Rolling Away: My Agony with Ecstasy
Author: Lynn Marie Smith
This all started as a choice, my choice, but now I was slave to it.
Every time I swallowed a pill I was tricking myself into seeing and feeling what was not there. But I could only trick myself for so long....
Lynn Smith never wanted to be an addict. A popular straight-A student from small-town Pennsylvania, she moved to New York City to pursue her dream of acting. In the city, she came in contact with new people, new ideas, and a completely new way of life -- a way that exposed her to drugs. She tried pot, acid, and cocaine, but it was the "love drug" Ecstasy that won her heart. Rolling Away is the story of Lynn's frenzied flight into addiction and her long struggle to come back down to earth. At once harrowing and inspiring, Rolling Away is a triumphant narrative about sex, drugs, and rock-bottom survival -- and how a second chance can save your life.
Publishers Weekly
Aspiring actress Smith dabbled in recreational drug use after moving to New York City from smalltown Pennsylvania. Sadly, the recent high school graduate quickly went from being a casual user to an addict. Smith's descriptions of "rolling" on ecstasy are appropriately disjointed and haunting. She deftly conveys an ecstasy user's sense of euphoria, especially the bubbling happiness that spreads like a wave through an "E"-fueled dance floor. But in tackling recovery, she falters. Although Smith's experience in treatment was difficult, and her description of it lends some insight into her subsequent triumph, she lingers too long in very well-trod territory. Once Smith is out of the hospital, though, the book regains its footing as Smith details her appearance in an MTV special about ecstasy use, and the difficulty of dealing with her somewhat emotionally unhealthy family. Smith has written a fervent cautionary tale; even when revealing the drug's joyful moments, her tone is one of warning and regret. As a member of the advisory board of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Smith tours and lectures about ecstasy, and it's likely that this work will find wide readership. The book's greatest strength is its alarming passages about coming down from a high and about the emptiness of living for the next pill-popping moment. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Smith's revealing debut features prose that rolls by as smoothly as the book's catchy title ("rolling" on Ecstasy is the present-day equivalent of "tripping" on LSD). Taking readers on a journey from rural Pennsylvania to the concrete jungle of Manhattan, Smith relays her folly in succumbing to the thrills of Ecstasy and its attendant club scene. After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she takes her newly minted degree precisely nowhere. Rather than seeking acting roles, she tries on the hat of addict, at which she excels. Her life rapidly spirals out of control, and Smith suffers a psychotic breakdown that prompts a rescue mission by her mother and a return to Pennsylvania. Ultimately, Smith succeeds in staying clean and resumes life, complete with a triumphant return to New York City. A brutally honest memoir and testimonial to the courage of recovery; recommended for public libraries with holdings such as Go Ask Alice. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A young memoirist recounts her descent into and triumph over addiction. Smith arrived in New York City in 1997, fresh from high school in Danville, Pa. A natural on the stage, she came to the Big Apple to pursue her dreams of acting. But before she could be discovered, she discovered Ecstasy. The first pill she popped was a Mitsubishi, purchased from a dealer who looked like a J. Crew model and swallowed in the bathroom of McSwiggans Pub on Second Avenue. All of the sudden, the beer bottles glistened "like lights on a Christmas tree," Smith's skin turned to silk, and simply placing her palm on the top of the bar felt profound. She was hooked. Meanwhile, life in Manhattan rolled on. There were sublets to find, singing lessons to take, and kids to baby-sit. Smith fell head over heels for Mason, a Manhattanite home on winter break from a Vermont college. Then came the crash. She was plagued by panic attacks and nightmares about her father killing her family. Her period stopped; she occasionally flew into rages. Eventually, Smith got herself into rehab. She broke her addiction and quickly became an MTV-touted anti-drug spokeswoman. At the close here, she tells us that she's been clean for four years, and now gets "high on life." As that last cliche indicates, Smith's writing is uneven. Her descriptions of how good the highs feel are riveting. One wishes, however, that her editor had axed the poems. ("One pill has dissolved / Chills surge through my core / Before it wears off / I swallow one more.") And her rapturous prose about her love for Mason tends toward the sophomoric: "I knew he was my soul mate . . . .When I looked into his eyes, I felt like I had known him my whole life." Notrefined, wise or gritty enough to touch all readers, but likely to be a hit with teenagers and 20-somethings.
Keys to Parenting Your Anxious Child
Author: Katharina Manassis
How can parents recognize anxieties that affect their child's happiness and well being, and how can they help their child overcome them? An experienced child psychiatrist answers this important two-part question by describing various anxiety-caused behavior patterns and advising parents on ways to help their child within the context of both family and school environments. New in this edition are discussions of topics that include early adolescents coping with growth anxiety, mid-adolescents and peer pressure, and late adolescents facing social anxieties in an environment that also includes recreational drugs. She also discusses warning signs that indicate a need for professional counseling and tells parents how and where to find it. Titles in Barron's Parenting Keys series cover a wide range of childcare topics and are written by experts in pediatrics, child psychology, and related fields.
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