Surviving Jersey: Danger & Insanity in The Garden State

This is a terrific collection of personal essays that have the most important ingredients for work of this kind: honesty and self-awareness. At times shocking, the stories the author tells about growing up, about his wilder days as a drinker before he made the decision to take control of his life, are powerful. And yet while he never adopts a preaching tone–it seems clear that he is NOT writing these pieces to proselytize for sobriety–there is still a lesson here. He's talking about survival techniques that worked for him, and it makes for an exciting, and sometimes moving, read.