Reviewed by: Ashley Merrill
My emotions were great during this book; I hated William for hurting his family, I felt bad for him, I cried with him, I sat in that crack house with him and watched him slowly smoke away his pain; I lay curled up in a ball with him on a mattress on the floor while he was detoxing and near death, and I am one of the millions who have mentally patted him on the back in congratulations and admiration.
Although William had a somewhat “privileged” life, he does a great job speaking to all of the addicts out there; the poor addicts, the homeless addicts, the rich addicts and makes them feel like they are all equal. It is inspiring to know that help is available out there; whether it is AA meetings, detox centers, rehabilitation centers, etc. My concern is that depending on the area you live in, and the insurance you have, some of these treatment options are not always going to be available.
One of the things I really enjoyed from this book was not only the narrative of his struggle with his diseases, but also the journal entries he wrote and the letters he wrote and received. This helped to spice up the book a little bit and to intimately see how his family; his father in particular, felt about and how he was dealing with his son’s diseases.
It scares me to death when I think about what it will take for my father and step father to get their addictions under control. Seeing how many times William had to fight to stay sober, and to see him go through his four relapses broke my heart. I felt as though my family members don’t have a chance; they are not as strong willed as he is, and they don’t hold their children (me and my sister) in high enough regard like William did to get sober.
My best
advice for someone with a diseases such as alcohol or drug addiction
that I
learned from this novel is “take it one day at a time.”