''The Basketball Diaries'' is a 1978
memoir written by author and musician
Jim Carroll. It is an edited collection of the diaries he kept between the ages of twelve and sixteen. Set in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, they detail his daily life, sexual experiences, high school basketball career, poetry compositions, the
counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
movement, and especially his addiction to
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
, which began when he was 13.
The book was made into a
film of the same name in 1995 starring
Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim Carroll and
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, three ...
as Mickey.
Carroll followed up this memoir with a sequel of sorts called ''
The Downtown Diaries
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' which follows his relocation to California and his efforts to end his heroin addiction.
1978 non-fiction books
American memoirs
Memoirs adapted into films
Works originally published in The Paris Review
Non-fiction books about drugs
Books about musicians
Books about writers
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