Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions by Russell Brand is the 4th book of his that I've read and possibly the one that's hit the closest to home. This book outlines the 12 Step Program from Russell's perspective with personal accounts from each step of his journey towards recovery. It is an excellent book for those struggling with addiction (of any kind) or those who have witnessed that struggle in others.

The emphasis made throughout the book is that you must

• seek a Higher Power
• attend meetings to have a community of help
• work the program every single day
• seek help at times when stressed or apt to relapse from a mentor who has worked the program

These excellent quotes from the book do a far better job of recommending it than anything I could say:

But in your life you've faced obstacles, inner and outer, that have prevented you from becoming the person you were 'meant to be' or 'are capable of being' and that is what we are going to recover. That's why we call this process Recovery, we recover the 'you' that you were meant to be. - pg 42

This program helps me to change my perspective when what I would do unabated is justify my perspective staying the same - 'if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got', if you want change, you have to change. You have to make amends. - pg 133

...'you can't think your way into acting better but you can act your way into thinking better.' - pg 160

The literature upon which these movements are founded describe it not as a 'cure' but as a 'daily reprieve'; the disease, the condition, is still there, you will feel it move through you, in fear and rage and irritation, beckoning you back into previous behavior - pg 212 

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Recovery. If you or anyone you love has ever struggled through addiction and the subsequent difficulties on the long road towards recovery then this is essential reading. 10/10 highly recommend 

My American friends probably don't know Russell Brand (apart from Char who watched his video that I shared on FB and sighed his petition! Thank you for doing that.), but he's a stand-up comedian, actor, writer and social activist. The establishment like to treat him as a joke because he actually dares to advocate for a better, fairer society, one where we're all treated as equal. Anyway, I'm getting off track here. This book is about addiction, specifically recovery from addiction. Russell thoroughly advocates the 12 steps as they saved him from a heroin addiction. He's been clean for almost 15 years. Personally, I'm addicted to just about anything a person can be! He looks at addiction from the stand point of it being symptomatic of an increasingly impersonal culture where we're viewed as consumers, as opposed to actual human beings. So even though my addictions wouldn't be considered severe or life-threatening, I plan to read it all and follow the steps. 

Russell Brand writes about complex, thought-provoking issues with his own brand of searing honesty, razor sharp wit and laugh out loud humour. This book should be essential reading for every human on the planet, particularly young impressionable ones who like spending their paycheque on new trainers. Viva la revolution! 

British comedian, actor and activist Russell Brand takes the classic Pied Piper tale and gives it a fresh spin full of subtle (and some not so subtle) commentary on today's world. I'm a little confused as to why this keeps being marketed as a children's book, as I would think it'd be pretty graphic or just generally disturbing for any child under 4th-5th grade age {just for example, there is a part of the story where children of Hamelin are trying to reanimate roadkill to turn into a "woodland zombie army", and one illustration shows a rat with its head chopped off, a wire coming out of its body in the place of a head, the neck gushing blood}. Not to mention much of the wink-wink satire aspect of it is more than likely going to go over the heads of most young children, simply because most will not be that far in their "school of hard knocks" education. However, they are very likely to really enjoy the rampant butt jokes and toilet humor. 

That being said, I really enjoyed this book! I loved the tongue-in-cheek tone, the poking fun style of social commentary that flowed seamlessly with the underlying vein of "no seriously though, think about this..". Brand finds a humorous way to bring attention to topics such as unchecked consumerism, vanity, bullying, pollution of the planet, sexism (even having a character called Sexist Dave, which I was immensely amused by, particularly the way Chris Riddell draws him!), how strange religious customs can sound when you try to explain them to someone not of your faith. He also addresses how stupid people look when they dismiss someone simply for how they look or just acting differently. Then there's Homeless Jeff, who is sort of kept in the background because the posh people of Hamelin prefer to keep him out of sight, illustrating the way many large cities tend to want to cover up the issue of homelessness. Brand even addresses same-sex marriage by including a same sex rat couple into the story. 

I definitely recommend this for adults and older children, especially to see Riddell's brilliantly detailed artwork (I'm a fan of Brand, but I do think it was Riddell's work that really sold this book for me). Parents, you may want to read this & make your own judgement call before sharing with your really young children. 

There's a very good reason that it took me several weeks to finish up Russell Brand's newest book. When you read a book that questions the very fabric of reality which you have been indoctrinated into...well it takes a bit to let it all sink in. What can I say about Revolution except that it was utterly brilliant? It's clear from the opening pages that Brand is passionate about the topic of change on a global level. The book focuses on environmental and economic change which can only occur if our current system is overthrown completely. He makes several valid points and backs it up with solid data. The only problem I really had with Revolution is that there was no index (which anyone who is a nonfiction guzzler will say is a big no-no). It won't be difficult to verify the facts but it does lend firing power to anyone who seeks to argue the credibility of the work. He doesn't pull any punches (when does he?) and I think for a work such as this you can't if you sincerely want people to rise up and unite. So basically I think you should all give this book a read. It will make you think about the current system we have in place and make you question why we accept it knowing that it's faulty.