Alcoholism Books

This was a really good book. It was extremely hard to put down. The only complaint I have about the book is that the ending was a little to much like a fairy tale, almost to the point that it wasn't entirely believable. Happy endings are nice, but no one has a perfect life no matter what you want people to believe.

This book is so clearly one whose time has come. Waiting for a decade to pass before writing the story down allowed the events to be processed and fully digested. Feelings on all sides were clearly no longer raw, hostility had passed, and growth had occured which gave way for honesty and truth to shine through on every page.

This book gives people hope that change - in many forms - is real, attainable, and sustainable.

Read it! You will be glad you did.

Amazing book! I could not put it down and loved the honesty that these two women demonstrated!

This book brings forth the powerful message of denial...all family member who live in a fantasy world denying the inner voice that speaks of the sadness, anger, disconnect that we ignore because we are wanting life to be perfect. We need to get to hear more stories of the pain and agony the life of the addict and their family so we can stop the denial and begin the healing. This was a very hard book to read, and so worth every challenging moment.

I just finished this book and think that every teenage girl and woman should read this. Kristina and Constance's candor and self revealing story is unbelievably inspirational. Every family dealing with addiction should read this, but I think it is an important read for any home with a teenage home (siblings, parents, etc). This is a moving, at times, heart-breaking story. You will laugh, cry and hurt with both Constance and Kristina. I am so moved by this story! A MUST READ!

I read this book last semester for a Criminal Justice class and it is amazing. It opened my eyes to exactly how wrong the war on drugs is. This book is my #1 recommended book. If more people would read it I think we'd finally be able to find our way out of this fruitless war.

Q: What is the difference between the Prohibition and America's war on drugs? Mike Gray's overall answer is "very little," but the one glaring difference is that when Prohibition failed, the country repealed the Constitutional Amendment which had created it. Alcohol use remained at about the same level before, during and after the Prohibition years, but the murder, official corruption and gang battles that accompanied official proscription came and went. DRUG CRAZY analyzes the upshot of that distinction and its enormous worldwide effects. The U.S. led anti-drug effort has cost us hundreds of billions of dollars in enforcement efforts alone, not to mention the cost of prisons, imprisonment and court proceedings and has succeeded in creating an international drug consortium with an annual income higher than the U.S. defense budget. Thousands of innocent bystanders have died in sprays of automatic fire and bomb blasts. It has made pot easier to get than alcohol for most American teens and brought Colombian, Bolivian and Mexican democracy to the brink of collapse. Damningly, Gray reports that every refereed study since the 1890s has suggested that marijuana is harmless and that the opiates and cocaine are no more dangerous than alcohol (perhaps less). Even the infamous "crack babies" we heard about for a few years turned out to be an unsubstantiated myth. In every country where legalization and controlled prescriptive availability of harder drugs has been tried, addiction rates remained stable or fell, crime decreased and most addicts proceeded to live normal workaday lives. The U.S. has forced other countries to quit such programs through fiscal pressure and outright lies, insisting that all adopt our abolitionist stance. We have managed to export violence, crack cocaine, corruption and other benefits to numerous other nations along with our failed policy. At the same time, and to make matters worse, the nature of enforcement has become a defacto racist effort. Cocaine in Wall Street boardrooms is harder to see than crack runners on Main Street and while whites are the disproportionate users of illegal drugs, blacks are the disproportionate arrestees. In this country, one in four black males is either in prison, under probation or on parole, mostly as a result of drug or drug related crimes. Small wonder, as the author points out, that blacks think O.J. Simpson was framed: it is their daily experience. Police routinely lie in court to make drug charges stick. (Since private deals between consenting parties are very hard to actually witness, when police claim that a perpetrator dropped a bag or in some other way made evidence visible it is understood by judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and defendants that it is "acceptable" false testimony to cover an illegal search. So perjury is permitted in the name of enforcement.) Amazingly, the whole morass of current drug problems and policies could be eliminated with the stroke of a pen. Minus prohibition the drug cartels would be defunded. If prices fell, many farmers would find other crops more appealing. If currently illegal substances were distributed by prescription or through state-licensed stores, kids would be infrequently exposed. (How many pushers are selling beer in front of your local elementary school these days?) Mike Gray has brought his story telling skill (The China Syndrome and other screenplays) and his investigative/documentary bent (American Revolution and The Murder of Fred Hampton) to bear on an urgent national and international problem. His recommendations and observations are difficult to refute and his is a well considered voice in a growing debate which affects us all. Even now, the genie released when California and Arizona approved medical marijuana use is being clumsily stuffed back in the bottle by Federal mandate, disenfranchising voters and creating a rising uproar. As former U.S. Attorney General Elliott Richardson observes: "Anyone who thinks the war on drugs is succeeding should read this book. It shifts the burden of proof from the critics of existing policy to its defenders."

This is one of the best books I've read on the drug war to date (and I've read a bunch). The book carefully went through the origins, history, and effects of the drug war in a captivating and easy to follow manner. When finished, the reader will be left with an iron-clad indictment of the drug war which has covered all angles. This really is one of the most comprehensive and well written books on the drug war, and I highly recommend it.

When it became clear that the medicines called opiates were highly addictive and caused health problems, they were dealt with as nicotine and alcohol are dealt with today. There were honest and realistic public service messages warning of the dangers of opiates, and there was medical help that greatly limited the damage they did to the individual and which had a chance of eliminating his or her addiction. These methods worked, and where they are applied they work today. Then in the second decade of the twentieth century the country took a nose-dive into authoritarian attitudes and corruption, and people got the strange idea that you could eliminate a practice you didn't like simply by passing a law against it. Alcohol, and the opiates were completely banned, as was marijuana which was now designated a "drug" because of its association with minority groups. Alcohol use, which had always hovered between widespread and universal, had been declining but now became more common than ever before. Worse, the alcoholic drinks that were taken became much harder and not being regulated they might contain enough alcohol to be dangerous. Worse still, an untold number of criminals were created, crime of all kinds increased radically, organized crime came to control whole districts and corruption reached heights never seen before. "Public service messages" regarding what were now illegal "drugs" became simple expressions of hatred having very little to do with the "drugs" they were about, and everyone actually familiar with those "drugs" knew it. Medical treatment by doctors who were actually trying to help their paitents was declared illegal, and a number of doctors went to prison. The lives of opiate addicts had usually been no worse than the lives of nicotine addicts, but now those lives became impossible. Addicts could no longer hold jobs raise children or do anything else but concentrate on their addiction. Current "rehabilitation" for opiate addicts is an expression of hatred for those addicts and makes no attempt to help them. It mostly consists of telling them they are evil it they don't break their habits, and for those addicted to opiates or nicotine, breaking the habit altogether is usually not possible. Opiate use had always been an insignificant phenomenon nationwide, and in the early part of the century when it was being dealt with intelligently, it was declining. But then the hate laws were passed, and now a measurable percentage of the population is addicted and condemed to ruined, useless lives, organized crime is more powerful now than at any time in history, and whole countries like Columbia are completely dominated by corruption-- as are large sections of others like the United States and Mexico. None of this needed to happen. The things we call "drugs" were handled intelligently at the beginning of the twentieth century or were never a problem in the first place. If realistic laws were passed, the worst of the damage would be fixed very quickly since it is directly caused by bad laws. The rest of the damage would take a decade to undo, but if we begin treating the opiates as we treat nicotine and alcohol we will gradually undo it.
I think that is a pretty good thumbnail of what Mike Grey had to say, and he is completely right. Everyone in the country should read this book. Our real addiction is to hatred.

Author Mike Gray tackles the failed drug war in this book and effectively shows how the present war has many similarities to alcohol prohibition in early part of the twentieth century. Gray begins his discussion of the subject of drugs by taking the reader back to 1925, in the city of Chicago, during the height of the nightmare of prohibition. Gangs ruled the streets. The air was filled with the smell of cheap booze and the sound of gunfire. Police were defenseless to the total chaos going on all around them. They simply could not stop the manufacture and consumption of alcohol. There was too much money to be made by selling this "forbidden fruit". There was no possible way that this "war" on alcohol could ever be won.

Does this sound familiar? It should, because the same thing is going on right now. The government's failed attempt to eliminate alcohol is now being attempted a second time with the war on drugs. These laws are discussed in the book with a history lesson on the various court rulings and congressional decisions that led to the present prohibitions on drugs. These laws have some of their roots in the U.S. Congress. According to the book, marijuana itself became illegal as the result of a lie told to congress by Fred Vinson, a man who would later become the U.S. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Vinson was sitting in a congressional hearing one day, just before congress was about to vote on whether or not marijuana should be made illegal. The American Medical Association knew of the benefits of marijuana in medical treatments, and was strongly against such a law. But when Vinson was questioned by congress, he lied and said that the AMA backed the proposed law 100 percent to make marijuana illegal. This was enough to help push the law through congress. Vinson's lie, coupled with the onslaught of government propaganda against marijuana, marked the beginning of America's second nightmare with prohibition.

The lying and deception by government cooled off a bit during the 1940 to 1960 period. But then, the lying and deception continued when President Nixon decided to revive the anti- drug crusade, in part to cover- up his own problems with Vietnam and Watergate. George Bush then escalated the damage even more by scaring the public into backing his anti- drug package and his "get tough" policies against drug dealers and drug users. Gray talks about these and other political maneuvers; why they happened and the true motives behind these so- called "moral" crusaders.

The present- day situation looks pretty bleak. Gray points out that the United States is now the largest jailer in the world with roughly half of all prisoners being non- violent drug offenders. We have also corrupted our police officers, with many of them actively taking part in the drug trade; cutting special deals, accepting bribes, etc, because of the allure of easy money. Respect for law enforcement is low, and violent criminals have been allowed early release to make way for non- violent drug offenders, thanks to mandatory minimum sentences.

This book is an easily manageable length: about 198 pages and fairly easy to read. There are a total of eleven chapters and two appendices. Appendix "A" details the changes in the U.S. murder rate, showing how it peaked during alcohol prohibition and during the present- day drug prohibition. It also shows graphs depicting the U.S. prison population and the Federal Drug budget. And to give the book some balance, Appendix "B" contains a listing of activist organizations, both pro- drug war and anti- drug war, along with a brief description of each and their respective websites.

As Mike Gray points out, the War on Drugs is one of America's greatest failures. Gray never specifically condemns the war. He wrote this book as a means to educate the reader on the motives behind drug prohibition and the reasons that politicians continue to fight a losing battle when they know that the war is not winnable. Gray never resorts to name calling or any form of moral persuasion. He really doesn't need to. He lets the facts speak for themselves, illustrating the endless problems created by a war of prohibition and why it is so important to stop this insanity once and for all.

Courageous Souls and books that discuss similar matter are being written at a time when the human race is starting to realize that we are really souls having a human experience and that the body that houses the soul is really just a vessel that is used for learning. We agree to the experience to learn to be more compassionate, learn to love and to have more fun. There are no accidents, no tragedies, only lessons. We all write our own plays, cast the characters and at any time can change the plot or characters to fit the type of life we want to experience.

into the future when such excursions with our souls will be the norm, like an annual physical. Health care systems as they exist would no longer be necessary for with such profound understanding would come self-healing and, perhaps, ultimately the need to reincarnate would end. This book provides a foundation for that process to begin as we learn nothing is as it appears and nothing stays the same and become empowered to embrace all as it is. Robert Schwartz's writing skills are exceptional!

One of the most thought provoking books I have ever read and certainly a must read for individuals who are expanding their understanding of spirituality and soul growth. Absolutely 5 stars, I recommend this book highly!

I have found Courageous Souls to both confirm and validate my own experiences as well as my understanding of life's deeper purpose and meanings. This book explains in clear, simple language why "bad things happen" and why sometimes "bad things happen to good people" in a way that helps readers make sense of their own lives and make peace with their choices--however their choices were viewed by themselves or others. Janet Boyer in her review does an excellent job of summarizing the concepts in the book, so I will not repeat them here. However, I will add that applying the understandings in this book to one's own life will help one see the bigger picture, take responsibility (respond appropriately in life), and make the taking of responsibility that much easier. And once you learn the bigger picture and take responsibility for what you came here to do, the world will stop trying to awaken you through often painful crises and challenges. Taking responsibility equals personal growth, helping us become masters of our own lives, leading to greater satisfaction and peace: a new world.

I as well struggled to make sense of my own life and chronicled what I learned in my just-published book "What Everyone Believed: A Memoir of Intuition and Awakening". What I came to understand is not only that we have these pre-birth contracts (or soul agreements) with others, we now have the incredible opportunity to "congratulate ourselves for the roles that we played" not only when we're "on the other side" but right now, right here, physically on this planet. (Imagine the level of love and gratitude this will create.) We can complete the cycle of these hardships and challenges (sometimes referred to as "duality") and create a new world by bringing forth our soul potential, accessed through our intuition, our inner knowings--because it is now time for this. Living from this new consciousness is what the term "ascension" actually refers to. Then you don't feel like you want to "stop the cycle of reincarnation" (why would you want to??) because life becomes a joy. Courageous Souls is a wonderful and uplifting contribution towards this not-so-distant future.

Christine Hoeflich, author of What Everyone Believed: A Memoir of Intuition and Awakening

When I first found out about this book I was skeptikal about the idea that we might plan our challenges before birth but was fascinated enough by the concept to at least give it a chance.

It did manage to keep my attention but I found it to be a bit far fetched. According to the book we should be grateful to those people who have caused us harm in our lives because they have done so not out of malice but out of love and respect for the paths we have chosen before birth. I guess I just don't see how that fits in with the concept of karma or responsibility for one's actions. It seems to me that buying into that idea would almost give those who hurt me an automatic get out of jail free card.

On the flip side I can see how those who are seeking a new way to look at their lives might benefit from this book. It certainly does present readers with an innovative perspective into some of life's biggest challenges.

Overall, it's interesting and thought-provoking but not very realistic.

Yhis book belongs on the bookshelf of all those interested in the early days of psychedelic research and it's social ramifications. One word for it: Excellent!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NWFN612DXX3 My video review of Acid Dream. Really great bookAcid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond. ***** 5 stars =)

Can't think of a more informative and interesting way of describing this period of time. I loved this book. Big thanks to the authors!

This was a great book. It was an easy read and a fast read, while at the same time being very informative and interesting. It was everything I was hoping it would be and I would refer it to anyone whom was interested in the topic or anyone whom just wants to be more informed in general. There is a lot of great information is in this book. (I myself am a college student and I would say that this is a great book for my peers but also those who are a bit older.)

This book is perfect - It offered everything I was hoping for when I first purchased it. It covered from the end of the 50's and the Beat generation and how their influence lead into the hippie generation, and it ended in the early 70's tying in the beginning of rock and punk. It is a true spectrum of the 1960's counterculture generation.

It's a large book but its facinating to learn about the history and the culture. Like previous reviewers said, it really ties up everyhting and clearly shows the correalation between the drug counterculture and the govn't & society during that time period. I was born in the 80's and this book really showed me alot about the 60's counterculture and the attitudes towards drug use and young people during that time. I can see alot of correalations between that era with Vietnam as the war that they were protesting versus todays war in Iraq and the amount of US citizens that are against it.

The author also goes into government policies at the time and conspiricys and covert CIA and classified documents. I was amazed by the actions of the CIA and thetesting of LSD on unsuspecting American citizens. It is like the stuff movies are made of but it really happened! Truly and amazing and interesting book - I could not put it down. I reccomend it to everyone, regardless of your view on LSD or drug counterculture - a true wealth of information on 1960's America.

Healing is still happening today. This book will explain what Jesus meant for us to have in our health.

This book is all you need, beyond the bible, if you are seriously interested in divine healing. It should be noted that this book is written by someone who was very successful in the healing ministry,
as distinct from those who merely theorize. This is an excellent book!

An old book with update from author's son. There is so much to enjoy in this book. I will reread it often.

I had purchased this book from a used book store and have enjoyed this along with other healing classics, including the works of John G Lake, Smith Wigglesworth, Ministry of Healing by AJ Gordon, and even some of E.W. Kenyon's writings. Though some may not like the personal history of FF Bosworth (e.g. Dealings with J. Alexander Dowie or William Branham), this book explains poignantly the essential doctrine of divine healing and the rights of the Christian to claim what has been given to them in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Many were touched by his ministry and he had the humility to repent of wrongs he had believed or done (British Israelism). This book will challenge and move you to believe Jesus Christ for a complete salvation (body, soul and spirit) and will increase your faith in what He is willing to do in your life today. No longer will you say, "If it be thy will.." for your healing because it is already His will and now you'll know to lay hold upon the promise, ask in faith and receive what has been purchased for you. Read this book today...

Definitely a book worth reading. For those who doubt that God still heals today, well that's sad for one thing, but this is a book that can help inspire you to get past those doubts, of course along with the Bible also.

I bought this on the recommendation of Dr. Stanley Krippner in a lecture on ayahuasca. It is absolutely the best book I have read on the history of the psychedelic movement during the past 100 years or so. Timothy Leary is not dead - he's only outside looking in. :-)

This is the definitive account of the 1960s psychedelic drug scene. Stevens does a great job of conveying the highs and lows of LSD and its proponents. His ability to relate endless facts while retaining a fast-paced narrative structure is amazing. I found this one of the most "addicting" books out there about the significance of drugs in American culture. Stevens reviews all the major personalities: Albert Hoffman, Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the Grateful Dead, Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, Aldous Huxley, and more. If you're interested in this electric decade, the power of psychedelics to warp the mind, or any of the poet-prophets who were compelled to experiment with and sing the praises of acid then this book is sure to delight.

This should be required reading in American History. Who knew Canada had legal LSD centers? And the characters- Nin, Huxley, Kesey, Leary and Capt.Al Hubbard (??). Will we ever see their like again? Really a very sad story, and a fascinating one. Nice to see the Chief Boo Hoo, old Art Kleps in there as well. Sen. Kennedy: "Is your title really Chief Boo Hoo?" Art Kleps: "I'm afraid so, sir."

It is no fluke that this book has an average rating of five stars from amazon.com readers. This is simply one of the most informative, enjoyable and engaging presentations ever written on the subject of hallucinogenic drugs in modern history, and how they made their way from the obscurity of laboratories and clinical research to become a fixture in the counterculture of the 1960's and beyond. The complexities of the story make it a formidable challenge for any narrator, but Stevens proves easily equal to the task. In the pages of this book, the reader is introduced to the dramatis personae with an immediacy as though meeting them in person. Many of the facts discussed herein have been recounted before by many capable others. But never have they been put into such a vivid and vibrant perspective as this, so thorough and rich with nuance. That's important because the depths of this story, stranger as it is than any fiction, are where its meaning emerges most clearly. Ever since the impact of LSD and its profound, pervasive influences on our life and times, modern society will never be the same. And it is impossible to imagine what popular culture would now be like without the psychedelic revolution of the 20th century. "Storming Heaven" offers the best single account of how and why this is so. This is a real page-turner, very difficult to put down, and is highly recommended for the interested reader.

This was a very good book. You get lots of interesting stuff about Aldous Huxley, the famous beat writers, Owsley, Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey and the evolution of the so called counterculture as a whole.

The problems that I have with Storming Heaven is not for what was in it but what was left out. For one Stevens was WAY too easy on Timothy Leary. The author seemed almost like a school girl with a crush when he recounts his visit to Learys home for an interview for the book. He comes off more as a fan than he does an objective writer at times when he deals with Leary. Why wasn't it mentioned that it has come out that Leary was a government informant and information he gave led to the death of two members of the Weather Underground? Its also a known fact that Leary was surrounded by CIA assets and there is a lot of evidence that he was a government agent himself, and at the least he was feeding them information.

There is also a fleeting mention that wasn't elaborated on about Ken Kesey that he had LSD experiments done on him at Stanford by the guy that ended up in charge of the CIAs Mkultra mind control program. This really makes me wonder about Kesey. Its more or less accepted history that the first LSD to get out on the street level was what Kesey stole from the medicine chest at his job as a night shift janitor at a mental hospital and distributed it among his elitist friends. Kesey went from writing what was probably the best novel written during the 1960's to, while becoming a counterculture hero, never writing another thing worth reading again. Did doing too much LSD scramble his brains and ruin his creativity or was his creativity nullified by Mkultra programming? Its hard to say for sure but I have to wonder if Kesey was not under some sort of mind control or was being used by the CIA in one way or another. There are a lot of unanswered questions in my mind about Kesey.

They also fleetingly mention the Brotherhood of Eternal Love who were major LSD distributors and were known to be full of CIA people and had a close association with a Jewish man named Ron Starks who was a CIA spook that also happened to the biggest LSD dealer in the world. Starks was not even given the first mention in this book!

I mean with all these ivy league, Mkultra and CIA connections to the elites of the so called counterculture I have to seriously wonder how much of the hippy movement of the late 60's was an organic rebellion against what was (and still is) a very repressive society both socially and politically and how much of it was intentional social engineering that came from the highest levels of the power structure. Many people believe that the anti-war movement was flooded with drugs, in particular LSD, by federal agents. Its well known that the government tried to subvert and destroy the anti-war movement with the cointelpro program so why wouldn't they also use drugs to try to destroy it? While it can't be denied that LSD has enhanced many an artist, writer and musicians work can you honestly say that sitting around frying on acid all the time is going to do anything but disable political activists who in many cases were in a life and death struggle? Besides that the fact remains that many people became permanently damaged as result of doing acid.

All that said I would definitely recomend reading or of you can get it cheap, buying Storming Heaven. I could hardly put it down once I started reading it. I realize that this book was more geared toward looking into what psychelic drugs can do with the mind and its exponents history and theories on the subject than any conspiratorial maneuverings by the US government involving LSD but it just didn't go deep enough into the rabbit hole for my tastes.

I am amazed to find that all the symtoms I had were related to sugar sensitivity, I did not think I even liked sweet things! Lots of good advice in the book, and even if you do not want to follow the plan, there are lots of things you can do to improve your diet.

I read the first edition of this book 8 years ago. My life changed dramatically. I had asthma, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I also got pneumonia and bronchitis yearly. I started the program and never looked back. All of the health problems have disappeared. I feel wonderful!

I had bought and read so many diet books in my life that I could have filled a whole room with them. After reading this one, I got rid of all of them. I had never been able to stick to any food program either and here I am all these years later.

The new edition of the book is even better than the first. I love the stories shared in the book by others who are on the path to being healthy and "radiant" as is described in the book. Reading all of Dr. DesMaisons' books is like reading my life story. She has a wonderful way to tell all of our stories so that it is understandable. If you are depressed, overweight, tired, sick or moody, I highly recommend this book.

I discovered this book when I was researching ways to help my out of control son, he was about 3 at the time, and ended up finding my self in this book! I felt as if the author had been looking in my window observing me for 30 years. For so long I thought I was on the verge of a mental illness with depression, mood swings, fatigue, and cravings.

After reading this book, I now understand what food was doing to my chemical balance. I feel thankful that I can also use the knowledge in this book to teach my children about the food/mood connection so that they can live happy lives and not be tortured for years like I was.

I've been following the program laid out in this book for going on 5 years. This program has changed my life, as it has done for so many others. It has helped me with all of the following issues: overcoming an eating disorder, reaching a healthy weight, getting over depression, lessening anxiety, becoming more comfortable in social situations, no longer procrastinating, getting to bed at a reasonable hour rather than staying up all night, finding life balance rather than cramming every day full of too many commitments, letting go of perfectionism, becoming more organized, and just in general learning how to be happy in my life.

Not only has the program changed my life, but it gave me the understanding of why I was having all those problems in the first place. If I hadn't found this program, I would have just gone on struggling in so many ways, and wondering, "Why me?!" and thinking it was my fault.

If you've ever set resolutions for yourself and then been unable to follow through, and sat there wondering why you couldn't stop yourself from eating the extra helping of dessert, or procrastinating on your taxes, or having one too many drinks; if you've ever wondered, "Why do I seem to be sabotaging myself?", this is the book for you. It's not your fault. And you can actually become the person you want to be, and live the life you've dreamed of.

If you want to lose weight and have not been able to, if you suffer from mood swings, depression and are looking to live a better life, give yourself a chance to read this book. It is very easy to read,takes you step by step, and the author's knowledge is complemented by life experiences from thousands who have followed the program and enriched their lives by it. It is amazing the effect that food has on us physically and emotionally. What I most appreciate is how Kathleen takes us by the hand, doing baby steps, to a more radiant life.

Michael's book is wonderful!!! It is a weekly read for me and has added so much to my gratitude for my recovery. This book truly embraces and passes on to it's readers the BEST of the 12 step recovery rooms. So much wisdom is found in AA, yet... filtering through some of the "nonsense" shared by individuals at an AA/NA/OA,etc. meeting is not always easy for the person seeking recovery.
Seeking "the Wisdom to know the difference" for our recovery is when God truly blesses us with that very GIFT! I suggest we use the Wisdom of the Rooms as a format for some awesome recovery meetings! Michael Z. has given us the perfect book to do that. with!

Each time I read this book I get something new from it. Reading a quote from this book is like attending one of those meetings that changes your soul, and Michael Z's interpretations seem to reach out connect with me on almost every level. The spiritual wisdom in this book touches those in and out of recovery, and the people I've given it to not only identify, but often buy copies to give as gifts - it's that's kind of book.

Quotes like "When fear knocks on the door and faith answers, no one is home", seem to be just the thing I need to read when I pick it up. I can literally just glance at any page and find something that speaks to me right when I need it. Whether I'm struggling with my concept of God, or with my fear, or even with setting healthy boundries ("No is a complete sentence"), it's all here for me.

If you're looking for a book of spiritual yet practical wisdom that can fill your well with faith and hope, this book will become a favorite of yours, too. I love "The Wisdom of the Rooms" and look forward each week to the new quotes Michael Z puts out for free (visit the website: www.thewisdomoftherooms.com) and you can sign up.

This is a must have for those in and out of recovery, and it will enrich any spiritual practice you currently have. For those of you who haven't read it yet, you're in for a wonderful treat. Enjoy the wisdom!

An outstanding spiritual guidebook for those in recovery or those who just want to embrace their higher power. It helped me stay connected to what's really important and not feel so alone in this world. It's one of those books you can read again and again and always grasp something new. Thanks Michael Z!

For an "on the go" person in recovery like me, this is like the blackberry of 12 step meetings. Any page I open in this book, seems to give me exaclty what I need to read at that time, to give me a spiritual perspective on any situation. The way the author explains the quotes with ease, and then allows the readers to internally answer some questions regarding the quote, can bring tranquility to a turbulent head.

I wish more books on recovery were written this way.
Thank you Michael Z!!

I have been in AA for 15 months and love the new life that I have been fortunate to receive. I first became familiar with Wisdom of the Rooms a year ago when a recovery center in Arizona sent me my first one. Since then I look forward to receiving my weekly mailings from Michael Z. When I found out that Michael was compiling a book, I bought 20 of them. The reason being is that there are 12 people who, in my early recovery took me under their wing and helped me to work the program of AA, to have the Promises come true and to have a Spiritual Awakening. The least I could do is share the love that Michael has put into this book with them.

After reading Russell Rowland's first two wonderfully written novels, I am extremely anxious to have Dig published so I can purchase a number of them to give to friends, as I did the other two---In Open Spaces & Watershed Years. Seldom does a writer pull the reader in so completely that you can't put the book down, & you mourn when you finish & have to leave the characters & not know what is next!!! Looking forward to Dig soon.

In this excerpt from Russell Rowland's _Dig_, Rowland's protagonist Lee Hurley unearths bits of his past--his guilt at his part in his now three-legged dog Dave's injury and other less visible wounds he has caused his family, including sister Joanie, her husband Peter, and their two sons. In this novel dealing with recovery from addiction, Lee and readers will realize that Lee Hurley is running from his past but is carrying it all with him. I look forward to a triumphant recovery when we are treated to the entire novel.

Dig is gritty reality. Being a romanticist and escapist, I found myself hurting almost too much for these people. It is easy to feel Joannie's love for her brother, that it hurts her to see him committing slow suicide. Peter is a likeable fellow with a humble innocence that conceals deep-rooted common sense. Okay, he does leave common sense at home when he and Lee visit the bar but he is wise enough not to jump into the fisticuffs.

If the rest of the book had been there, I'd have climbed a fence to read it. I want to know what tragedy damaged Lee and if he can overcome it.

The 2 paragraphs before Mr. Rowland got "cut off in his prime" as the Brits say painted an entirely different picture of Lee, and made you believe that, despite the obstacles--booze and his new enemy--he would triumph and build that cabin. Deeply rooted in the Montana soil, hopefully he will triumph over self flagellation in a bottle.

From Chaucer's Wife of Bath to Ken Kesey's Bromden, authors have used unreliable narrators to create drama and tension. Russell Rowland follows suit with Lee Hurley, an alcoholic with a fogged past. From the first page Lee seems perplexed at how life is going for him. He says to his best pal Charlie, "I thought we had talked about it. I thought you were okay with it." Apparently thought wrong for Charlie hightails it before Lee's story has a chance to start and the reader is left wondering what it is that has caused such a rift. The mystery intensifies as Lee remembers his father as the corpse his father's girlfriend woke up next to. When Lee arrives at his sister Joanie's he realizes "Something must have happened (the last time he was there) but I don't remember a thing." His sister doesn't clarify. When Lee asks what it was she replies only, "...it wasn't horrible." By the time the reader reaches the end of the excerpt of Dig, we have a long list of questions, and a sense that Lee has a long road ahead of him to not only make things right, but to make it through at all. With a house to build, family, and his three-legged dog Dave, he just might make it.

Like watching from a safe distance a tornado whipping across the high plains, Russell Rowland's capacity as a storyteller to pull from the earth, the great spirits and confounded men are awe inspiring in their power, and decisive in their attack.

From out of the green clouds and collision of hot and cold air, I immediately champion Lee, a sympathetic perpetrator of some unspeakable act. A soul suffering what might be slighted as "Type II" alcoholism, he seems too bright and too used to pain to ever really hit rock bottom.

My empathy meter starts clanging as his cavernous heart grows more hollow. After all - everyone knows it's more socially redeeming to drink your problems under than to get over them in therapy, right?

The story's characters easily involve themselves with the protagonist; all of those whom will probably, eventually get their hearts broken; all of those whom enable Lee and all who step up to the plate to pound the living snot out of him.

Dialogue, foreshadowing and the subtleties of relationships are where Rowland's genius reveals itself.

There is nothing a self-loathing bully craves more than a self-loathing optimist. There is nothing more intimate than the unspoken between siblings. There is nothing more crushing than one's own delicate, snide intelligence pricking in the night, "You know your brains cannot make you better."

Immersing yourself in Rowland's descriptions are worth the price of admission; who else can tell you so much about a character by describing their hair? But what may prove to be truly mystical in this novel is showing the reader the transformative power that an unforgiving terra firma can have on the spirit.

I give the short four stars only because I crave a bit more poetry in the starker, straightforward lines. Maybe that happens as the house brings good and evil to blows.

I simply adored every detail of _Two Truths and a Lie_. How rare for a popular-fiction mystery novel to have true character development *and* a plot! I'm one of those who always figures out the who-done-it way too early and finds little reason to finish the book (except to skim the important bits to see that I'm right). This time, I didn't want to miss a word all the way to the end. Dair, Peyton, and their friends, family and animals were real down to the last detail. Anyone who has ever struggled with an addiction (or loved someone who has) must read this book. Also a must for understanding compulsive lying.

I've never read another book which combines two subjects so well. Another author might have written a murder mystery without the caracter depth of this novel, or a relationship oriented story without the suspense that grabs the reader. This novel is definately on my top 10 favorite list. Of course this may just be the absinthe talking, but I can't wait for Kittle's next masterpiece.

Dair Canard has problems, big ones. A compulsive liar with a drinking problem, she has a husband that seems to have something to hide, parents who have separated, and a close friend whose recent and suspicious death was bizarre to say the least. Dair's life is definately spiraling out of control, and her lifetime of lying is starting to take it's toll.
This is a well written page turner with just enough twists to keep the reader guessing. My only criticism would be that I found the "animal telepathy" angle a little difficult to swallow. Even an animal lover such as myself grew tired of the endless references to the character's pets. That said, this is still a enjoyable, albeit unusual mystery novel worth reading.

It is scary how real these characters were. As a matter of fact there were times that I had to put the book down and walk away from it because I felt such a strong connection with them. I say bravo a job well done and a toast to a book that is the finest I've read in years. If you only read one book this year pick this one up you won't feel sorry. The narrative is beautiful, the characters are life like, and even the animals have a personality of their own. There is not a single place where the book falters or gets drab. It will grab you and won't let go until the very last word.

"Dair was a habitual liar. Not pathological or anything, just...recreational." Thus begins this story about lies, deception, and what happens when the truth is sometimes less believable than the lies we tell. Let's face it we've all been guilty of telling "little white lies". Stories we enhance, niceties we introduce to spare someone's feelings, the occasional all out fib. Whether we like it or not, lying is part of human nature.

And it is with this introspective into someone who has spent her entire life telling little (and sometimes not so little) lies that begins our story. We meet Dair, on the way to pick up her husband Peyton from the airport, plotting the lie she'll tell him to explain why she is late. It is the accident, or apparent suicide she witnesses on the way, which truly does make her late, and turns out to be stranger than any fiction she could have concocted.

From here a web of lies, not only Dair's, but also everyone else's, begins to spin out of control. We meet Peyton, her husband, who has his own demons to contend with, we learn more about the reasons behind Dair's "habit" of stretching the truth. We meet Dair's mother, with her unusual talent of communicating with animals. We learn the identity of the alleged "suicide" victim, and his relation to all the players in this book. And we open up a whole lot of questions in the process.

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, not even having a clue what the story was about (it was sent to me by a friend), and so was glad to discover that it was full of twists and turns and surprises. The characters were very real, and easy to identify with. The author creates a world not unlike the world her reader's live in, and therefore, these characters could be our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers. Their secrets and their lies, possibly making them people we don't truly know. The relationships between the characters were realistic, deep, captivating, and I could identify with Dair, I felt for Peyton, I adored the cranky upstairs neighbor, Mr. Lively. But it was the "secondary characters" in this story, the animals, which really tied it all together for me. Katrina Kittle did a wonderful job of making the pets as much a "cast of characters" in this novel as the humans. Shoddan and Blizzard, Peyton and Dair's dogs, with their huge personalities, Captain Hook, Mr. Lively's parrot, with his extended vocabulary, Dair's Chickadee, they were vital to this story, and added a nice twist to the mystery and the drama.

For me, this book had it all, great character development, wonderful storytelling, mystery, humor, a bit of sadness, fantasy and realism. A+