Kensington Beach

Loss and Survival on the Streets of Philadelphia

De: Budd Rodney

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

He was a correctional officer who upheld the law. Then he became a homeless addict in America's largest open-air drug market.

Budd's life was built on a foundation of order and discipline, following his father's footsteps into a career in corrections. But beneath the uniform, a relentless addiction was tearing his world apart, brick by agonizing brick. In a harrowing descent, he lost everything: his job, his family's trust, and finally, his home.

He ended up on the streets of Kensington, Philadelphia—a neighborhood ravaged by a new, flesh-eating drug called "tranq." His slow suicide was broadcast to the world through live-feed YouTube cameras, a modern-day hell where he became a "hitter," a street doctor paid in drugs and cash to inject others who could no longer find their own veins.

Kensington Beach is an unflinching, first-hand account of a world most people only glimpse through their car windows, the internet, or TV.. It is a journey into the heart of the American opioid crisis, where unspoken rules govern a community of ghosts and fierce loyalties are forged in the fire of desperation. It is a story of enduring brutal street violence, near-fatal health crises, and the gruesome reality of a drug that eats you alive.

After years on the street, Budd wakes up in a hospital bed with a choice that will alter him forever: months of grueling surgeries to save his frostbitten feet, or a bilateral amputation that offers the only sure path to walking again.

This is not a story for the faint of heart. It is a scream for help from a place where so many have fallen silent. It is a raw, intimate look at the bonds of love and survival, and a testament to the brutal, beautiful, and often contradictory nature of hitting rock bottom. Ultimately, Kensington Beach is the story of what happens when you lose everything—including parts of yourself—and are forced to find a reason to live again.

This powerful and visceral memoir is for readers of Beautiful Boy, Tweak, Hillbilly Elegy, and Dopesick, and for anyone seeking to understand the human face of a crisis that is consuming our nation, one soul at a time.

Wow,

wow what a story! I appreciate how transparent and raw the author was when writing this memoir, he truly held nothing back. the author lost everything but his life. I hope this man continues to stay clean and turn his life around. my only critique is that this Memoir deserved to be read by an actual person and not virtual voice other than that five stars!

Raw and honest.

Aside from the overuseage of certain words and phrases (I'm looking at you "fleeting") , which got a bit distracting, I'm impressed at the amount of strength and courage it took to put it all out there. I highly recommend this listen for any and all, but especially those who have struggled/ continue to struggle with drug and alcohol addiction.

Gives an honest look at the horrors of addiction

Good insight for someone not familiar with the struggles of addiction. I think a lot of people think why dont addicts just quit, or that they are having the time of their lives in their addiction... this shines light on the unseen battles addicts face on a daily basis.

Incredible story. Gruesome details.

Absolutely breathtaking book. All the details…The story. There’s nothing like it. Incredible writing, so raw so real

A riveting memoir of a very troubled life

A very detailed and honest account of the author’s time experiencing homelessness and drug addiction. He takes you through his entire story from initially dabbling in drugs, to getting sober, to relapsing, to living on the street.