Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Tweak: Growing up on Methamphetamines


I just finished this book, and I know I say this a lot, but it was great. I couldn't put it down. I love stories. I love hearing about how certain events impact somebdy's life. This was a book about a guy who became heavily involved in drugs. He took everything, from weed to crystal meth (his drug of choice) to heroin. It talks about the crazy thinking that went on while he was on drugs, and how his thinking could totally change when he was sober. The book goes through a relapse, a recovery, another relapse, and then another recovery.
I think I really liked the book because it took place a lot in San Francisco. One of the places he use to deal drugs was 2 blocks from my church and across the street from my favorite taqueria (that I talked about in a post a couple of days ago). The Safeway he hung out was where I did my grocery shopping. The other places that he talked about I knew well. I had several kids in my youth group who lived in the Tenderloin, where he spent a lot of time looking for drugs.
When he hit rock bottom, he moved to LA where his 12 Steps sponsor lived. He lived in a sober living facility, and he got clean for a while. He got a job, he was going great with his life, but an ex-girlfriend called, and he ended up getting caught up with her celebrity friends. Before too long he had relapsed again, doing crack, meth, and cocaine...among other "prescribed" drugs. He finally hit rock bottom again and went to a facility in Arizona that helped him, and the book ends there, with him trying to release and come to grips with demons that have been in his life from his childhood.
He talks a lot about God and prayer, even though he doesn't believe in God. From me, a believer, I see God very much in his book. Every time he cried out to God, God delivered him and helped him out. When he started relying on himself, and not looking for God, he went back into his old habits. I saw that throughout the book, even though I don't think this was the author's intention.
Anyways, it was a very good book. It took me about 3 days to read it, but it was so interesting that it could have taken one if I would have had the time. I like the part with him in San Francisco the best. Maybe it was because I knew the places. Maybe it was because the characters all seemed more interesting (especially this kid named Gack). Hopefully it's not because I love to read about people suffering. I didn't like the characters in LA as much, except for his sponsor, Spencer. Maybe I felt they were all superficial about living amongst celebrities and stuff like that.
But I would recommend the book to people who like memoirs and people who like reading about recovery and drug abuse. Suzy loves the stuff, and she's the one who bought the book and read it first before recommending it to me. It's got some bad language and gets pretty graphic, so be aware of that before beginning to read it.

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