Most of my perspective comes from the movie so bear with me. In the movie, Leonardo tries heroin as part of his downward spiral and it really turns the movie dark. In the book, he tries heroin almost at the beginning and complains because he always thought that pot got you high. In the movie Leonardo is hitching rides on buses at the beginning and turning to nastier crimes later on. In the book Carroll is describing the best methods for purse snatching. In the movie, Leonardo hustles for tricks as one of the last signs that he's fallen from grace. In the book, Carroll complains about the gay johns who make him go to baseball games or want him to whip cats to death ("unfortunately for him I was in a cat-loving mood that day and whipped him instead"). In the movie there is a helpful friend who tries to get him off of drugs. That guy is fortunately absent in the book. In the movie there is a long sequence about the best friend with cancer. In the book, he's creeped out by the corpse but that's about it.

In essence, the movie serves up a rough-around-the-edges kid who gets into a bad situation that only gets worse. The book by contrast has Jim Carroll pure and malignant, snatching purses and shooting up without a care as to the consequences. He's a nasty little punk and he deserves most of what happens to him. This is probably why Carroll's later stuff isn't as popular. Much of what makes this book great is how repulsed and intrigued you are with the narrator. When Jim Carroll grew up, kicked the addiction and stopped being such a creep, it was great for him and anyone around him, but he lost the main voice and never replaced it with anything quite so compelling.

After you read this book you should check out with Patti Smith's early book of poetry, Please Kill Me about the New York punk scene in which Carroll featured prominently and Catholic Boy. YOu might also want to watch the movie as it isn't bad by DiCaprio standards, although pretty awful by the standards of the book.

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:

A complete arc of drug use  Oct 31, 2004
By Ash Hibbert
This is a complete arc of drug use - from the narrator's first sniff of glue on a ferry as a thirteen year old to a late teenager in an apartment in one very bad state. At first humorous, the narrative increasingly becomes the story of a young adult's miserable descent into addiction. Though Carroll yearns to be pure and real, his writing is fluid from the first page through its deeply vivid, sensual and emotive descriptions. Frustration, fear, annoyance, contempt, and euphoria are all communicated through but a few phrases, and often the accounts require no commentary whatsoever.

Having seen and loved the film I was naturally comparing and contrasting the two throughout - unlike the film, however, there are no guardian angels in real life. Instead by the last pages of Basketball Diaries we see Carroll consciously having hit rock bottom. When I first saw the film I felt frustration because it seemed that to comment on the world of heroine-use one must be a heroine user. No other way seems to exist to enter that world deep enough and gain its inhabitant's trust. However, reading the book it became apparent that Carroll is simply one who likes looking into the things and people around him with more depth than most - and has the passion to put those insights onto paper.

In reading Basketball Diaries I developed enough contempt for Carroll to convince me never to follow the same path. His wit, intelligence and athleticism - all which he maintains while engaging various habits - meant however that I was also grudgingly admiring of him.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Perspectives Change  Jun 06, 2000
By Brian S Dirking
This is one of my favorite books. I read it originally when I was 16, and rereading it at 35, I was struck at how different my perspective was. At 16, it didn't feel like a downward spiral - just a progression of growing up. I also highly recommend his book Forced Entries, which is a good continuation. I have to say I enjoy Carroll's prose a bit more than his poetry.

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:

Chasing The Dragon  Nov 30, 2006
By John R. Pomerville "Moose Guy"
The Basketball Diaries by New York City Punk Poet Laureate Jim Carroll is a diary of his life between the ages of 12 and 16. The literary level he achieves is stunning given his youth. The subject matter, while serious, is not near as dark as other reviewers have suggested. Although drug usage plays an ever increasing role in Carroll's life to the detriment of his grades, sports, etc., many parts of the diary are laugh-out-loud funny. The "anything for a laugh or a high" ethic of Carroll and his buddies is something that many of us can relate to as we think back on our youth. Usually with a mixture of regrets and smiles. It is a perilous journey that does end in ultimate tragedy for some. But not Carroll. He has survived (and thrived) for years now as a poet and musician. In light of this knowledge, his diary doesn't seem as desparate and moribund as it could have been. This is in no way an affirmation of drug usage and I'm not trying to minimize its potential dangers. Jim Carroll's account of his descent into mainline heroin addiction is somewhat harrowing. But this book is much more than just a junkie's story. It is wonderfully written and is very effective at conveying not just the trials of youth but some of it's joys as well. Highly recommended.

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