The 12 Steps, a memoir, and more

Recovery and addiction are all over the news these days and it can be a controversial topic. I’ll say upfront that I’m not really a fan of Russell’s comedy, so I was a little reluctant to check this book out even though someone I greatly respect recommended it. It was way better than I expected.

The book goes through each of the 12 Steps that Alcoholics Anonymous is based on. He talks a lot about addiction (obviously), but also goes deeper into the fears, hurts, and pain that lead people to self-medicate. At the end of each chapter/section/step, he includes many self reflection exercises and gives examples on how he has worked these things out in his own life.

A book for everyone, not just those with substance abuse problems

I think this book could help a lot of people, not just those who identify as addicts. He makes a good case that most, if not all, of us fall somewhere along the addiction spectrum and that we’re at epidemic levels of addiction at least in part to how isolated, disconnected, and lonely we are in modern society. We lack community and connection, both of which are crucial if you are recovering from an addiction and want to stay clean and sober.

This a really helpful book. He does a good job of knowing when to insert a little joke to keep it from getting too dark, when to include a story to help illustrate a point, and when to dive into vulnerability and the dark areas. If you are offended by swear words, this isn’t the book for you. But if you’re okay with a multitude of F bombs, or able to look past it, I think you should read this book.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon. I’ve been told that he did the voice for the audiobook version, but I read this book so I can’t provide any comments on that.