I Ran into Some Trouble

This is an unevenly written memoir that would have benefitted from a bit more editing and better proofreading, particularly in the opening and closing sections of the book. Caserta has lived a fascinating life with some incredible experiences, and hearing her firsthand accounts of the beginning of t......more

The first time I heard of Peggy Caserta was on a Janis Joplin documentary. Of all the people close to Janis, it was Peggy who held my interest the most. My interest in her grew when I read a interview where Courtney Love - Kurt Cobain’s widow - said that “Going Down With Janis” was the biography she......more

I really enjoyed the first 1/3 of this story. The origins of the Haight, the idealism of the movement, the people who were part of the legend have always been fascinating to me. However, once that first needle went into Peggy's arm the book became one long, repetitive and very sad story. I almost pu......more

Caserta's been through addiction and prison and Hurricane Katrina, but the lack of important detail where it's needed and too much where it's not, along with odd, unexplained jumps in the narrative and graceless writing create a bore of a read. Survival skills don't necessarily equal a successful me......more

The first third is interesting and shows promise, just like Peggy Caserta's life. But as Peggy's life descends into drug addiction, the book descends into endless descriptions of looking for drugs, shooting up, and going through withdrawals, again and again and again. There are also many other painf......more