There’s always a rusty, necessarily tetanus edge to tales of hardcore drug abuse and Life is Hot in Cracktown is no exception. If you’ve read the book, you know its first few sentences clearly mark the territory:
“Life is hot in Cracktown. The flaming sidewalk burns your feet. Steams the air, cooks the base. Blood and piss like street perfume, vaporize and melt together till your nose pukes up the residue."
Written by Buddy Giovinazzo in 1993, the brutally compelling book covers 16 intense and raw stories which circle the drain of neighborhoods (and people) overstuffed with crack cocaine. The stories all take place in Dinkins-era New York and involve a cross-cut of desperate addicts, mean criminals, sullied youth and senseless tragedy.
The book is currently being adapted for the big screen and is currently in pre-production. The project has added four actors to what’s sure to be an eclectic ensemble piece. Evan Ross (big-junked son of Diana), Michael Rapaport (prolific actor and would-be superhero in Special), Kerry Washington (hottie soon to be in FF 2) and Viktor Rasuk (Skateboarding bad boy from Lords of Dogtown) have all signed on. They join Illeana Douglas, who will probably be getting more of what Robert Dinero gave her in Cape Fear.
There’s no doubt the thesps will be chewing on some hard and unpleasant material as Buddy Giovinazzo is both writing and directing for a release sometime in 2008.