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A journey into and out of darkness with an oral storyteller’s stellar delivery

Revisado: 12-14-24

Coming from a family touched by alcoholism, and a recovering addict (food & eating disorders), this story stood out to me as one that could be both triggering and liberating. It delivered. Mike’s retelling of a slow spiral — easily rationalized and explained away until it wasn’t — followed by the scraped-knuckles, relentless crawl back up was an artistic rendering of a story way too commonly seen and ignored.

With a delivery reminiscent of broadcast great Jean Shepherd (but still all his own), Mike shared universal truths to addiction that left me feeling seen and understood, while still being approachable and understandable to those who haven’t been in these trenches. He addresses the building blocks of a self-destructive fortress, and weaves a story of the slow build and — at times, ineffectual — demolition of it. At times, I felt like I was in on an inside joke, because he so perfectly captured some of the universal truths of addiction, addictive tendencies, and the personalities that more easily manifest addiction.

In all of this, there’s a subtle humor and deep sense of nostalgia. You can smell leather and denim, you can feel the vibration of dance floors and the barely-there hum of electric equipment. I was born in 1990, but the progression from the 70’s through to the 90’s felt very real to me.

This creative memoir feels like a love letter to self-reflection and recovery, but it’s a narrative that even those not touched by addiction can fall into. Everyone loves a redemption story, and this one is a real life fairy tale where the dragon slayed is within one’s own self.

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