from the back: At the age of 23, James Frey woke up on a plane to find his four front teeth knocked out, his nose broken, and a hole through his cheek.

This is an intense and disturbing description of James Frey's own recovery from his addictions. It is violent, raw and sickening at times. This book would be way to disturbing for many people but is written in a realistic way. James recovered in his own way since he did not personally believe in god and for that reason he did not feel comfortable with the principles of Alcoholics and Narcotics anonymous. His feeling was that when people adopt those programs they are just substituting one addiction (religion) for the other (drugs and alcohol). He did not want to do that. His success is on his own terms.