Picador Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions

I am from Germany and a huuuuge fan of Russel Brand. I enjoy watching documentaries with him and was so excited about this book release and even pre ordered it. I loved to read this book and it helped me to understand myself and the people around me much better... I try to internalise the 12 steps and try to be a better and selfreflected me... it helped a lot to read Russel’s experience and having a living proof that there’s always a chance to change 💛💛

As someone who has never experience an addiction to alcohol or drugs I approached this book from a point of interest. However it did not take long for me to appreciate that this book is suitable for any form of addiction including food, social media and shopping. Russell Brand writes in a way that does not discredit or shame one form of addiction over another, he casts honest and understandable light over addiction and gives realistic information on the work which is involved in changing. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone, we all have our own addictions that could benefit from these steps.

Russell Brand gets it! Experiential knowledge qualifies him to share with the intent of helping others who desire to shed suffering

Russell used a 12 step program, as have I, to change his life. This book seems to be written to assist people, perhaps skeptics more than anyone, to see what 12 step programs really are, to remove people’s preconceptions, and encourage those suffering that there is another way to live without their present pain. I have read several other reviews of this book that say 12 step programs are shame-based, cultish, etc. This has not been my experience at all, and Russell does address these ideas. My experience is that people who feel shame in a meeting bring that shame with them, and by working the 12 steps, are often able to leave it behind. There are also reviews saying “Just go to a meeting or buy the Big Book”. Misinformation, prejudice and fear often hold people back from that. This book seems to lower the threshold for people to see that there really is a way out of their suffering. Even so, even this presentation of “The Program” will be too much for some. This book does not shy away from how much work is involved and how difficult it can be to create true and lasting change in life. My own experience echos much of this book, and at no point did I find the author going off-message or self-aggrandizing. The fact is, as Russell repeats, addictions to whatever (alcohol, sex, drugs, food, self-harm, etc) are not the problem, but rather a symptom and expression of something deeper. 12 step programs, WHEN FOLLOWED, work amazingly well to get to the root of these issues and free people from suffering, which in turn frees them from their addictive behaviors that result from them. As for the “warning: 12 Step” reviews, I can understand (I used to be fiercely against 12 step meetings that the DMV and courts forced me into). 20 years of drinking later, when I was finally honestly ready to change my behavior and my life, it still took 2 years of continuous relapses before someone said something in a meeting that ended my struggle in a moment. Recovery is hard, the process is often embarrassing and painful, but for those that put in the effort, it is SO worth it. If only 8-10% of people who try it do all of that, it’s not the fault of the 12 step program. It’s not a success or failure rate, it’s a willingness rate! This is NOT comedy book. It clearly gushed from the heart. The audiobook is great, read by Russel with his accent, and accentuation. If you need help, start here, it works.

Hearing Russel Brand on cd was totally the best experience so I bought the book for a friend. I love his honesty, advice, I loved that he shared his own private stories. You cannot help but to fall in love with him. His accent on the CD is enough to make you want to hear it again and his language is perfection. While most books are passing judgement on your behaviour, his language makes it appear like you are speaking to a friend, one who swears but I love it! I highly recommend it! I am so proud of his book and I am so proud of him. He is a father of a little girl. I think he is so totally gorgeous and sexy and hearing him give advice which is so brilliant is so amazing. His girlfriend and daughter are so very lucky and we are lucky to have him write such an incredible book