Biographical note:
Tony Dokoupil is a Senior Writer for NBC News. He holds a masters degree in American Studies from Columbia University, and lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.
Country of final manufacture:
US
Main description:
In the tradition of Blow and Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, Tony Dokoupil's vivid memoir recounts the life of his father, Big Tony: the undisputed, multi-millionaire king of the 1980's Miami marijuana trade . . . until it all went spectacularly up in smoke.
For NBC News Senior Writer Tony Dokoupil, growing up in the technicolor fantasy land of 1980's Miami was a dream. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Prep with Bush family members and spent weekends yachting in crystal blue waters off the Miami Keys. A typical day would see his mom head off to Jazzercise decked out in feathered earrings and silver spandex while his father drank daiquiris on the lanai and cruised around in sports cars that were eventually leant to the production crews of Miami Vice. They lived a life of excess and privilege; all built on the springy, sticky, spongy foundation of Columbia's finest.
Yet beneath the glitzy surface lay a dark world of midnight drug smuggles, week-long heroin binges, domestic violence, prostitution, turncoat informants and the increasing pressure of Reagan's War on Drugs. What began as a peace-filled gentleman's trade populated by bleachy-haired Jimmy Buffet pirates soon turned into a violent international business fueled by greed, and Big Tony's empire crashed and burned.
An excellent blend of reportage, a cultural snapshot of 80's Miami, and a deeply personal memoir, Tony Dokoupil's dramatic book presents a layered portrait of a complicated man, while detailing his determination to replant the Dokoupil family tree after it has taken one hit too many.
