Rating: 
Summary: Basketball Diaries is an awsome book...
Review: I got this book as a gift an I was interested cause I had seen the movie, by within the first 5 pages, I was hooked. I read the entire book right away. It was so intense at times and so well worded that i fell in love with Jim Carroll. This book was about his life growing up in the cruel streets of New York exposing himself to prostitutes, drugs, and more drugs. He let us all deal with hard times with him by writing down his experiances in his diary. I loved this book. And for all of you people who think Leonardo DiCaprio has something to do with this book--forget it. He's not. They just put him on the cover and that's ALL.
Rating:
Summary: Created Through Liturature from a 12 year old
Review: Jim Carroll started to write this diary when he was only 12 years of age. At this time, he was finding every drug he could could get into his hands and took his first shot of heroin when he was only 13 years of age. A dark book, in the juvenile sense, but in the poetic sense, a book about a excellent book about searching for something pure. A reviewer wrote, "I think that this book was written to tell other teenagers not to use drugs." That's not true. It's a true story and merely a diary of truth. It became known as a biography for the rock star Jim Carroll. Another reviewer wrote, "This book is dark and vulgar." It is. It is really. But if you look at the book this way, there's no reason you should be reading it. Think of it this way, Puke and Pure. At the last entry of the diary Jim is in the headquarters a place where junkies from all over hang out, totally zonked and saying, "I got to go in and puke. I just want to be pure..." To me, the diary is about a lost young poet trying to find redemption through writing and finds that, not at the end, but at the end of when he becomes pure. This diary is vulgar and dark. Many swear wrods come into place, and many sexual indescence is in this book. But in the end Jim, the young poet is looking for redemption through his writing and searching for something pure...
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Disturbing
Review: This book was sooo super. It was very nutso to read and I'm a crazy guy. When he sodomized his teacher in that giant tub of potato salad I was like WHOA
Rating: 
Summary: Disturbingly honest
Review: For a teenage diary, this is extremely well written. Jim Carroll was clearly a gifted writer, and his diary brings the New York City streets of the mid-60's to life. His vivid descriptions of growing up as a street wise kid on the mean streets of the city clearly paint a picture of the period.That said, this is was NOT a fun book to read. There is much about Carroll's life in this period that is not pretty. His growing dependency on drugs is readily apparent as the book progresses, as is his willingness to do almost anything to pay for his next fix. There are graphic descriptions of both the drug use and his sexual encounters, but even so there is a sense of honesty in the account that somehow seems to be redeeming. In the end, this is a powerful glimpse into a life on the streets.
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Summary: In depth look, seems like just glimpses at Jim's early life
Review: This book reveals a lot, and seems like it does, but when i was done, i craved to know more (and there is more in "Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries", but that's beside the point). It's amazing to look at his life, from his perspective, and see what he's done and what he's been through. You feel like a special guest of sorts, being allowed to learn all this information, which is sometimes scary, many times hilarious, and often very graphic. I would find myself reading this book in class, and laughing out loud at times, or often grimacing in surprise, or even an almost sort of pain- as if i were there. I often loved certain excerpts of it so much that i would share them with other people, just turning to whoever was nearest. I wish i could say i've always been a Carroll fan, but i, like many others, didn't find out about him until after seeing the movie of this same title. I immediately wanted more, and this book supplied what i wanted. It's incredible, and i am so glad i had a chance to read it.
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Summary: finally got to read it!
Review: I saw the movie, The Basketball Diaries, years ago, and subsequently kept hearing how awesome the book is. But I never got around to actually reading it. Until, I was in a friend's house recently and perusing her bookshelfs saw it. I borrowed it and within 2 days read the entire book. It's quite disturbing, even more so because I live a few blocks above Inwood - - where Carrol lived and where much of the book took place - - in Kingsbridge . Reading The BD's I felt like, 30 years later, I know a bunch of Jim Carrol's running around playing the same downward spiraling game. Carrol has an amazing ability to capture his own life on paper. I'm just wondering Jim, are you pure yet?
Rating:
Summary: In depth look, seems like just glimpses at Jim's early life
Review: This book reveals a lot, and seems like it does, but when i was done, i craved to know more (and there is more in "Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries", but that's beside the point). It's amazing to look at his life, from his perspective, and see what he's done and what he's been through. You feel like a special guest of sorts, being allowed to learn all this information, which is sometimes scary, many times hilarious, and often very graphic. I would find myself reading this book in class, and laughing out loud at times, or often grimacing in surprise, or even an almost sort of pain- as if i were there. I often loved certain excerpts of it so much that i would share them with other people, just turning to whoever was nearest. I wish i could say i've always been a Carroll fan, but i, like many others, didn't find out about him until after seeing the movie of this same title. I immediately wanted more, and this book supplied what i wanted. It's incredible, and i am so glad i had a chance to read it.
Rating:
Summary: the basketball diaries
Review: The Basketball Diaries is an extraordinary book. It takes place in New York City during the mid 60's. The main character is Jim Carroll. He is a teenager who loves to play basketball and get wasted with his friends. As he grows older in the streets of New York, he becomes more and more of a junkie. I liked this book because it's so real. It made me laugh a lot, and at times I actually felt bad for Jim. His diaries were very well written and never left out any details. This book was definately one of the best books I've read so far, and I hope that after reading this review, many of you would pick up the book and see what all the fuss is about. I've read many books that just wasted my time and I just didn't enjoy, but The Basketball Diaries is one of the books that I absolutely DO NOT regret reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what i expected . . .
Review: I could simply not be impressed with Jim Carroll's diaries. The events don't seem to invoke any sort of depth of character, rather the choice of entries seems to be based on pure shock value. I've read the other reviews and simply do not see the depth here that others claim to find. There is no search for purity, only a chance to find the next high, starting with his roof-top escapades and ending with his body riddled with drugs. What purity he had was lost before the book started (so we have no particular pity invoked) and each claim for the search of purity is negated within a few entries by yet another escapade into debauchery. Street-wise he may be, a decent writer at thirteen, yes, but nothing to engage the mind and make you think. Just looking to shock one more white-color suburbanite.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Writing
Review: The Basketball Diaries is the story of a teen hooked on heroin -- and, unlike the movie, stays hooked. This is the gritty, sleazy, cold reality of drug addiction. What makes this book compelling is its unwillingness to compromise or sentimentalize the protagonist's plight. He's a junkie, and, because of that, is a souless creep, whose only concern is finding his next fix. It's actually a literary novel, very well written, very tight and each word counts, which makes sense since the main character (which is basically Jim Carroll himself) is a poet. I really recommend this book to lovers of underground lit. This is not a feel-good Oprah book. It's hard, mean, and at the same (because of its brutal honesty) beautiful. Give it a shot! Also recommended: On The Road by Jack Kerouac, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez
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