What do you think?
Rate this book
The Crooked Beat
From the squalid heroin dens and live sex clubs of Bangkok to the steaming underbelly of Calcutta, The Crooked Beat takes you to places few tourists ever see. Like Trainspotting set in the jungle, this is a modern day On The Road for the chemical generation. Hang onto your passport because the trip is going to be wild.
- GenresFiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2010
5 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Drew Gates
7 books18 followersThis quote by Patrick White pretty much sums up my feelings about literature:
“Surely what the writer needs, is orthography, grammar and syntax, which he learns at school; after that he must read and write, read and write, and forgetting all about being a writer, live, to perfect his art.”
“Surely what the writer needs, is orthography, grammar and syntax, which he learns at school; after that he must read and write, read and write, and forgetting all about being a writer, live, to perfect his art.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 4, 2014
A vivid drug trip into what could be, good or bad. The intensity of the story will leave you alternating between disgust, empathy, and camaraderie amongst addicts. From the seedy locales of Thailand, the poverty and depravity of India, and the rotten, crooked beat that keeps Drew going through an intense safari. It all tied directly to the ups and downs of being a junkie. Without any effort or judgement on what happened until I was well into the next chapter or two, I was right with the author. While I would say that the plot may be a bit less wild than Blockpanda in a fictional sense, the author has a style that sits well with me. I would read anything that is published by Gates.
July 20, 2011
Picked this up as a free book on Smashwords. It's only available through the punkbooks.com website, in print, for a price. This is smart because this book was well written and really impressive for a self-publish.
Addicting read, gritty, gross. Loved the Asian setting (Thailand, India). It really brings the Western reader down past the tourist-y glaze that we put on exotic places and into reality.
Looking forward to the next Gate book, if there will be one.
Addicting read, gritty, gross. Loved the Asian setting (Thailand, India). It really brings the Western reader down past the tourist-y glaze that we put on exotic places and into reality.
Looking forward to the next Gate book, if there will be one.
October 1, 2013
Bought this book at a gig - wasn't expecting much to be honest, seeing as it was a punk gig and well, punks might be good at making noise - but writing? (pretty sure I bought it off the guy who wrote it) Changed my mind on that as soon as I started reading - not only is it a very well written book, it is absolutely gripping, despite many disgusting parts. This is a story about parts of Asia/India I didnt know existed and a class of people that I really don't think will live very long. Fascinating and horrifying at the same time - Couldn't put it down!
February 23, 2012
Drugs, India, more drugs, some punk rock, more drugs. The book would have become boring (and did threaten to do that in quite a few places) were it not for the pleasant fact that Drew Gates can actually write well. Hope he continues and produces more.
Oh, almost forget to say, you can get the book as a free ebook download here:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
punk fucking rock or what?
Oh, almost forget to say, you can get the book as a free ebook download here:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
punk fucking rock or what?
April 11, 2014
Loved this. Clear, fluid writing style. Fantastic editing and proofing.
Interesting and engaging narrative voice, and a great pace.
The ONLY quibble I have with it (and the reason I didn't go the full five stars - see below) is that I felt it just finished without any resolution.
I highly recommend this for anyone interested in memoirs of addiction.
4.5/5 stars
Interesting and engaging narrative voice, and a great pace.
The ONLY quibble I have with it (and the reason I didn't go the full five stars - see below) is that I felt it just finished without any resolution.
I highly recommend this for anyone interested in memoirs of addiction.
4.5/5 stars
January 16, 2012
Thailand, India, smack, acid, vomiting and other bodily functions; an Australian addict's journey to the East - surprisingly entertaining.
October 30, 2016
Trainspotting is a good reference point here (the movie more so than the book) - “Crooked Beat” has the similar squalid, hilarious, rolling-disaster vibe. Yes this is a heroin novel, although LSD25 has a strong supporting role and really steals the show in a few places.
This is a story of a drug odyssey into Thailand and India, in what feels like the early 90s. The narrator Dean tells us that he identifies as a “dope fiend” rather than a “junky”, which may be a reason why the story stays up and moving and doesn’t get boring. Mostly Dean is dealing and consuming, moving from place to place and meeting crazy travellers. There hardly seems to be a page go by without someone vomiting out a window. However all the madness is interspersed with some very nice descriptive passages of the landscape and a bit of introspection here and there.
A couple of times I felt Dean was in urgent need of a boot to the face which sadly was not forthcoming. For example he picks on a German girl who understandably doesn’t want to sit next to him and he beats up an Indian dealer for no good reason and it doesn’t seem to bother him afterwards. Mostly though I was sympathetic to the young fiend.
I think my favourite parts here were the descriptions of the Goa trance party scene. I liked that after every party there seemed to be people losing their mind and rolling around naked. It made techno seem raw and risky again.
Recommended.
This is a story of a drug odyssey into Thailand and India, in what feels like the early 90s. The narrator Dean tells us that he identifies as a “dope fiend” rather than a “junky”, which may be a reason why the story stays up and moving and doesn’t get boring. Mostly Dean is dealing and consuming, moving from place to place and meeting crazy travellers. There hardly seems to be a page go by without someone vomiting out a window. However all the madness is interspersed with some very nice descriptive passages of the landscape and a bit of introspection here and there.
A couple of times I felt Dean was in urgent need of a boot to the face which sadly was not forthcoming. For example he picks on a German girl who understandably doesn’t want to sit next to him and he beats up an Indian dealer for no good reason and it doesn’t seem to bother him afterwards. Mostly though I was sympathetic to the young fiend.
I think my favourite parts here were the descriptions of the Goa trance party scene. I liked that after every party there seemed to be people losing their mind and rolling around naked. It made techno seem raw and risky again.
Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews