Battling The Demons Within
Subject Guides » Books » Reading Lists » Battling The Demons Within
Fiction and nonfiction about living with addiction. This list was added in April 2008.
- The River Road by Karen Osborn
Inseparable friends since childhood, brothers David and Michael and their neighbor Kay embark on a night of adventure during which a drug-influenced David jumps off a bridge and sets a devastating series of events in motion. - The heroin diaries : a year in the life of a shattered rock star by Nikki Sixx with Ian Gittins
The co-founder of the rock band Motley Crue presents a candid account of his own descent into the hell of drug addiction, describing the impact of heroin on his life and the band. - Long Time Gone by David Crosby
Rock superstar David Crosby describes his early days as an actor, his tenure with the Byrds and the tremendous success of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; his severe drug addiction, and the road to recovery and renewed prosperity. - Smack by Melvin Burgess
After running away from their troubled homes, two English teenagers move in with a group of squatters in the port city of Bristol and try to find ways to support their growing addiction to heroin. - Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis
The lead singer and songwriter for the Red Hot Chili Peppers presents a memoir that captures the bright and dark moments of his life and career, including his descent into drug addiction and its influence on his musical evolution. - A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
A memoir of drug and alcohol abuse and the rehabilitation experience examines addiction and recovery through the eyes of a man who had taken his addictions to deadly extremes, describing the battle to confront the consequences of his life. - Dry by Augusten Burroughs
An advertising executive remembers his childhood with his eccentric foster family and his early adulthood experiences of trying to establish an independent life for himself. - Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
Bill Lee, an addict-hustler, travels to Mexico and then Tangier in order to find easy access to drugs, and ends up in the Interzone, a bizarre fantasy world - Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple
Leaving behind a life of petty crime and drug abuse, young guitarist Douglas finds himself under the watchful eye of his stern but fair-minded Scottish grandmother, but when he is tempted to return to his past behaviors, he discovers an ability to see the fey folk. - Tiger in a Trance by Max Ludington
Eighteen-year-old Grateful Dead fan Jason Burke, in denial about the death of his journalist father, sells t-shirts and then drugs to support himself before becoming involved with two young women, descending into a heroin addiction, and helping a terminally ill family friend. - Crystal Lies: a Novel by Melody Carlson
As the wife of a prominent city attorney and the mother of two teenage children on the brink of adulthood, Glennis Harmon lives the kind of successful, high-profile life that many people envy. But when nineteen-year-old Jacob is drawn into substance abuse, Glennis’ “perfect” world shatters like a crystal vase rocked from its once-steady shelf. - Orfe by Cynthia Voigt
Offers a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as Enny's childhood friend loses her own destiny as a musician after chasing a doomed relationship with Yuri, a recovering drug addict. - Shackling Water by Adam Mansbach
Latif Pearson, a gifted young saxophone player, leaves his home in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to build a new life for himself among the jazz clubs of New York City, growing from adolescence to manhood amid the perilous temptations of Harlem.
Category: Reading Lists