Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again

From Publishers Weekly Throughout Pinsky's time hosting MTV's popular Loveline show-in which he and cohost Adam Carolla (The Dr. Drew and Adam Book) frankly answered teen questions about sex and drugs-Pinsky also ran the drug addiction rehab clinic at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, Calif. In this engaging and well-written memoir, he incorporates a frank description of his work with the "manipulative, secretive, frightened, paranoid and unstable" patients at Las Encinas, a single-story bungalow on 30 acres once used as a Hollywood backdrop (this is where W.C. Fields died and Ozzy Osborne's son recently spent time). Pinsky plays down the Tinseltown connection, preferring to look at his entire range of patients, who represent "every possible facet of society, from the rich to the destitute to the socially prominent to the disconnected." What they share are the typical hot buttons of trauma-"pain, abuse, neglect, abandonment"-and the attempt to ease the pain through drug addiction. Pinsky provides a hard-nosed look at the realities of a detox clinic, from the patients' physical illness and flashbacks to doctors' letdown when a patient quits the program and returns to addiction. Pinsky freely admits that he doesn't know why some people "get it" and stay sober while others can't; at the same time, he openly discusses his own problems ("I turned to rescuing other people the same way my patients turn to drugs and alcohol").Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Dr. Drew Pinsky, famous as the compassionate and sensible advice doctor on the hugely popular radio show Loveline, shines here in his debut solo publishing effort. Pinsky's day job is not quite as glamorous as the Loveline gig: he tends to junkies, prescription drug addicts, and out-of-control alcoholics at a Southern California rehab clinic. Here he details, in an honest, intelligent, and touching way, the superhuman and often futile effort it takes to save these lost souls. Patients at the clinic include strung-out models and celebrities, messed-up Beverly Hills teens, as well as those from the other side of the tracks, all of whose cases encompass addictions to every known type of narcotic or alcohol. Pinsky doesn't spare the reader's feelings and details with a clinical eye the horror of these ravaged lives as well as their frightening process of physical withdrawal. The doctor also share his struggles with his own demons, including various emotional attachments to patients, his antipathy toward some, his compulsive need to save all of them, and the despair at the herculean tasks he sets himself to. He also marvels and finds comfort in the resiliency of the human spirit when even one patient finds the way to recovery. This excellent, highly topical, and well-written book is a must-have for public libraries. Kathleen Hughes Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved One of the most listened-to doctors in America, Dr. Drew Pinsky is a practicing physician who is board certified in internal and addiction medicine. He is the executive producer and host of the hit VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew , Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House , and Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew . On radio he is the host of the nationally syndicated program Love line. He is the author of Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again and When Painkillers Become Dangerous . Pinsky lives in Southern California with his wife, Susan, and their teenage triplets. Read more