Sam Lansky

He came out at the age of 11. After his parents divorced, he lived with his father in Manhattan and attended the Dwight School. Having already tried cocaine, his drug use deepened. According to his memoir, his father gave him access to money with little supervision, and he spent many nights on drug benders with a close friend. As "street drugs" became harder to get a hold of, he expanded to prescription drugs, particularly amphetamines. He also partied with Manhattan socialites and celebrities, and engaged in casual sex with older men, on the condition that they must have nice apartments and cocaine. After overdosing at 17 years old, his father had him forcibly entered into a wilderness drug rehabilitation program in Utah. However, unable to enter a post-rehab program due to his age, he quickly relapsed. His battle with substance of abuse brought him to the point of becoming a paid escort and a two-month binge of drugs and casual sex. He flew to where his father had moved in San Francisco, California, and entered a 12-step program that began his sobriety in earnest.

He enrolled in the New School and got a degree in creative writing. He became a freelance music critic, before joining the editorial staff of Time (magazine) magazine.

• The Gilded Razor (2016)