Addictions Books

The collaborative work of Gary Stromberg & Jane Merrill, The Harder They Fall: Celebrities Tell Their Real-Life Stories Of Addiction And Recovery is a compendium of autobiographical accounts of self-help and recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction told by a range of readily recognized men and women who range from singer and songwriter Paul Williams, to comedian Richard Pryor, to actor Malcom McDowell, to musician Alice Cooper, to U.S. Congressman Jim Ramstad, and sixteen others. All of these stories are revealed with candor, insight, humor, humility, and hope. The Harder They Fall is a unique anthology and should be available to everyone (especially those struggling with their own addictions) in the community through their local public library.

It seems like you can't pick up a newspaper or turn on a television without hearing of some new celebrity being involved with drugs. Why with all of their success does it take drugs for them to get through their lives? And in the news you don't hear about followups. What happens to these people after they get out of their court ordered treatment (or jail)?

In this book the authors have managed to get an extraordinary collection of people to talk about their lives under drugs and how they were able to beat their habbit. In each case it was clearly a struggle, it was not easy, but they managed.

I say the collection of people is extraordinary because it contains far more than just the musicians that seem to get all the press. It includes sports figures, writers, comedians, and actors. The stories leave me with a feeling of both sadness and hope. That these people can not only accomplish what they did but that they are now will to share their experiences with the rest of us speaks great things about them.

Highly recommended.

Gary Stromberg really tells some very compelling stories of some of the biggest names in pop culture. This book offers hope, some laughs and great insights into an insidious disease that effects millions. I highly recommend this book!

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (2/06)

In "The Harder They Fall," publicist Gary Stromberg and author Jane Merrill write stories about twenty-one celebrities and their experiences with addictions. Stromberg begins with his own story about how he got addicted and how hard he had to hit bottom before he could climb up on top again.

What really made this book refreshing is that the stories are written about celebrities from a variety of walks of life. They are not just movie stars or musicians, they are also athletes, politicians, writers and even a cowboy. In spite of the difference in their backgrounds, a common thread runs through the lives of these people. The substance abuse usually began as they became famous. Some of these people even thought that they could use the drugs or alcohol as their muses. As they crashed and burned, they had to go into recovery. In most cases, there were relapses. Then the real healing began and as they healed their inner selves, they made peace with their demons and found a better way to live.

This book is really well written. The first thought that came to my mind as I was reading it, was that, "This is a really good book." That is a simple statement, and I know that the authors could have phrased it much better because they write so well, but the bottom line is, I really enjoyed this book.

People who are interested in stories about celebrities will enjoy it. But, I think that a person struggling with an addiction or a person who knows someone close to them that is struggling with an addiction will get the most out of these stories. The reason I feel this is because that the underlying theme is one of hope. These people hit bottom and in many cases they also had to deal with the humiliation of having the public involved in their private lives. But they manage to overcome their addictions and rise above them to become even better, stronger people than they were before.

The authors also mention celebrities that they would have liked to include in the book, but were unable to, because they are dead as a result of their substance abuse. The most famous one was Elvis. The chapter mentioning these people provides a sobering eye opener to what can happen if you do not go into recovery.

Mariette Hartley ends her story with a powerful quote from a woman that was her spiritual advisor, "One's deepest wounds, integrated, become one's greatest powers." This quote sums up the outcome of people that survive addiction and make it through recovery. I highly recommend this book.

You don't have to be interested in reading celebrity stories to enjoy this book. I highly recommend it. I found the book really hard to put down. Because there are so many great short stories, I was able to get a broad view of the disease's nature. Also, I am very impressed with the honesty and vulnerability of the people who shared their stories. They are very human, beautiful and courageous.

This is a daily meditation book. I read it every morning, at the start of my day. It gets me started in the right frame of mind to handle the things that are put in front of me throughout the day. I would no more think of starting my day without it than I would skip my morning coffee.

This is one of the three daily readings books that I try to read every morning. There are some days that I get too distracted and forget to read the books and usually feel a bit off until I can read them. Many of the readings are exactly what I need to hear for that day and there are other days when it doesn't really speak to me. If you want to improve your conscious contact with God, this book can be a great help.

If you are looking for a morning meditation book, this is a great book. Readings are short, labeld by day, and can bring focus to the whole day.

If you or someone you know is in recovery it is perfect, safe and inspirational. Would make a great gift to demonstrate support.

Beautiful meditations for those in recovery...simple and direct. A welcome addition to my morning quiet time. I'm blessed to have been guided to this book.

In recovery many of us have moved from the "24 Hour a Day Book" to "Daily Meditations" and then perhaps to "A Day at a Time". In my 21 years recovery I've probably had close to a dozen different meditation books. All have had some key points and keep one moving along spiritually.

This book I've used for at least the last six years and it stays fresh and seems to grow as I do. The quotations on each daily meditation are excellent. The further meditation is well planned and cohesive. The theme of recovery is clear but without a specific addiction. For one who truly believes "the point is we are willing to grow along spiritual lines", this might be the book for you.

This is a wonderful meditation book for recovering Christian alcoholics/addicts in 12-step programs. It gives a person a helpful connection between the Program and the Bible and church. It is a powerful tool for use on the road to recovery.

I have been reading "Letting God" for 5 years as a daily meditation reader and it is as fresh today as it was 5 years ago. It has memorable short tales that stick to your life and will give you a great outlook on life. One daily reader that you shouldn't be without.

Several years ago, I began the practice of reading and reflecting every morning, using "day" books. This is one of the best books I have used. The New Testament of the Bible is one of the two greatest books on recovery ever written (the Big Book is the other), so the Bible verse and related reflection by the author are a perfect combination, and it works well with the "24 Hour Book" and "Daily Reflections", and probably any other daily reflection book you care to use. Pick it up!

This inspiring daily devotional strenthens and encourages the reader. The author provides practical insights into scripture and makes the Bible come alive for living in today's world.

Also included are prayers for recovery and a handy Index of Steps and Slogans. Letting God is a "must have" for anyone who is recovering from addictions of drugs, alcohol, gambling, porn, sexual addictions etc.

This is an excellent book for daily reading. It's spiritually uplifting and an encouragement for addiction recovery. It gives moral lessons and does it without a preaching attitude. It's written from the heart and I recommend it for any one that is seeking a more spiritual life.

I've read this book twice. It is the most informative book on the subject, giving insight to anyone with A.D.D., especially if addictions are creating havoc in your life. A "must read" if you have A.D.D. and want to change the direction in which your life is heading. Bravo to Wendy for putting her information into a comprehensive book!

Wendy has written a clear explanation of what ADD is and how it impacts a person's life. She explains how many people with ADD also have problems with a variety of addictions, and what they can do about it. Wendy has personal insight into both problem areas, as well as extensive professional training, so her writing on these topics has both depth and breadth. The book is written for the lay person, is not over-whelming, and is clear and concise. Anyone who thinks they have both ADD and addictions would greatly benefit from reading this book.

If you suspect that you -or someone you'd like to help- suffers from ADD or an addiction problem, this straight-forward guide will unravel the mystery and then show you practical ways to greatly improve life. The author -a highly respected practitioner in California - writes in a no-nonsense style that makes you feel that you are learning from the best. She clearly knows the subject so well that she can distill material into reader-friendly nuggets of useful bullet points, checklists, tools, and quick assessments. Read this book and you'll be better able to help yourself or someone else.

The Link Between ADD and Addiction is a one of a kind book and should be at the top of the list for all people with Attention Deficit Disorder whether or not they believe they have addictions. Its important information helps the ADD adult or parent of ADD children understand how attention deficit disorder may be affecting their lives. It is well written, in a friendly, easy to read style.

Thanks Wendy Richardson for writing it!

This is very well written book that connects AD/HD and ADDiction. Not only does it explain both of them it offerrs suggestions on how to deal with AD/HD and ADDiction. The chapter "Feeling your Feelings" is very helpful.

I was eager to read this book as I am every book on an individual's struggle with OCD. While a worthy effort, I didn't think the author spent enough time concentrating on his own OCD, and a bit too much time poking fun at his fellow patients' symptoms. I was disappointed in that aspect. Overall a very honest account, and I applaud the author for writing it, but his girl chasing habits and the amount of time devoted to that issue can get rather old.

This enlightening yet funny book takes you through the story of one mans recovery from OCD. A very entertaining easy read that will not only open your eyes to the many forms of OCD and the toll it takes on its sufferers, but will also show you ways of overcoming them. A brilliant read for all.

Through my sister, I have had the pleasure of being acquainted with Mr. Bailey himself. Before reading his book, I did not know much about him, only that he was a very jovial fellow. So it is no wonder why my jaw dropped periodically while reading Man Interrupted. I could not believe that the events unfolding on the pages before me were from the life of this man whom I saw so frequently. The experience of being acquainted with Mr. Bailey and reading his book reminded me that everyone has a story of their own, explaining who they are, where they come from, and what trials they had to overcome (and Mr. Bailey's were no small feat). Man Interrupted gives great insight into a world that many people may not think about. At the same time it is hilarious, relatable, and touching. I actually laughed out loud, which is a rare occurrence when I read. It is one of the most engrossing books I have ever read, and is worth every penny and minute spent on it.

Until last week, I didn't know the slightest thing about him, or about his book, until he went and introduced himself through MySpace, something that led to the inevitable reading of said book, and something that I'm really glad that I did. It's 222 pages of one of the most incredibly well written, fresh and original books that you're ever likely to read, a word of warning though, it really will make you question yourself, and exactly how pernickety you are. We all have an OCD, we may not realise it, or we do, and it's just insignificant, but we rarely externalises our OCD, are never forced to justify it, or explain it away, usually we're able to sufficiently hide it enough to function, but it wouldn't take much for everyone to collapse under the weight of it, and only a small percentage could ever do what James Bailey did, namely building himself back up. All of the patients in his book really do stand out too, because they're chillingly real, but then I suppose that's because they actually are, but he's managed to render them better than anyone else could have. It really is like reading the transcript of a Docu-Soap, and I'm not talking about an episode of "Cops", but an English one, because it's unapologetic, and gritty. What James Bailey has written is brutally honest, and I don't think that I've ever read that level of honestly, that level of shameless exposure; he made me feel like I lived it with him. Reading this book made me look at myself a little differently, maybe a little more clearly, but it also made me a friend in James Bailey, and that was well worth the cost of a good book ;-)

There were 2 things that struck me in particular when reading this book.
One was James' honesty which enables the reader to acquire a rare and fascinating insight into the life of an individual suffering from such a disabling & severe condition.
I learned a heck of a lot about OCD through reading this book & I found it most fascinating to read about James' real life experiences.
Secondly was the humour that was rife throughout the book. James is clearly blessed with the ability to transform any scenario, no matter how daunting, into something so funny it just tickles you.
I loved every word. Brilliant.

Over the years public outcries have rightly exposed all manner of abuses: sexual, drug/alcohol, child/elderly, you name it. In A NEW MAN Luke Reynolds' discussion of pornography addiction and its degradation of women provides a service to humanity by exposing yet one more devastating affliction which some people must face. He provides a vehicle for men to explore their true masculinity---in fact their true selves---by being real, not the fantasy of Rambo or some other macho monster so prevalent in our culture today.

As a long-time school counselor, I've heard my share of sexual abuse stories perpetrated on children. I've seen teenagers dress provocatively for school, because that's what they view on every sitcom on TV. I've walked through corridors laced with foul language, and when questioned, the kids look blank as if to say, "What? What did I say?" That's how common lewd human behavior has become in society today. The proliferation of baring one's body, using crude mannerisms, and swearing has desensitized people to a reasonable standard of decency.

So if there's a book, a course, or TV program that brings to light one more act that mankind must clean up, then let's have it. Let's have it from every media outlet. So people know they don't have to suffer alone, in shame. Education is powerful, healing, and necessary to our well-being as humans. It's helped alleviate drunk driving, child molestation, untreated mental illness, as well as a host of other problems.

One small step for A NEW MAN, one giant leap for Luke Reynolds and the humanity he's trying to elevate.

A New Man opened my eyes to the pervasiveness of pornography in our culture. According to author Luke Reynolds, the industry grosses more money per year than the three largest media corporations combined. After explaining his own exposure to pornography at a young age, Reynolds tells of teaching a college class two days after a school shooting. When students begged his opinion about violence in society, he made a bold statement: "The more pornography a man views, the more violent and abusive he will become."

With the subtitle of Reclaiming Authentic Masculinity In A Culture Of Pornography, the book might be viewed as a heart-to-heart chat between Reynolds and his students. He discusses how, besides encouraging violence, pornography shatters relationships since fantasy experiences substitute for the real world. Reynolds not only confesses his own past involvement but shares how he overcame his weakness after receiving an ultimatum from his fiancée.

Reynolds sees pornography as a choice, not an illness. While discussing how men visit pornographic websites to watch women being abused, he writes: "Men cannot both use and love a person: the choice is one or the other."

The 113-page book is easily read in a sitting or two and contains an appendix "For Women," which includes the personal testimony of a woman who put up with her husband's pornography and abuse. In an attempt to preserve the marriage, she lost her self worth. The testimony of Reynolds' wife, Jennifer, offers hope to those distraught and confused about handling such situations.

This little book makes a big contribution toward helping Reynolds and his wife realize their dream to end the use and abuse of women through pornography. A New Man includes a valuable Resource List of books, documentaries, films and websites that address the topic.

Luke Reynolds begins this book by sharing an afternoon in his childhood in which he and his friend enjoyed typical boyhood games. Both their games and their innocence were shattered when they came, entirely by chance, upon a porn magazine buried in a woodpile. That single occurence began many years of addiction and spiritual illness in Reynold's life, proving in brutal reality how addictive the filth of porn really is.

Some have referred to porn's putrid attraction as a siren's call, but I'd call it more of a clarion call: all it offers is trash and the ruins of a person's soul, yet the seeds of hell sown in every heart since the betrayal of Eden answer it with a diseased hunger. I never fully realized how harmful pornography is until I read this book. I was drawn into Reynold's frank honesty and grueling story after just a few pages and couldn't put it down.

Luke Reynolds is a man who has escaped this death trap and fearlessly, thoroughly reveals all the snares and the damage that it does to the soul. In this book, he not only refutes pornography, but takes a deep exploration of a man's heart and how society, from porn to advertising, has distorted its true image. Reynolds explains the inflated macho image that the world has tried to paint of men: completely tough, needing no one, and dominator of women. This image is a false model of masculinity, robbing men of not only their human vulnerability, but their ability to truly connect with women. Only weak women like being dominated and only weak men will rule them; God, Reynolds explains, has a different design in mind.

Reynolds proves, many times in this book, just how much porn tears both the male and the female soul apart. Sometimes it reduces a man to a wreck of a human being, while others it makes a monster of him; such was the case of Ted Bundy, Reynolds explains, whose entire sadistic bloodthirst actually began with a Playboy. After Bundy became addicted to the wanton images, he could never get enough: he developed an evil craving that grew with every image and ultimately demanded the horrid death of a woman to be sated. I had never come close to grasping the harm pornography does to a man's soul, in regards to his views of women, until reading this. Porn, spiritually speaking, spills a woman's blood and afflicts a man with the sadistic desire to consume it. In this book Reynolds proves, with Ted Bundy's horrific revelation, that porn opens a black hole in a man's soul: dark and cold, never satisfied, and constantly consuming and destroying everything in its path. Women are dealt a death blow of another kind: their spirits are crushed and their bodies, abused and disregarded, are dangled above these black holes to draw men into them. What porn does, in a nutshell, is completely destroy God's design of both men and women. No wonder men addicted to porn have a hunger that's never satisfied: a man naturally seeks a woman to complete him, a woman that is full and complete herself. Yet, all porn offers are the shells of women, the empty husks; men who seek these shells are never satisfied because what they're offered is only the hollow remains of what a woman used to be.

This book totally blew me away with its honesty and revelation. Luke Reynolds is a remarkable man who emerged from unbelievable depths to explore a serious evil that afflicts our world. I was shocked by how filthy and evil porn really is; this book drove it home like nothing before. I applaud Luke for his honesty and courage in sharing his experience and revealing what a true man is. I recommend this book to everyone, especially if you have either suffered from porn in the past or have been so removed from it that you've come to believe it's "not that big a deal".

Men in today's American society have a lot of insecurities that are finally coming to the fore front. In the Earlier years men needed to be the tough guy, the guy that didn't show emotion or express his feelings. To be a man you have to be the promiscuous girl chaser. Porn is the leader in this ideal and no one knew how influential porn was in the every day lives of men around the world and how negatively it impacts them. In Luke Reynolds memoir A New Man he shows how negatively porn affects men's lives all across the U.S.
Luke Reynolds shares with the world his struggles with pornography and in doing so connects with any man out there who have ever picked up a smut Magazine or orders pay-per-view porn on their TV's. He starts out his book recalling the first time he had ever seen a porno mag. He recalls exploring a river bed with his friend on a Saturday morning, when he came across an adult magazine next to a log. He passionately shares his mixture of intrigue and embarrassment at what he was seeing. He was only eight years old when he came upon the magazine. He then goes on to share that from then on he had a problem with watching pornography. As a man in my young stages of adulthood I can relate to his story. I remember my first time reading a girlie magazine and I recall sharing the same exact feelings that he portrays in his book. I remember being shocked at what I saw and still I couldn't stop turning the pages. I too regularly watch porn not realizing the negative effects that porn has not only on me but my relationships women and how I view them.
Not only does Luke Reynolds share his struggles with pornography, he also shows how it skews men's view of woman. He shows how porn degrades women; by the way they are treated in the magazines and films. He points out that the women in every porno film are in some way shape or form conquered by the man they are engaged in intercourse with. He also shows how porn films never have foreplay and that it effects the men watching it because they get the wrong idea what having a relationship pertains to. Because of this men don't know how to properly treat their women and it indirectly is the cause of why marriages go under.
Not only is his memoir about the negative effects of porn but it also shows the problem with our society's idea of what a man is. To aid his point he gives stories of men that act like a real man should versus the closed off loner that our society views a real man to be. He shows through this section called Authentic Strength how a real man is the person who looks out for others, can share his feelings, and treats the women in their lives the way they should be treated. I too have had trouble with relationship troubles because of what. I believed society wanted me to be. I was the womanizer, the guy who would never cry. Because of this I would cheat on girls who deserved to be treated the right way. They needed to be courted and treated like a human being. This book touched me as I read every word that Luke Reynolds wrote. This book has made me question myself as a man and made me realize that I was only insecure every time that I sat in front of the computer to watch porn. It showed me that I was taking the easy way out because it couldn't reject me, that it took away the sanctity between a woman and a man. This book helped me decide that I wanted to change my life and the first step was to not watch porn. Period. That is why this book is very important for other men to read because it will change their lives in a positive way. All it takes is looking to others for help and not sinking into the bottomless pit of insecurity that porn has created for us. By the bottomless pit I mean being closed off and thinking that we don't need help to get us past our addiction. If one man can do it any man can do it.

Luke Reynolds has written a powerful and important new book about the disastrous effects of pornography on males in our society. A New Man is timely and should be read by anyone who has ever gazed at a centerfold or rented a porn video. Reynolds writes with a fierce passion, and argues that the overconsumption of pornography not only turns females into objects, but produces massive numbers of weak and emotionally immature males. It's hard to deny the impact that violent and demeaning pornographic images have had on the last few generations of males, particularly in the United States. Reynolds tells of his own prior addiction to pornography, and how overcoming it led to spiritual growth and a strong and lasting relationship. I strongly recommend this book to everyone.

Oil Addiction is a great read and all the above comments apply in spades. His writing style reminded me of was another French writer, Antoinne Saint-Exuprey. Amid the facts, humor and poetry, a gentle humanity shines through.

Although most Americans are in denial, this book details the facts about the impact oil has had on our economy, our relationship to the rest of the world (especially the Middle East), the wars in Iraq and other places, and how our future will be impacted as this resource runs out and the price rises to
levels we can hardly imagine....and within the next 25 years, if not sooner.

The author knows the subject because he has been a part of the oil industry for several decades, has lived in the Middle East and knows the different understandings that the USA has from the rest of the world. He is truly an "insider."

Pierre Chomat's book deliniates in graphic manner the collosal predicament Western Civilization has gotten itself into by our addiction to oil. He intersperses fact and true stories or illustrations to bring out most forcefully his message which comes from a lifetime of experience in the business of oil. He does not offer any easy or sentimental solutions but trusts the reader to face the truth from which alone anything constructive can come. The book deserves reading by all segments of society.

The author begins this enlightening book by relating how energy from oil has freed humans from manual labor and enabled the development of vast industries. Oil has also been the source of economic strength of nations and therefore, of political power.

He tells how our addiction to oil evolved, like the beginning of any bad habit, with a small appetite for oil - there was less than one car per household - and a large supply of oil in the U.S. As more was found throughout the world, we perceived an inexhaustible supply of oil and used it accordingly, developing an addiction to this black fluid.

As we used up our domestic supply, we naturally looked to the region of great potential: the Middle East. He describes our forays to mine and distribute those untapped oil supplies and the power struggle for the rights to this oil. He quotes Henry Kissinger, "Oil is too important a commodity to be left to the Arabs."

One of the nice features of this well written book is the author's frequent use of visual illustrations. For example, he describes how many barrels of oil are needed to fly a person across the Atlantic, and what the world's daily oil production would look like if it were a river: like the Seine flowing through Paris. He compares the future global outlook for oil with the history of the rise and demise of the sardine industry in Monterey. The supply of sardines was once viewed as inexhaustible.

There is much more in this very readable book, bringing the reader up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2001 and its oil implications.

I just received this book yesterday, and eagerly read several chapters last night. I will say two things about this relatively short book (237 pages w/ somewhat large font size):

1) It is highly readable, both in prose and in format. The author's anecdotal stories and observations from all over the globe are based on his career as a French petroleum engineer, and each story is quite fasinating. His grasp of "petro-history" is also very impressive.

2) This book powerfully demonstrates just how addicted to oil we have become as a species, with particular criticism of US consumption and related foreign policies. He provides a strong critique of recent events in Mespotania...and he is quite passionate about the course that humanity it taking.

While somewhat short on solutions, this book is absolutely rich with examples that demonstrate the enormity of our oil addiction and the cahllenges that Peak Oil will usher in, most likely to occur before 2010 (ASPO and ODAC project 2008 as the peak).

He constantly informs the reader of how amazingly dense hydrocarbon energy really is, and how much these amazing little molecules are performing from everything from washing our clothes in a domestic clothes washer, to an international flight of US tourists visiting Egypt - an amount of energy expended in flight which he purports is more energy than what was expended over years by thousands of slaves toiling to build the Great pyramids... These examples are very thought-provoking.

Bottom line: Highly recommended reading, especially for those who want to buy a book on Peak Oil for friends or family who may prefer to read non-technical and/or fiction-type books. This book is of course non-fiction, but it is written in such a lively, engaging, non-technical manner, that I had quite a hard time putting the book down last night. Indeed, Oil Addiction is a must read.

Cocaine was the glamorous drug of the 80's. It was passed around freely at parties and trendy yuppie professionals including doctor's and lawyers used it because of the fallacy that cocaine was not addictive. Judith Hillard does a brilliant job of dispelling that myth. As you spiral downward with her in her addiction, it is nothing short of a miracle that she lived to tell her story. This is a story of hope and redemption, that there is no such thing as a "lost cause". Love may not conquer all, but Judith's book proves that without it, we cannot survive. I'm not a religious person (which she is), but I do believe in miracles and the fact that after what she went through and lived to tell her story is nothing short of miraculous. Anyone who has ever grappled with addiction, be it drugs, alcohol, or gambling will find hope and faith in this book.

I received my copy of Judith's book in the middle of the single most grueling semester that I've ever experienced, my teaching load and my course overload compounded by every influenza and stomach virus that came through my classroom, my wife's, and my son's daycare classroom. By the time I started rereading the beginning, it had been staring at me from my office's bookshelf for three months.

I've never been really close to anyone addicted to cocaine. My experiences have always been secondhand, knowing people whose lives fell apart on account of a drug they'd never taken into their own bodies. As I made my way through Judith's chapters on her switch from inhaled to injected cocaine, my imagination went not to her own experience but to those around her, coworkers and family. Even as I read about her deteriorating body, I hated her.

Because I'm an English teacher and Judith is a former English teacher, my mind forged parallels throughout between the story of the cocaine-addict English teacher and John Milton's Satan. (No, I didn't read this book very sympathetically, and I don't think, knowing the Judith of the book, that she would mind that so much.) When he's at the height of his empty confidence, giving nonsense rallying speeches to the demons in Hell, Satan is almost a comic figure. I know what he's going to do to humanity, but already knowing that, I can enjoy the utter stupidity of watching him and his cronies grandstand about a fight that they never had a chance of winning and a plot that can only destroy them. The moment when I really hate Satan is when he stands on the border of Earth and Heaven and addresses the sun. In that moment, alone and unseen, save by the reader, Satan utters a confession to the chief of the visible sky. He admits knowing that his pursuit is futile and can only bring ruin, never benefit, to anyone in the universe. He admits that with a simple decision to submit to the Father and the Son, he could once again join the harmony of God's creation. He admits that to continue on his course has absolutely no merit. But he refuses to change. His speech ends with one of the most nauseating lines in Milton: "Evil, be thou my good."

Because I've always looked from the outside at drug addiction, and because I looked from the outside in on Judith's, her letters to the people who love her brought forth the most visceral reaction as I read. As she begged forgiveness of her students, her friends, her parents, I never really felt any twinge of sympathy with the former English teacher, and as she confessed her addiction through these letters, knowing full well that she would be seeking out more cocaine when she finished writing, I could not help but to hate.

Of course, Milton's Satan is easy to hate. When I turn my gaze on myself, when I consider my own reading experience as my experience, I realize that Judith is less like Satan and more like the parabolic Prodigal Son. And I realize that my own hate lies not outside the story but within another character, the older brother. And I realize that his hatred never really came into play when the prodigal was wasting his life away; it came in the moment of forgiveness. And I realized that I despised her injury to her parents and friends and students less than I despised the fact that she came out of rehab straight into a lucrative teaching gig, while I labor away, drug-free, in the basement of a university English department for less than I made working as an electrician's apprentice. I realize that my sin is not hatred at all but envy, wishing that she were as miserable as I try to make myself.

Of course, such a recognition is not alien to us English teachers. In Flannery O'Connor's stories, the ones with the wonderful wretches who think they're virtuous, a moment comes when God reveals just how nasty virtue can be. (O'Connor is subtle enough not to use visions in the clouds most of the time, but a good reader knows it's God talking.) As I wound down Judith's book, my epiphany came when I realized that Judith, right now, is at least sixteen years my senior.

That moment of math brought my own wretchedness home to me: I am decidedly not her older brother. Instead, I'm a third sibling, waiting offstage in the Parabolic Repertory Theater, about to live the years that decide whether I'll be prodigal or not. This book is not a Satanic tale for my judgment but a warning for my instruction. I have little fear that I'll become a cocaine addict, but I imagine that the thirty-year-old Judith Hillard thought the same. Moreover, I imagine that such poisonous thoughts that made my reading so bitter came rather naturally to Judith before the book started. Perhaps not. Perhaps, ultimately, I'm Milton's Satan, looking in on her redemption, hissing snake-like as I hate the goodness that God has given her even after she fell.

Perhaps I'm a warthog from Hell.

I'd have to say that this book is definitely an eye opener into the world of drugs and where you do not want anyone you know to be including your kids, family members, friends, yourself, or even your enemies. Judith did a great job telling the readers her incredible story and the way she triumphed. In her doing so, you could feel her pain. Enough to never want to go there yourself, and if you have or are, then this book should help you out.
Jaime Bradford
Arizona

In spite of knowing better, I had to stop and remind myself repeatedly that this woman is no longer submerged in the agony she so vividly describes. The story is sad and sobering, though Judith is quite articulate and possesses a playful literary flair. The relentless need to write--even throughout her addiction and recovery--has supplied the raw material from which she draws frightening glimpses into her drug induced insanity. She weaves them into credible (incredible!) vignettes that give you a sense of her desperation and helplessness. That she survived to tell her story is miracle enough. That she tells it so openly and poignantly is remarkable. Judith Ann has much to offer any who would drink from the well of her experience. The woman at the well of Sychar believed in Jesus and discovered within herself a spring of eternal life. The Other Woman at the Well also discovered Life. Well done Jude, my friend.

Judith, this book was a real eye opener to your suffering and pain of your addiction. I had no idea the pain that you and your family/friends have gone through and in some ways I am glad. The way you put your hand to paper (or computer) was truly like a song. Very well written but that is not a surpirse. You took the readers to places that exist under our very nose and led us out with charm, dignity and Grace (Olivia). Hopefully this story will inspire others with addictions to believe in Hope through Miracles. Keep up the sobriety.

Dr. Leary maintains a high ground in his defense of the value of the psychedelic. This is the early work and a must have.

Wow! What a book! Leary is a real psychedelic guru, not in the orthodox sense, but really a man ahead of his time, a Galileo in the charter exploration of the mind and consciousness. He started off as a conservative Harvard professor, yet not so conservative, as he had his own ideas. But after his religious experience, and that's what psychedelics do - the expanding of your consciousness to a religious experience - he became aware of the societal and cultural chessboards - the games - and here became outspoken apart from the Harvard rationalistic mindset which rests on only one static frame of a multi-dimensional, dynamic existence.

I read this book smiling, over and over again. I walked down the street with a smile, mostly for Leary's optimism, then his frank and bold statements, which in most part I agree with. His style sometimes just makes you laugh and smile and say to yourself "I wish I had the guts enough say this." And although his predictions did not come true, you can't help but subjectively comprehend the 60's atmosphere, enveloped with the baby boomers in their youth taking up the majority of the population and their experiential drug use in psychedelics, which in turn, brought forth all the femininity of creativeness, patience, tolerance, peacefulness and artistic development that was permeating the entire American culture and spreading around the world and thus brought on the male dominated aggression of control and police power. So Leary's optimism and predictions were really a good assessment of the time despite their failure to come true. And nothing makes me sadder than to see his predictions fail from the creative mind expanding youth to our current male power, controlling and agressive society.

You can write Leary off as a kook from the conservative's point of view, the rationalist who never "experienced," and that's the KEY here - never experienced a trip under favorable circumstances and environment. Leary is the same as other heretics and kooks of history, a Galileo of mind exploration and conscious expansion, a Guttenberg of exoteric enlightenment, as in this book as well as one who clearly recognizes the need for new symbols that relate the esoteric experience of LSD, of cellular memories, of DNA language outside the mind, of experiential journeys that can only be told under a new language, as the microscope discovered new world had brought forth, as quantum physics brought forth and every other new fields of exploration that can only be described outside the current symbols we currently use.

Leary on page 141: The lesson I have learned from over 300 sessions, and which I have been passing on to others, can be stated in 6 syllables: Turn on, tune in, drop out. "Turn on" means to contact the ancient energies and wisdoms that are built into your nervous system. They provide unspeakable pleasure and revelation. "Tune in" means to harness and communicate these new perspectives in a harmonious dance with the external world. "Drop out' means to detach yourself from the tribal game. Current models of social adjustment - mechanized, computerized, socialized, intellectualized, televised, Sanforized - make no sense to the new LSD generation, who see clearly that American society is becoming an air-conditioned anthill. In every generation of human history, thoughtful men have turned on and dropped out of the tribal game and thus stimulated the larger society to lurch ahead. Every historical advance has resulted from the stern pressure of visionary men who have declared their independence from the game.

On page 196: My philosophy of life has been tremendously influenced by my study of oriental philosophy and religion. Of course, what the American, regardless of his religious belief, doesn't understand is that the aim of oriental religious is to get high, to have an ecstasy, to tune in, to turn on, to contact incredible diversity, beauty, living, pulsating meaning of the sense organs, and the much more complicated and pleasurable and revelatory messages of cellular energy. To a Hindu, the spiritual quest is internal.

Different sects of oriental religion use different methods and different body organs to find God. The Shivites use the senses; the followers of Vishnu are concerned with cellular wisdom, contacting the endless flow of reincarnation wisdom which biochemists would call protein wisdom of the DNA code; Buddhist manuals on consciousness expansion are concerned with the flash, the white light of the void, the ecstatic union that comes when you're completely turned on, beyond the senses, beyond the body.

On page 202-203: What we're doing for the mind is what the microbiologists did for the external science 300 years ago when they discovered the microscope. And they made this incredible discovery that life, health, growth, every form of organic life, is based on the cell, which is invisible.

You've never seen a cell; what do you think of that? Yet it's the key to everything that happens to a living creature. I'm simply saying that same thing from the mental, psychological standpoint, that there are wisdoms, lawful units inside the nervous system, invisible to the symbolic mind, which determine almost everything.

And I don't consider myself that mystical - unless you'd call someone who looks through a microscope a mystic, because he's telling you about something for which you don't have the symbols. Or the astronomer who detects a quasar and speculates about it.

On page 208: Every time you take LSD you completely suspend - you step outside of - the symbolic chessboard which you have built up over the long years of social conditioning. And you whirl through different levels of neurological and cellular energy, continually flowing and changing.

Your symbolic mind is flashing in and out. You never love your mind during and LSD session. It's always there, but it's one of a thousand cameras that are flashing away. Of course, the LSD freak-out, or paranoia, is where the symbolic mind freezes any aspect of the LSD session and defines a new reality, which can be positive or negative.

Read this book.

This is the single most influential book I have ever read. Completely legitmizes and encourages religious experiences through psychedelic means. Anyone currently using psychedelic drugs or interested in them should read this to gain greater understanding of their power. Learn why LSD and other are really illegal, the government knows they free minds!

...if you wish to stay the same because believe me, once you read it, you never will be. I got this book when I was about 26-27 years old when I felt as though I was just passing through life and not really living it. I felt like everything was "ho-hum". All of my senses were set to dull. Inside of me there was just this gnawing ache that there has got to be something more...not just "out there"...but "in here"...in my heart, in my soul, in my mind...

And then along comes Timothy.

Irreverent, Rebellious,Smart-Ass Timothy Leary espousing the Truth that all advancement in life is already in our very DNA. It dwells deep within the very marrow of our bones because we, as a species, were not meant to stand still...we were not meant to live lives of quiet desperation...we were meant to behold a world that burns and sparkles with Light.

People tend to think one is hallucinating when one sees vibrant colors, when everyday things seem to shine with a new brilliance, when even the song from a songbird feels like a musical triumph, but this is how life really is, boys and girls! We are hallucinating when we think that the world is dull and thick and leaden...we are hallucinating when we think that we are just these heavy clods of biodegradble clay that stalk the earth. We are here to discover...or should I say, uncover the paradise that is already within the invisible realms of the ancient mind that dwells within us and we in it.

Does this mean you have to take LSD in order to experience the jewelike radiance that all of life is made in and out of? Not neccessarily and I am not advocating that you do. What I am advocating is that you allow yourself to get enthused about life. Enthusiasm literally means to be filled with God. God wants to know Itself as you...as me...in each and every moment of creation.

Read Timothy Leary. Marvel at his excitement for life, join him in the mind & soul rebellion against flaccid governments and soul controlling religions and their warped politics and dissapointing creeds both of which are more than happy to think and decide for you, laugh in joyful relief that you are not a body with a soul, but you are a soul with a body,and be willing to stray from the pack of lemmings that's headed for the edge of the cliff only to drown in the shallow seas of mediocrity.

Open your eyes.
Open your mind.
Open your soul.
Open your heart.
Open this book and let the tingling in each of your 40 trillion cells remind you are here to do more than exist, you are here to LIVE and to LIVE WELL.

Peace & Blessings to this this place we call the world.

This work is a hallmark for questioning authority, pursuing individual freedom and happiness, and working to build a more enjoyable and enriched world. Lovers of liberty would be well-advised to study this work thoroughly, and then pass it along to the nearest religious extremist. It will surely get a reaction.

This is a fabulous book! I couldn't put it down. Eugene Hairston's life could be a Hollywood movie; it's amazing that one person can live through that much in one lifetime. It's a total inspiration that life can turn around when everything seems totally lost.

Maria

This is a moving story of a life almost lost and the benefits of finding it again. Incredibly inspirational - you will laugh and cry and find faith again that people are good at heart"T

This is an outstanding story of one man's struggle with life and it's issues. To read this book, and know that someone could come through all of it, and turn it around to live a life filled with joy, fulfillment and dignity is inspirational and amazing. After reading this book, I have given it to friends, and family. Highly recommend this outstanding read!

This book isn't only for those that have PTSD or suffer with addiction. It is for anyone whose world is limited by what they tell themselves. In this book I witnessed hope, then faith and because of that, incredible success. What an amazing story!

If YOU think you are in an impossible situation and you can't go on, OH YES YOU CAN. Just read this.

What an inspiration this man is!