Langton, Jerry 1965-

PERSONAL:

Born 1965.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

CAREER:

Freelance journalist. Hamilton Spectator, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, former staff writer; Daily News, New York, NY, former deputy editor.

WRITINGS:

Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick in the Canadian Hells Angels, J. Wiley Canada (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Iced—Crystal Meth: The Biography of North America's Deadliest New Plague, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

The author's works have been translated into French. Author of weekly column for the National Post. Contributor to periodicals, including Maclean's, Toronto Star, and the Globe and Mail.

SIDELIGHTS:

Journalist Jerry Langton has worked for newspapers in both Canada and the United States. His first book, Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick in the Canadian Hells Angels, reveals how Walter Stadnick united several gangs in Canada to form the Hells Angels in that country. Despite his efforts to dig deeply into his topic, Langton found it difficult because he could find hardly anyone willing to open up to him in an interview. The resulting book, therefore, is fairly slim. Biography critic Terry Ott found some "minor problems" with the text but felt that overall the work is "a welcome addition to the ‘outlaw bikerology’ genre."

While researching Fallen Angel, Langton learned quite a bit about the illegal manufacturing and trading of the drug methamphetamine, or "meth." He decided to address the topic for his next book, Iced—Crystal Meth: The Biography of North America's Deadliest New Plague. Without becoming "hysterical" about the dangers of the drug, as Lorette C. Luzajic put it in a Today's Toronto Online review, Langton paints a grim picture about how meth destroys the human brain, causing irreparable damage to users' minds after just a few doses. "Langton shows the science of meth and it's terrifying," reported Luzajic. The drug is addictive to ninety-eight percent of those who first use it (versus about eighty percent addiction rates for crack cocaine), producing an extraordinary high unlike any other drug. However, after usually just a few uses, the dopamine-producing effect of meth destroys the user's ability to produce more dopamine. But while the "high" is gone, the addiction is not, with grim results to the nervous system and overall health, often leading to death.

Langton provides many other disturbing details about meth, as Luzajic reported: "Did you know that trees near meth labs die? Did you know that houses that were formerly meth labs cause cancer in the new, squeaky-clean tenants? Did you know that hospitals are closing down because the majority of patients in their burn units are meth cooks and their family members, usually people who won't be able to pay for their treatment after their profits blow up with their faces?" Luzajic noted that the author tries to be restrained about the statistics he uses to back up his portrayal of methamphetamines. "But no matter what source he looks to," stated Luzajic, "one thing is clear—even the worst statistics are understatements."

Langton tackles another unsavory topic with Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top. After conducting extensive research in alleys, sewers, basements, and other locations where rats are commonly found, the author goes into great detail about the habits and behaviors of these often detested rodents. He describes how they have survived so well by living with humans, discussing the dangers of rats, such as the diseases they spread, and their advantages, such as in medical research. He reveals interesting tidbits of information, including how rats do not like broccoli, just like many humans. The author also covers rat evolution, how rats living in urban versus rural areas differ, and the various—and usually unsuccessful—ways humans have tried to exterminate them. "Since it's virtually impossible to eradicate rats, Langton's exterminator friends recommend making your own locale as inhospitable as possible," noted Kathleen A. Ervin in Failure Magazine Online.

Several critics praised the book. "The writing is clear, straightforward, and focused and will hold readers' attention throughout," asserted Michael D. Cramer in Library Journal. Rat is "full of gross stories and fast facts that will appeal to both rat lovers and rat haters," concluded Nancy Bent in Booklist.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Biography, summer, 2006, Terry Ott, review of Fallen Angel: The Unlikely Rise of Walter Stadnick in the Canadian Hells Angels.

Booklist, May 1, 2007, Nancy Bent, review of Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top, p. 59.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2007, review of Rat.

Library Journal, May 15, 2007, Michael D. Cramer, review of Rat, p. 113.

Maclean's, June 12, 2006, "Second to Humans, and Trying Harder: The Hatred We Feel for Rats Is the Respect Due Our Toughest Enemies," p. 40.

ONLINE

Failure Magazine Online,http://www.failuremag.com/ (January 8, 2008), Kathleen A. Ervin, review of Rat.

Today's Toronto Online,http://todaystoronto.com/ (August 9, 2007), Lorette C. Luzajic, "Death Is the Icing on the Cake: Jerry Langton's Iced—Crystal Meth: The Biography of North America's Deadliest New Plague."