Longform recently posted Mike Sager’s 2003 look into the rise and fall of Rick James. It begins with some scenes from the Red Parrot in New York City, exact year unknown, and then proceeds to a $5,000 sushi dinner, 30 pairs of cowboy boots, and a prison interview:

Rick James sits down and folds his hands demurely on the table. “I’ve been up and I’ve been down,” he says, a mixture of pride and pain discernible in his large brown eyes. “I been to hell and back. What you want to know?”

Everything. And it’s all in there. Read it.

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...