This is not a glamorous book — it is real, and it is raw.
by Barb Rogers
Rogers’ book begins with the tragic death of her teenage son and delves into the horror that was her life to that point. Due to a home life fraught with substance and emotional abuse, she found herself bottomed out more than once and even homeless along the way.
She relates that when she was asked in early recovery if she knew any prayers, the one she recalled was the child’s nighttime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” As she thought of it, she recalled the long nights when she simply wanted to go to sleep and never wake up.
Rogers learned most of her life lessons through pain, tragedy and addiction.
This is not a glamorous book — it is real, and it is raw. It is not about survival of the fittest, but of the weak, the hopeless, the helpless and the truly addicted — not only to substances, but also to drama, anger, excuses and justifications.
She describes how she got to her lowest point, what it was, and how and why she finally reached out to a 12-step program for help.
She shows the reader what it is really like to survive, to stay clean and sober, and find a way to the other side. Recovery was one of the most difficult things she ever did, but Rogers says it was worth every effort she put into it.
$16.95 — Conari Press, 500 Third St., Ste. 230, San Francisco, CA 94107.
Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 29, Number 2, April/May 2010.
April 15, 2012
Book review