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Concrete Dreamland

Coming of Age in Underground New York

Coming Soon
Concrete Dreamland Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Patrick Dougher

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$15.99

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$20.99 CAD

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  1. ebook $15.99 $20.99 CAD
  2. Hardcover $32.00 $41.00 CAD
  3. Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $27.99

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From an award-winning artist who was featured in Humans of New York comes a bold collection of essays about overcoming family trauma, addiction, poverty—and forging a creative life in the greatest city in the world. 

Born in Brooklyn in 1963, Patrick Dougher grew up in some of the most turbulent and culturally impactful periods of NYC's history. Often neglected as a child by his parents—a father who struggled with alcohol addiction and an overworked mother who struggled to make ends meet—he learned to fend for himself. Now a renowned visual artist, musician, actor and writer, Dougher brings to the page his memories, struggles, personal revelations, and a life intimately tied to the realities of growing up Black and disenfranchised on the streets of one of the most remarkable cities in the world.

Concrete Dreamland is tragic and triumphant, gritty and hard, poetic and outrageously funny. Told in Dougher's brutally raw and courageously honest voice, these stories act as snapshots of a life lived in extremes: from gangsters to God, street style to sexuality, to recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism. He tells of his adventures as a pre-hip hop “hard rock' and an original Black punk rocker surviving during the dangerous days of the crack and AIDS epidemic in NYC, while also sharing tales of racism, homelessness, and his many brushes with fame and death.
 
Audacious, unique, and moving, Concrete Dreamland is an unforgettable story of addiction, redemption, and life on the streets of a vanishing New York.  
 

Genre:

  • "Aside from being a brilliant visual artist, Patrick is also a man with stories and the ability to tell them well. A writer to watch! Looking forward to his stories in the world."
    Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner
  • "A gripping and luminous storyteller."
    Yrsa Daley-Ward, author of THE TERRIBLE
  • "As an avid reader of autobiographies, I can honestly say that Patrick Dougher's Concrete Dreamland is one of the most compelling books I've read since reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X decades ago. Patrick's journey is one of trauma, struggle, and survival. In picking up the book, I intended to read only one chapter, however, after reading the first five pages, I was immediately hooked and could not stop reading until I finished it. I am still processing this incredible story of survival and addiction. A must read book for guidance counselors, mentors, educators, and those battling internal demons." 
    Jamel Shabazz, award-winning photographer
  • "The NYC book we’ve all been waiting for, Concrete Dreamland is the fire next time and Dougher is its incandescent heart, a riotous poet prophet calling to the past in order to summon the future." 
    Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author

On Sale
Apr 29, 2025
Page Count
352 pages
Publisher
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN-13
9780316571043

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Patrick Dougher

About the Author

Patrick Dougher is a self-taught fine artist, musician, poet, and actor. He has performed and recorded with Sade, the Grammy award-winning Dan Zanes, Black Uhuru’s Michael Rose, Steel Pulses’ David Hinds and Hip Hop star Chuck D of Public Enemy. His art has been featured in numerous exhibitions, and he created the cover art for the reissue of Zora Neale Hurtson’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. His visual art can be seen on his website, http://www.godbodyart.com. 

Learn more about this author