Living Jonathan's Life: A Doctor's Descent Into Darkness & Addiction

In a charged, honest memoir, physician Davis relates his struggle with addiction and recovery following the 1993 loss of his twin brother, Jonathan, to AIDS. Hopscotching through their lives together and apart, Davis tells twin stories of disease-his an addiction to pain medication-that take the author through grim, desperate times, but culminate in a hopeful breakthrough. Almost as long as the narrative are the appendices, which include a directory of treatment programs, intervention resources and the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Sentimental touches-like liberal use of poems from Jonathan's found journal-may not be to everyone's taste, but this brief memoir makes a detailed primer on the struggles of the addicted, and a fine resource for anyone facing a substance abuse problem, their own or that of a loved one.