From my seat as a newspaper reporter covering the courts, it often seems that few violent crimes would be committed absent addictions.
Many times, I have seen a killer come to court looking healthier and sober after weeks in jail, and I can't help but wonder how much better off the defendant, the victim and we all would be if they'd found their way to sobriety sooner.
Although it's a subject that merits exploration, I was skeptical about another book about addiction. But New York Times magazine contributor and author Benoit Denizet-Lewis finds a fresh, provocative approach to the subject in "America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life."
For several years, he tracked men and women with a panoply of problems: heroin, alcohol, crystal meth and steroids, food, sex and pornography, crack, prescription drugs and gambling and shoplifting.
He tells their recovery stories, letting the subjects do much of the talking as he weaves in history and science.
The opening quote from Bobby, a heroin addict and an unemployed resident of bleak South Boston, is an example of the author's commitment to unvarnished reality. Of his neighborhood, Bobby said, "Sometimes I think God could do us a favor and crash a 747 into this [expletive] place."
Denizet-Lewis writes as a clear-eyed observer and sometime participant. In the introduction, he says the book contains no composite characters, no made-up scenes. On occasion he prods a subject, talking about his own sex addiction or raising provocative questions, such as: Is it really so bad for a man to become an alcoholic at 80? Isn't that what retirement communities are for?
One addict is featured in each of the 32 chapters. I often felt like I was right there listening to the conversations. And, boy, was I paying attention.
