The true black voice of his generation, Donald Goines wrote novels that nailed the harsh realities of the urban experience deep into the psyche of today’s hip hop culture, influencing major artists from Jay-Z and 50 Cent to Nas and Ghostface Killah. Dopefiend is his classic descent into the junkie’s harrowing nightmare… Teddy finally got the girl of his dreams. Together, Teddy and Terry filled people with admiration wherever they went. Young, gifted, and black, the future was theirs for the taking. But Teddy had a small little addiction. Then Terry had a taste. Then life took a wrong turn into the darkest, vilest back alleys. Drawing from years of his own addiction to heroin, Goines holds nothing back in this graphic, unflinching tale of lives destroyed by drugs. Each page tells it like it is—the whole truth and nothing but the truth—which keeps you coming back for more. Praise for Donald Goines and His Novels “Written from ground zero… the voice of the ghetto itself.” —The Village Voice “He lived by the code of the streets.” —New Jersey Voice

Dopefiend

Literature & Fiction

Goines, Donald

United States

Holloway House

From one of the most revolutionary writers of the 20th century, the uncensored and gritty novel that inspired today’s street lit and hip hop culture. Whoreson “After my ninth birthday I began to really understand the meaning of my name. I began to understand just what my mother was doing for a living. There was nothing I could do about it, but even had I been able to, I wouldn’t have changed it.” Whoreson Jones is the son of a beautiful black prostitute and an unknown white john. As a child, he’s looked after by his neighborhood’s imposing matriarch, Big Mama, while his mother works. At age twelve, his street education begins when a man named Fast Black, schools him in trickology. By thirteen, Whoreson’s a cardsharp. By sixteen, his childhood abruptly ends, and he is a full-fledged pimp, cold-blooded and ruthless, battling to understand and live up to his mother’s words, “First be a man, then be a pimp.” “All those [other black] writers, no matter how well they dealt with black experience, appealed largely to an educated, middle-class, largely white readership. They brought news of one place to the residents of another. Goines’ novels, on the other hand, are written from ground zero. They are almost unbearable. It is not the educated voice of a writer who has, so to speak, risen above his background. It is the voice of the ghetto itself.” —Michael Covino, The Village Voice

Whoreson

Donald Goines continues the gripping, gritty story of crime in the black ghetto begun in Crime Partners. They’re all back for blood: Kenyatta, the ganglord with an army of brothers to deal deadly with crooked cops and dope dealers; Benson and Ryan, a black and white detective team, desperate in their fight to stop the black crime wave. It’s doomsday when Kenyatta joins them in a war against a secret list of drug pushers. “In his five-year literary career, Donald Goines provided perhaps the most sustained, multifaceted, realistic fiction picture ever created by one author of the lives, choices, and frustrations of the underworld ghetto blacks. Almost single-handedly, Goines established the conventions and the popular momentum for a new fictional genre, which could be called ghetto realism.” —Greg Goode, University of Rochester

Death List (Kenyatta)

Kenyatta had two ambitions: cleaning the ghetto of all drug traffic and gunning down all the racist white cops. But a black and white detective team, Benson and Ryan, is on his tail and has discovered the location of his army's camp. Armed with tanks, they bring a bloody doomsday to his followers. In Kenyatta's Escape, author Donald Goines continues his story of the bloody, brutal world of crime he began in Crime Partners and Death List. They're all back for a coast-to-coast chase that spells gripping adventure.

Kenyatta's Escape

Kenyatta, the living black legend, concentrates his army's ruthless forces to rid the black community of rampant drug traffic. With the help of Elliot Stone, a black football star and latest recruit to the army, Kenyatta discovers the identity of the fat-cat king of the drug pushers. The crack black and white detective team of Benson and Ryan follows Kenyatta's trail of blood across the country . . . and to a final confrontation atop one of Las Vegas's most glittering hotels! “In his five-year literary career, Donald Goines provided perhaps the most sustained, multifaceted, realistic fiction picture ever created by one author of the lives, choices, and frustrations of the underworld ghetto blacks. Almost single-handedly, Goines established the conventions and the popular momentum for a new fictional genre, which could be called ghetto realism.”  —Greg Goode, University of Rochester

Kenyatta's Last Hit

A raw and true-to-the-street portrayal of the underground by godfather of urban lit Donald Goines. Trapped in jail for a petty crime, Prince hatches a scheme from his cell to make it big. Once Ruby, the only woman worthy of his brutal ambition, joins him on the outside, they take down Detroit one hustle at a time. Dealers, pimps, police, and politicians—in the blink of an eye the hood is theirs. Now the only thing certain is the cold hard truth of the streets—because with enemies waiting behind every corner, there's only one way to stay on top of the world. "The voice of the ghetto itself." —The Village Voice "He lived by the code of the streets and his books vividly re-created the street jungle and its predators." —New Jersey Voice

Black Gangster

In this shocking novel of a young girl alone on the streets, godfather of urban lit Donald Goines delves into yet another facet of the ghetto experience—the dark, despair-ridden world of a black girl’s soul! Sandra took to the streets when she was eight years old and tried to fight off the hunger pangs by shoplifting and moving into the profits of drug pushing. Then she met Chink and discovered love and affection . . . and rape and murder! "In his five-year literary career, Donald Goines provided perhaps the most sustained, multifaceted, realistic fiction picture ever created by one author of the lives, choices, and frustrations of underworld ghetto blacks. Almost single-handedly, Goines established the conventions and the popular momentum for a new fictional genre, which could be called ghetto realism." —Greg Goode, University of Rochester

Black Girl Lost

Clawing his way to the top, pimp Earl the Black Pearl believes he is untouchable, but when someone puts a hit on his friends, he has to fight back to save his own life. In this, his fourth novel, Donald Goines tests the tensile strength of a ghetto spawn who clawed his way to the top and fights like hell to stay there. He's known as Earl the Black Pearl, and he's left the homeboys behind—way behind. He's cool, sharp as an ice crystal, and it seems that no one can touch him. Until someone even higher up puts the heat on and his friends begin dropping like flies—of lead poisoning. That's when Earl fights back . . . and all hell breaks loose! "He lived by the code of the streets and his books vividly re-created the street jungle and its predators." —New Jersey Voice

Street Players

A multifaceted, realistic fictional picture of the lives, choices, and frustrations of underworld ghetto blacks. Larry Jackson, better known as Daddy Cool, is a ruthlessly efficient black hit man, equally effective with a gun or a knife in nailing his prey. The only thing that can melt his icy heart is his love for his teenage daughter, Janet. But when the smooth talking youngblood pimp Ronald lures her into his stable, Daddy Cool must go into action with a fearsome vengeance. "All those [other black] writers, no matter how well they dealt with black experience, appealed largely to an educated, middle-class, largely white readership. They brought news of one place to the residents of another. Goines’ novels, on the other hand, are written from ground zero. They are almost unbearable. It is not the educated voice of a writer who has, so to speak, risen above his background, it is the voice of the ghetto itself." —Michael Covino, The Village Voice

Daddy Cool (Black Experience)

Based on the author's own personal experience of heroin addiction when he was discharged from the Air Force, this fast-paced, fast-talking novel takes us straight to the heart of ghetto life with all its fear and hatred. When Donald Goines was discharged from the Air Force, he was addicted to heroin. To support his habit, he staged the robbery of a local numbers house. And from that experience came Eldorado Red. It's the vicious story of crooks who get richer with the dollars of the ghetto poor. He's got it knocked: new cars, mellow women, and plenty of money. Then he learns that treachery falls at the feet of his own son! “All those [other black] writers, no matter how well they dealt with black experience, appealed largely to an educated, middle-class, largely white readership. They brought news of one place to the residents of another. Goines’ novels, on the other hand, are written from ground zero. They are almost unbearable. It is not the educated voice of a writer who has, so to speak, risen above his background, it is the voice of the ghetto itself.” —Michael Covino, The Village Voice

Eldorado Red

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