A Book Review: A Million Little Pieces

A friend told me about this book. I had seen it in the bookstore and thought oh it's just another GO ASK ALICE but this time by a guy. Then my friend talks about it and I catch the tail end of Oprah and she's talking to the guy that wrote it. Well, (I think to myself) maybe I should check it out, I've had a lot of friends in recovery and maybe this will give me incite into what they have gone through. So I pick it up. First off, let me just say that if I can find miss-spellings and punctuation errors then there is a real problem with the editing. Secondly, this story is told in a very free thinking stream of conscience type of writing that tended to annoy me after a while.

The story is about a guy in a drug treatment facility. This is it, his last chance. "Stop drinking and smoking crack, or you will die" he is told by the doctors at the facility. So it goes, and he describes all the withdrawal symptoms he is going through(lots, and I mean excessive talk about vomiting-just what I want to read about...Not!!!) The interesting thing is that he doesn't buy into the whole 12 steps, AA mindset, and is resistant to it from the beginning. Now this can be looked at two ways.

1. People will read this book and think that they can do what he did, and just decide to quit without the support system in place (Not something he advocates) He only claims that this was the correct choice for him.
2. Or people will look at his life and see that it can be done and maybe their life is out of control, and they need some help.

Added 1-18-06 Interesting!!!! The Smoking Gun Article

Either choice would be a crucial one in an addictive situation. Never having to face this particular situation myself, I think to have to make a decision like getting help with an addiction would be one of the hardest things to do.

*****To my friends who have gone through it (and you know who you are,) I have the utmost respect for your courage and your fortitude to deal everyday with your choice to fight your addiction!!!*****