Editorial Review – I ROMANCED THE STONE ( Memoirs of a Recovering Hippie)
ISBN-13: 978-0977968039
Global Authors Publications, July, 2006
When you think of a crack-head, what kind of picture comes to mind? A stupid teenager, with little or no education? A prostitute? A smack-talking, ghetto-born African-American? Or, maybe, a misfit Caucasion dropout from a broken home, with an alcoholic, abusive, absentee father? Crack-heads are street-walking, panhandling, hustling, poorly dressed, teeth missing, gaunt, thin, useless and dangerous looking kinds of people, that you''d never invite over to dinner, right?
Well, guess again, because the author of these memoirs is an educated, articulate and thoughtful, formerly successful family and businessman, a grandfather, who owns expensive suits, always knows how to appear well groomed, and knows which fork is used when at the gourmet banquets of the upper middle class. "I Romanced the Stone" observes, discusses, and exposes fundamental tendencies of
addiction in our society, and weaves these general themes throughout the personal story of the author''s journey. The reader comes to understand that drug addiction is not some exclusive disease of the poor, or the uneducated, or the social castaways of our world; it is an insatiable and insidious ghost, shadowing anyone, of any walk of life, from any economic or social environment. It can appear as a false god, "the good life", and then devour you as "the grim reaper" is revealed bewilderingly to you as your new slave master.
The book tells how the author was rehabilitated, cured, and had his life and soul spared through love and help from family, and most significantly, through a powerful spiritual experience. It is hard-hitting, pulls no punches, with of plenty of graphic depictions of the evils rampant on in the inner streets of America … an inspiring, yet fearsomely awesome story, sending a message of hope and advisement. This book should be required reading in every high school, and is highly recommended reading for anyone who has or is considering fooling around with dangerous drugs.
Review by: Paize Fiddler