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.