THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK - JAMES MILLS

The Panic in Needle Park
James Mills

A raw, unflinching portrait of early 1970s New York, The Panic in Needle Park is one of the most powerful books ever written about addiction, love, and urban marginality.

Based on firsthand reporting, the book follows the daily lives of a group of young heroin users who gather around Sherman Square, nicknamed “Needle Park.” James Mills observes their world with clarity and restraint—capturing fragile relationships, the rituals of addiction, fleeting tenderness, and constant despair against the backdrop of a city that looks away.

The book inspired the cult 1971 film, written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, and has since become a key cultural reference for readers interested in American counterculture, literary journalism, and uncompromising human stories.

Essential, uncomfortable, and deeply human, The Panic in Needle Park doesn’t aim to explain or redeem—only to show.