Praise from Matt Briggs author of The Remains of River Names and Shoot the Buffalo

“Tim Elhajj tells the story of his tenuous relationship with his son and Elhajj’s recovery from the heroin addiction he acquired during his childhood in a Pennsylvania steel town. While Dopefiend follows the twelve steps of a recovery program, these steps serve as the frame that hold together a sequence of masterly told vignettes. In one heartrending incident Elhajj stands in line during a dismal Christmas to receive an already wrapped and donated toy for his son. Elhajj doesn’t know his son’s address. Sentiment is such a dangerous ground for most writers since it easily falls into sappiness; Yet, Elhajj instinctively finds the right balance in telling his often gut wrenching tale. Dopefiend should be put on the same shelf as William Burroughs Junkie and Nick Flynn’s Another
Bullshit Night in Suck City.”

Advertisement