One day in the early 90's, James Frey awakes to find himself on an airplane bound for Chicago.  He has no recollection of how he got there, but knows that it can't have been anything good that put him there - his clothing is covered in vomit, blood and urine, he has a hole in his cheek and is missing several of his front teeth.

His parents pick him up in Chicago and drive him to a rehab facility in Minnesota to begin the 6 week rehab stint that is the basis of this book.

I've been sitting here typing and deleting, trying to find an appropriate phrase of perhaps even a single word that would do justice to Frey's work.  As yet, I haven't been able to find any.  His account of the 12-step program that all recovering addicts and alcoholics are familiar with is so brutally beautiful that it's hard to convey all the emotions I felt whilst reading it.  I laughed, I cried, I nearly puked.  When he described the horrors of detox, I was right there, detoxing with him.  When he talked of the self-hatred, the shame, the difficulty of working a 12 step program when you simply don't believe in a higher power...I was right there with him.  When he spoke of the counsellors telling him that the 12-steps are the ONLY effective method and unless he worked them he WOULD fail...I was right there with him.

It helps that I've detoxed and been through rehab myself.  I am familiar with the physical sensations of which he spoke, I've been throught them.  I think, though, that even if I hadn't experienced them, his writing style and lack of puncutation would have bought me as close to actually experiening them as I would have liked. 

I LOVED this book.  This is one that's going to be on my shelf for many, many years to come.  This is one that has staying power, that demands to be read and re-read and then read once more.  As I mentioned before, Frey has a unusual way with punctuation and grammar, but that only serves to make his story more powerful.  The words flow the way they would if you were thinking them, with no faltering starts and stops and pauses.

If you have ever struggled with an addiction, you NEED to read this book.   If you have a loved one with an addiction, you NEED to read this book.  If you have never had an addiction or even known an addict, you still NEED to read this book. 

It's that good.