Boyd McDonald (1925-1993) had the makings of a successful life in the 1950s-an education at Harvard, a job at Time/Life-but things didn't turn out as planned. After 20 years of resentful conformity and desperate alcoholism, McDonald dried out, pawned all of his suits, and went on welfare; it was then that his life truly began.
From a room in a New York SRO hotel, McDonald published Straight to Hell, a series of chapbooks collecting readers' "true...