaries is possibly one of my favorite collections of writings/poetry. I definitely suggest anyone who comes across his work to buy it. It is well worth the read.

2003-08-28

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

After seeing the movie "The Basketball Diaries," I decided to pick up the book. It was excellent. Then I read "Forced Entries." I admire Jim for writing without barriers. He sees humor in things you wouldn't think of. I couldn't put this book down. Because of those two books, he is now my favorite author/poet. His poetry is worth reading also. Everything he writes is a personal, touching, and often a scary reality. When reading his stuff, you can picture yourself in his world for a day. You see through the drug-addict's and poet's eyes. To understand the lengths people with drug addiction go through, you have to read at least one of his books. However, you'll be craving to read more.

2002-12-06

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

(the review title makes reference to elements in the book)

This book is old but no less compelling than it was upon publication. Be forewarned though as Carrol's preface admits that
this slice-of-post-60s junkie life is not entirely true to
actual experience or sequenced correctly (relative to time)
but I assure you that these are mere details in what is otherwise a fine and strangely reassuring book - at least for those with personal experience with drug addiction.

There is a tone of optimism which keeps emerging throughout the work which reaches a climax as the author finally manages to rid his body of literal festering corruption afterwhich he basks in the afterglow of the early NYC sounds. One is left with the
impression that Carrol is more addicted to the Big Apple than any substance.

For those looking for an expose of "look what I did
to support my junk habit" well look elsewhere. This is much less
about heroin than it is the general vibe surrounding the early 70s in NYC. If you were there you will experience a strong sense of deja vu - for those who weren't well use this book as your
starting point and move forward.

Author Brian Wallace (Mind Transmission, Inc.) 2002-09-12

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

an immensely humorous, frolicking, and impressively well-written look inside the corridors of New York city during a special time period. I tremble at the thought that The Basketball Diaries might not have been popularized, for then we might not have been so exposed to the sheer "Zen" talent of this writer.

Very few writers combine humor so well with literary splendor.

very enjoyable.

Logan L. Braasch 2002-07-18

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

As the book says, it's a sensational sequel to Jim Carroll's first book of diaries, "The Basketball Diaries." I personally loved this book for irrelevant reasons. First, the last reviewer as stated that he/she didn't like this book because it jut told about his sex life and all that. What she wanted was for him doing drugs and stealing and stuff because he/she might have thought that that type of stuff was cool. This isn't how you should look at Forced Entries and especially The Basketball Diaries. In Forced Entires, Jim Carroll seaches his way to be pure (get off of drugs) through facing unknown challenges and taking the hard way down the road. He meets celebrities like Andy Warhol, he flees to Californai to cure the heroin addiction. You have to see Forced Entries in the litural sense and that Jim Carroll created himself out of literature. At the end he pours the sin of his bodily remains out of him and faces the more pure life, where he reaches the spot he was looking for in The Basketball Diaries and Forced Entries. "I can feel the window light hurting my eyes I just want to be pure..." - the last page of The Basketball Diaries