Life Stories #75: Rayya Elias

Rayya Elias was born in Syria, then came to Detroit with her family just in time for the riots of the late '60s. As a young adult, she got involved in the local punk scene, then escaped to New York City to start her life over. Harley Loco takes readers back to a time when downtown Manhattan was a creative hotbed and a danger zone, with a powerful story of addiction and recovery and hard-won lessons -- which we talk about, along with the story of Elizabeth Gilbert's pivotal role in Elias's development as a memoir writer.