Most Dope

Most Dope

The first biography of rapper Mac Miller, the Pittsburgh cult-favorite-turned-rap-superstar who touched the lives of millions before tragically passing away at the age of 26. “Most Dope works as a reminder of Mac’s passion for hip-hop and his gifts as a MC. But the new book from music journalist Paul Cantor absolutely soars as a cautionary tale about drug addiction.” —Esquire Malcolm James McCormick was born on January 19, 1992. He began making music at a young age, and by 15 was already releasing mixtapes. One of the first true viral superstars, his early records earned him a rabid legion of die-hard fans—as well as a few noteworthy detractors. But despite his undeniable success, Miller was plagued by struggles with substance abuse and depression, which fueled his raw and genre-defying music yet ultimately led to his demise. Through detailed reporting and interviews with dozens of Miller’s confidants, Paul Cantor brings you to leafy Pittsburgh, seductive Los Angeles, and frenzied New York, where you will meet Miller’s collaborators, producers, business partners, best friends, and even his roommates. Traveling deep into Miller’s inner circle, behind the curtain, the velvet ropes, and studio doors, this is the story of a passionate, gifted young man who achieved his life’s ambition, only to be undone by his personal demons. Most Dope is part love letter, part cautionary tale, never shying away from the raw, visceral way Mac Miller lived his life.

Corpsman

Border Junkies

The drug war that has turned Juárez, Mexico, into a killing field that has claimed more than 7,000 lives since 2008 captures headlines almost daily. But few accounts go all the way down to the streets to investigate the lives of individual drug users. One of those users, Scott Comar, survived years of heroin addiction and failed attempts at detox and finally cleaned up in 2003. Now a graduate student at the University of Texas at El Paso in the history department's borderlands doctoral program, Comar has written Border Junkies, a searingly honest account of his spiraling descent into heroin addiction, surrender, change, and recovery on the U.S.-Mexico border. Border Junkies is the first book ever written about the lifestyle of active addiction on the streets of Juárez. Comar vividly describes living between the disparate Mexican and American cultures and among the fellow junkies, drug dealers, hookers, coyote smugglers, thieves, and killers who were his friends and neighbors in addiction—and the social workers, missionaries, shelter workers, and doctors who tried to help him escape. With the perspective of his anthropological training, he shows how homelessness, poverty, and addiction all fuel the use of narcotics and the rise in their consumption on the streets of Juárez and contribute to the societal decay of this Mexican urban landscape. Comar also offers significant insights into the U.S.-Mexico borderland's underground and peripheral economy and the ways in which the region's inhabitants adapt to the local economic terrain.