Still Life With Brass Pole by Craig Machen

Still Life With Brass Pole by Craig Machen

Craig is 16 when he returns from a drug-fueled visit with his dad in Miami to find his mom leaving town with her 23 year-old boyfriend. In the same moment, his dreams of settling down with his pregnant girlfriend are dashed when she is moved off to Texas by her parents. Left alone in small town Oklahoma, he embarks on a deranged, cross-country quest for a family of his own.

STILL LIFE WITH BRASS POLE is Craig Machen's funny, debauched and heartfelt memoir about young love and coming of age in the titillation business. And how a roaring White Knight Complex, an eccentric comedy club owner, and a trio of unpredictable striptease artists conspire to help him achieve his aims.

Praise for Still Life With Brass Pole by Craig Machen

Still Life With Brass Pole is the product of a great story teller with a great story to tell. Craig Machen's earnest and brutally honest recounting of his teenage search for love and family is weird, hilarious, fast paced, upbeat and straight from the heart. An absolute joy to read.

Curtis Grippe, The Arizona Republic

Praise for WASTED, written by Craig Machen:

The film's interesting look is complemented by Craig Machen's script, which has a real-deal sound... -- Mike McDaniel, Houston Chronicle

Of course, good acting can only take a film so far. Wasted succeeds largely because of Craig Machen's compelling script, in which kids talk like kids - not like adults think kids talk... -- Jeff Gemmill, TV Guide

In short, Wasted is an excellent film that brings heroin addiction and the difficulties of recovery into sharp focus. Never condescending, always honest and very powerful, the movie neither lionizes heroin addicts nor strips them of their humanity... -- Jeff Gemmill, TV Guide

There's no easy road to recovery for a drug addict, and it's easier to go back to the drugs than to face life. But despite its short-term relief, that choice can mean death. That lesson is taught with honesty in Wasted. -- The Detroit News