PORTRAITS FROM A SHOOTING GALLERY

Using the same methods as Larner & Tefferteller's successful The Addict in the Street (1965) this has an equal impact and perhaps more importance. Dr. Fiddle, a sociologist, manages to bring some definition to the flexible world of the addict in terms of pharmacological, psychological and sociological needs and stress. He tries to set up some boundaries without stereotyping, but within these he does find certain trends, the addict as existentialist creature, the addict as anguish personified, etc. His interviews (taped) with these men at Exodus House in East Harlem cover the subjects' entire history, background to motivations to use to ways of supporting their habit and attitudes. His running commentary is a marvel in insight and the stories of these men, despairing, self-delusive, pathetic and often hopeless should be listened to by laymen as well as those directly concerned with this problem.