America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life
Written by Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Narrated by David Drummond
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Addiction is arguably America's biggest public-health crisis, triggering and exacerbating many of our most pressing social problems (crime, poverty, skyrocketing health-care costs, and childhood abuse and neglect). But while cancer and AIDS survivors have taken to the streets-and to the halls of Congress-demanding to be counted, millions of addicts with successful long-term recovery talk only to each other in the confines of anonymous twelve-step meetings. (A notable exception is the addicted celebrity, who often enters and exits rehab with great fanfare.) Through the riveting stories of Americans in various stages of recovery and relapse, Denizet-Lewis shines a spotlight on our most misunderstood health problem (Is addiction a brain disease? A spiritual malady? A moral failing?) and breaks through the shame and denial that still shape our cultural understanding of it-and hamper our ability to treat it.
Are Americans more addicted than people in other countries, or does it just seem that way? Can food or sex be as addictive as alcohol and drugs? And will we ever be able to treat addiction with a pill? These are just a few of the questions Denizet-Lewis explores during his remarkable journey inside the lives of men and women struggling to become, or stay, sober. As the addicts in this book stumble, fall, and try again to make a different and better life, Denizet-Lewis records their struggles-and his own-with honesty and empathy.
Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Benoit Denizet-Lewis is a writer with The New York Times Magazine and an assistant professor of writing and publishing at Emerson College. He is the author of Travels With Casey, America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life, and has contributed to Sports Illustrated, The New Republic, Details, Slate, Salon, Out, and many others. Denizet-Lewis lives in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Follow him @BenoitDLewis.
Related to America Anonymous
Related audiobooks
American Drug Addict: a memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Double Double: A Dual Memoir of Alcoholism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hillbilly Drug Baby: The Poems Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Friend Leonard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heroin Diaries: Ten Year Anniversary Edition: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Side of Innocence: Growing Up Bipolar Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This River: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Change Someone You Love: Four Steps to Help You Help Them Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Woman of Substances: A Journey into Addiction and Treatment Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Strung Out: One Last Hit and Other Lies That Nearly Killed Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fixed: Dope Sacks, Dye Packs, and the Long Welcome Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Running in Circles: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Am A Heroin Addict Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As Needed for Pain: A Memoir of Addiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Say No: Five True Drug Stories (Fentanyl, Crack, Molly, Oxy, Pot) Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Overcome: A Memoir Of Abuse, Addiction, Sex Work, and Recovery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Grow an Addict: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Weight of Air: A Story of the Lies About Addiction and the Truth About Recovery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saving Jake: When Addiction Hits Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Don't Forget Me: A Lifeline of HOPE for Those Touched by Substance Abuse and Addiction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Stone's Throw: Memoir of a Dope Fiend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hiding Out: A Memoir of Drugs, Deception, and Double Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gilded Razor: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lush: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Years: Surviving a Mother and Daughter's Worst Nightmare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inside Rehab: The Surprising Truth about Addiction Treatment---and How to Get Help That Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Addiction For You
The Porn Myth: Exposing the Reality Behind the Fantasy of Pornography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Easy Way to Stop Smoking Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breaking Addiction: A 7-Step Handbook for Ending Any Addiction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Allen Carr's Easy Way to Quit Cannabis: Regain your drive, health and happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breaking the Cycle: Free Yourself from Sex Addiction, Porn Obsession, and Shame Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Drop the Rock: Removing Character Defects: Steps Six and Seven (2nd. ed.) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition: The official "Big Book" from Alcoholic Anonymous Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unleashed From Alcohol: Understand The Real Reason You Drink And How To Heal Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Stop Drinking Expert: Alcohol Lied to Me Updated And Extended Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kindness Method: Change Your Habits for Good Using Self-Compassion and Understanding Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Drinking Games: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mommy Doesn't Drink Here Anymore: Getting Through the First Year of Sobriety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Easy Way to Control Alcohol Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Alcoholics Anonymous: The Landmark of Recovery and Vital Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions: The “Twelve and Twelve” — Essential Alcoholics Anonymous reading Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Drunk-ish: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving Alcohol Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Addict in the House: A No-Nonsense Family Guide Through Addiction and Recovery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for America Anonymous
39 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enjoyable read (or "listen") that flows smoothly. I enjoyed the various storylines exploring many different kinds of addiction.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Today as I was heading out to go grocery shopping, I found that I was tired of listening to The Clash. I rooted around in the CDs in my car and found an old favorite: Lucky by the band Fifteen. In my favorite song on the album, Jeff Ott sings: "My congressman says I can't give my brother a clean syringe, if he should get AIDS and die, it's just too bad."Hearing this after reading about the painful lives of these eight (actually nine) addicts resonated with me. Addiction hits so many people. This book exposed the wide variety of addictive behaviors that impact Americans everyday. Denizet-Lewis gives readers an honest tour of addiction recovery and takes us to places we don't expect to go.Most of the addiction books I have read have centered on drugs and alcohol. While these are covered, so are sex, food, and shoplifting addictions. Denizet-Lewis spends time with each of his subjects and works to get a perspective on their lives, determining the impact recovery really has. If nothing else, Denizet-Lewis exposes the need for more public addiction services. He presents us with people who are working to get better and, to a large degree, are successful. He neither glamorizes their excesses nor detracts from the absolute wonder of staying clean in a society so ripe with bad opportunities. We need to do more. Obviously, the proverbial "road to recovery" exists. But how difficult must we make it? Not only do we judge and ostracize those who are honest about their problems, we, in the case of sex, food, and shoplifting addiction, don't even acknowledge that sufferers exist.One part that was especially powerful was the former drug addict who almost relapsed because of a Vicodin prescription to help with the pain of kidney stones. Even some doctors don't seem to understand the gravity of the disease. With every one of these books I read, I can't help but feel that we could be doing more.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The unforgettable story of eight men and women from around the country--including a grandmother, a college student, a bodybuilder, and a housewife--struggling with addictions. For nearly three years, journalist Benoit Denizet-Lewis immersed himself in their lives as they battled drug and alcohol abuse, overeating, and compulsive gambling and sexuality. Alternating with their stories is Denizet-Lewis's candid account of his own recovery from sexual addiction and his examination of our culture of addiction, where we obsessively search for new and innovative ways to escape the reality of the present moment and make ourselves feel "better." Through the stories of Americans in various stages of recovery and relapse, Denizet-Lewis shines a spotlight on our most misunderstood health problem (is addiction a brain disease? A spiritual malady? A moral failing?) and breaks through the shame and denial that still shape our cultural understanding of it--and hamper our ability to treat it.--From publisher description.(quoted form Chesterfield County Library site)