Christiane Felscherinow grew up in the Gropiusstadt housing estate in West Berlin in the 1970s. By thirteen she was going to the Sound disco, taking pills, and soon using heroin. By fourteen she was selling sex to pay for her addiction near the Zoo station, along with other teenagers in her group. The book is based on interviews that two German journalists recorded with her, and it follows her descent, her friends' deaths, and her attempts to stop. It shows an unglamorous Berlin of tenement blocks, clubs, and train stations.
Readers who want an honest portrait of teenage addiction and of 1970s Berlin will find it an important account. It also invites discussion of parents, schools, and the support that failed.
Inward-looking and contemplative; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
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