A searching exploration of recovery and its discontents, mixing sharp criticism with a compelling story of redemption.
Eade promotes Eastern philosophy as an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous in this insightful self-help guide.
The author draws lessons about addiction and recovery from his own struggle with alcoholism, which almost cost him his liver. Much of the book is a critique of AA, which he attended for about five years. While acknowledging that it benefits millions of alcoholics, Eade faults the organization for being too doctrinaire, too hidebound, too rooted in 20th-century WASP patriarchy (which alienates many women, people of color, and non-Christians), and too fixated on a concept of alcoholic powerlessness that encourages a victim mentality. As an alternative, he extols a set of programs informed by Hinduism and Buddhism, including “Yoga and the Twelve Steps™” classes and the recovery groups Refuge Recovery and Recovery Dharma. In these communities, the author learned to let go of the fear and shame at the heart of his addiction, detach from his ego and listen to his inner self, lift the veil of worldly delusions, and pursue an oceanic oneness with all being. On a practical level, he learned to quell the anxiety and mental agitation that had fueled his substance abuse with deep-breathing exercises and a daily prayer cycle in which he thanked the Source and Mother Earth for reminding him to “ease pain and suffering,” “forgive Trump today,” and undertake other spiritually edifying tasks. Following this regimen, the author reports, he overthrew the “merciless tyrant” of addiction. Eade’s narrative combines a plangent memoir of dysfunction with an erudite disquisition on the psychology and philosophy of addiction. He deploys vivid, captivating metaphors, as when he likens addiction to a plunge into a Dantean underworld: “I looked up at the long upward climb back and gave in to despair. There was just no way that I could make my way back to the top of that steep, slimy slope.” At the same time, he offers rapturous encouragement (“You will find peace and serenity. I promise”) that many readers will take to heart.
A searching exploration of recovery and its discontents, mixing sharp criticism with a compelling story of redemption.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781958211328
Page Count: 104
Publisher: HigherLife Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.
Two bestselling authors engage in an enlightening back-and-forth about Jewishness and antisemitism.
Acho, author of Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, and Tishby, author of Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, discuss many of the searing issues for Jews today, delving into whether Jewishness is a religion, culture, ethnicity, or community—or all of the above. As Tishby points out, unlike in Christianity, one can be comfortably atheist and still be considered a Jew. She defines Judaism as a “big tent” religion with four main elements: religion, peoplehood, nationhood, and the idea of tikkun olam (“repairing the world through our actions”). She addresses candidly the hurtful stereotypes about Jews (that they are rich and powerful) that Acho grew up with in Dallas and how Jews internalize these antisemitic judgments. Moreover, Tishby notes, “it is literally impossible to be Jewish and not have any connection with Israel, and I’m not talking about borders or a dot on the map. Judaism…is an indigenous religion.” Acho wonders if one can legitimately criticize “Jewish people and their ideologies” without being antisemitic, and Tishby offers ways to check whether one’s criticism of Jews or Zionism is antisemitic or factually straightforward. The authors also touch on the deteriorating relationship between Black and Jewish Americans, despite their historically close alliance during the civil rights era. “As long as Jewish people get to benefit from appearing white while Black people have to suffer for being Black, there will always be resentment,” notes Acho. “Because the same thing that grants you all access—your skin color—is what grants us pain and punishment in perpetuity.” Finally, the authors underscore the importance of being mutual allies, and they conclude with helpful indexes on vernacular terms and customs.
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781668057858
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon Element
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
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