ABOUT THE COOK UP
Reminiscent of the classic Random Family andThe Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, but told by the man who lived it, THE COOK UP is a riveting look inside the Baltimore drug trade portrayed in The Wire and an incredible story of redemption.
The smartest kid on his block in East Baltimore, D. was certain he would escape the life of drugs, decadence, and violence that had surrounded him since birth. But when his brother Devin is shot-only days after D. receives notice that he's been accepted into Georgetown University-the plans for his life are exploded, and he takes up the mantel of his brother's crack empire. D. succeeds in cultivating the family business, but when he meets a woman unlike any he's known before, his priorities are once more put into question. Equally terrifying and hilarious, inspiring and heartbreaking, D.'s story offers a rare glimpse into the mentality of a person who has escaped many hells.
Read an excerpt here.
Early Praise:
"The East Baltimore of D. Watkins is distant from where I live by twenty-five, maybe thirty blocks. It might as well be a country other than my own. This is the United State we abandoned and then forgot, the margins of a thriving, information-age America where mass labor is no longer essential, where the factories and warehouses and piers are empty or gone, and where Johns Hopkins University is the second largest employer -next to the illegal drug trade. And the corners are always hiring. That Watkins threaded his way from those corners to the page is rare enough. That he is so committed to pulling this world through with him-enough of it to at least rub our noses in it and make us acknowledge some collective responsibility--is precious. These are angry pages.” —David Simon, author of The Corner and creator, HBO's The Wire
"Amazing storytelling that brings us deep into the reality of East Baltimore. A moving and important piece of contemporary memoir.” —Wes Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The Work and The Other Wes Moore
"D. Watkins' THE COOK UP is a bold, necessary dispatch from the streets, where a kid born into a hustler's life must fight for survival-and his soul. Watkins may have been a drug dealer, but he was caught up in his own addictions: To rampant consumerism, the numbness of Percocets, and a fantasy of the high-flying American dream. His book shows the astonishing evolution of a man who traded cheap fixes for the mighty power of the written word.” —Sarah Hepola, New York Times bestselling author of Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget
"The East Baltimore of D. Watkins is distant from where I live by twenty-five, maybe thirty blocks. It might as well be a country other than my own. This is the United State we abandoned and then forgot, the margins of a thriving, information-age America where mass labor is no longer essential, where the factories and warehouses and piers are empty or gone, and where Johns Hopkins University is the second largest employer -next to the illegal drug trade. And the corners are always hiring. That Watkins threaded his way from those corners to the page is rare enough. That he is so committed to pulling this world through with him-enough of it to at least rub our noses in it and make us acknowledge some collective responsibility--is precious. These are angry pages.” —David Simon, author of The Corner and creator, HBO's The Wire
"Amazing storytelling that brings us deep into the reality of East Baltimore. A moving and important piece of contemporary memoir.” —Wes Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The Work and The Other Wes Moore
"D. Watkins' THE COOK UP is a bold, necessary dispatch from the streets, where a kid born into a hustler's life must fight for survival-and his soul. Watkins may have been a drug dealer, but he was caught up in his own addictions: To rampant consumerism, the numbness of Percocets, and a fantasy of the high-flying American dream. His book shows the astonishing evolution of a man who traded cheap fixes for the mighty power of the written word.” —Sarah Hepola, New York Times bestselling author of Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
D. Watkins is a columnist for Salon. His work has been published in the New York Times, Guardian, Rolling Stone, and other publications. He holds a master's in Education from Johns Hopkins University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Baltimore. He is a college professor at the University of Baltimore and founder of the BMORE Writers Project. Watkins has been the recipient of numerous awards including Ford's Men of Courage and a BME Fellowship. Watkins is from and lives in East Baltimore. He is the author of The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America.
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Available everywhere May 03
HARDCOVER BOOK - 1455588636 / 9781455588633
ELECTRONIC BOOK - 1455588644 / 9781455588640
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