Broken

Broken
William Cope Moyers
Penguin
ISBN: 9780143112457
Non-Fiction, Memoir, Addiction, Recovery
Reviewed by John R. Clark

As one who has been on the recovery pathway for years, I was very interested in reading and reviewing Mr. Moyers' personal account. I read it on a quiet Sunday morning, sitting on our back deck as various birds called in the distance. This was the perfect setting to enjoy this powerfully honest and humble account of the author's growing up, multiple descents into the pit of humiliation that is addiction and his eventual journey on the spiritual path of recovery.
There are plenty of 'it happened to me, wasn't it awful, look at how great things are now' books published every year. Many may be good, but I have difficulty getting into most of them because they lack the ability to convey that gut-twisting "Oh, shit, not again" feeling that is at the core of hitting bottom in addiction. William Moyers' book conveys that feeling in spades. I read the book in about three hours and found myself seeing the story more than reading it. More powerful was the sense numerous times that I was reading my story, not his. The events were different, but the landscape of emotional devastation was eerily similar to mine in the beginning and in early recovery.
This is a book that will immediately resonate with those at any point in recovery, as well as being one that should be shared with anyone, individual or family member, who is struggling with the pain of addiction. I particularly liked the dead-on references to my two favourite parts of the AA Big Book; the promises and acceptance. I also really, really liked the brief chapter called emailing the dead. I have a slightly similar ritual; when I can't sleep, I count the people I knew who killed themselves. The number is both frightening and humbling.
This is an excellent addition to libraries as well as for anyone who has been or is currently affected by addictions.