Lies and Broken Promises - A Tale of Alcoholism


Book Description

Alan's true story picks up after his parole from Trenton State Prison where he served 27 months of a 3 to 5 year sentence for possession and sale of drugs. He thought he had his drug addiction problems beaten. He felt that alcohol without drugs would provide him the relief that he needed from his anxiety and depression. He started becoming more and more reliant on alcohol as the days passed. His social anxiety was so great that he could not participate in conversations in a group context. His alcoholic life was a whirlwind of brief sexual encounters and drinking at bars in Greenwich Village. His sexual identity was non-existent. He had no sexual preference of a female over a male or vice-versa. Alan was just getting started on his academic career as a free man. He had taken his first 4 college courses in prison and was determined to earn at least a bachelor's degree. In no time at all he was consuming alcohol before every social gathering whether it was at home, at work or on the university campus. Alan appeared aloof to many acquaintances, but his quiet nature was due to his intense anxiety levels and sporadic depression. The years advance and Alan chronicles the huge impact alcoholism has on his life and his urgent attempts to work towards solutions to his inner turmoil. As his alcoholism progresses, he gets closer and closer to losing everything he's worked and strived for. His personal relationships are falling apart. His work on the job is suffering and his relationships with co-workers are becoming stressed. He needs a solution and he needs it now.




Alcoholics Anonymous


Book Description

A 75th anniversary e-book version of the most important and practical self-help book ever written, Alcoholics Anonymous. Here is a special deluxe edition of a book that has changed millions of lives and launched the modern recovery movement: Alcoholics Anonymous. This edition not only reproduces the original 1939 text of Alcoholics Anonymous, but as a special bonus features the complete 1941 Saturday Evening Post article “Alcoholics Anonymous” by journalist Jack Alexander, which, at the time, did as much as the book itself to introduce millions of seekers to AA’s program. Alcoholics Anonymous has touched and transformed myriad lives, and finally appears in a volume that honors its posterity and impact.




You Can Trust God to Write Your Story


Book Description

WHAT’S GOD DOING IN YOUR STORY? Our kids beg us for stories at bedtime or while we drive; we gather around firepits and dinner tables to tell and retell our favorite tales—the more dramatic the better. But when it comes to our actual lives, we prefer something less sensational, even boring—sunny skies and smooth sailing, please and thank you. We want our own stories to be predictable, safe, controllable, and catastrophe-free. When plans fall apart, jobs are lost, kids wander off, doctors give bad reports, we often wonder, "What are you doing, God? Are you sure you have this under control? It doesn’t really seem like it right now." God is the master Storyteller. He’s writing your story and it’s a part of His bigger, grander, eternal Story. But we’re still in the middle. We haven’t gotten to the happy ending yet, and it can be hard to trust Him in the thick of our struggles. That’s why Robert and Nancy share their own story, friends’ stories, and the stories of people in the Bible who have faced life-altering challenges, but, in the end, have found God to be faithful. Learn why you really can trust God to write your story—no matter what plot twists you may encounter along the way. "This is a unique and charming book, integrating stories of God’s providence from His people and His Word. Nancy and Robert write personally and beautifully, infusing readers with a Christ-centered vision, hope, and trust for the future." -Randy Alcorn, author of Heaven, Giving is the Good Life, and Deception "You Can Trust God to Write Your Story is an amazing book whose title says it all. For if you are a follower of Jesus, every day of your life—whether you feel like it or not—is weighted with kingdom purpose, eternal significance, and a royal destiny filled with joy and contentment. Let my dear friends, Robert and Nancy, help you embrace the mysteries of the Lord’s Providence. For when it comes to happy endings, you can’t find a better Author than the God of the Bible. Happy endings are His forte—turn the page, trust Him, and discover it for yourself." -Joni Eareckson Tada, Joni and Friends International Disability Center




The Triumph of Broken Promises


Book Description

Communist and capitalist states alike were scarred by the economic shocks of the 1970s. Why did only communist governments fall in their wake? Fritz Bartel argues that Western democracies were insulated by neoliberalism. While austerity was fatal to the legitimacy of communism, democratic politicians could win votes by pushing market discipline.




The Mystic Christ


Book Description

"The Mystic Christ is an ancient tale of mystic union, salvation, and enlightenment. It is the careful uncovering of a lost treasure of immeasurable value, long buried in the suffocating darkness of conventional orthodoxy on one side, and blind fundamentalist extremism on the other. From the viewpoint of the world's mystical religious traditions, the brilliant light of the Master's way is revealed as a penetrating radical non-duality unifying all people and all of life. His path to this all-embracing unity is the spiritual practice of pure selfless love. Love God intensely, love our neighbor as our own Self, bless those that curse us, and pray for those that mistreat us. Love has been lost, becoming nothing more than a word in the dictionary and, yet, it remains the foundation of Jesus' message."




Sometimes I Lie


Book Description

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 1. I’m in a coma. 2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I lie. Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?




Goodbye, Mr. Wonderful


Book Description

Goodbye, Mr. Wonderful gives a detailed account of the early stages of recovery from alcoholism. From his admittance into hospital to his life as a writer in the Netherlands, McCully offers a detailed and often analytical reflection on what it feels like to be a recovering alcoholic.




Hollywood Shot by Shot


Book Description

To what extent have Hollywood feature films shaped the meanings that Americans attach to alcoholics, their families, and the alcoholic condition? To what extent has the mass culture of the movie industry itself been conceptually shaped by a broad, external societal discourse? Norman Denzin brings to his life-long study of alcoholism a searching interest in how cultural texts signify and lend themselves to interpretation within a social nexus. Both historical and diachronic in his approach, Denzin identifies five periods in the alcoholism films made between 1932 and the end of the 1980s, and offers a detailed critical reading of thirty-seven films produced during these six decades.




Broken Promises


Book Description

As the costs of medical care have skyrocketed, so has the amount of money lost to fraudulent health insurance providers. These bogus operations typically victimize individuals on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale who then face staggering medical bills without coverage. Robert Tillman shows how market conditions and weak regulatory structures have allowed these crimes to occur, and cites recent institutional and legal changes that have created both new demands for insurance and greater opportunities for fraud. He also analyzes the political and economic climate that enables these criminal practices to flourish. Drawing on court documents, congressional hearings, and actual cases, Tillman provides numerous examples of the three most prevalent forms of fraud: scams involving multiple employer welfare arrangements, employee leasing schemes, and fictitious labor unions. He also examines recent innovations in insurance fraud such as "24-hour plans" and coverage offered by dubious religious organizations. With the regulation of health insurance currently in chaos, Broken Promises offers a critical examination of this insidious form of white-collar crime. It is a timely book that raises important questions about the definition of insurance and consumer protection.




Mom, everyone else does!


Book Description

Help Your Daughter Resist Peer Pressure– Even When You’re Not Around. A national survey in 2001 indicated that in the U.S. one-fourth of the high school seniors have problems with drugs and alcohol, nearly two-thirds of teenagers experiment with drugs before finishing high school, and fifty-six percent of seventeen-year-olds know at least one drug dealer at school. Studies also indicate that when a girl chooses to use substances, peer pressure is the biggest reason why. Many parents believe the best they can do is to teach their daughters right from wrong and hope for the best. But there is more that you can do. Because while peer pressure may be the biggest influence for girls who choose to use substances, parental involvement is the single most important factor for those who decide not to. The dangers of substance abuse can actually bring you and your daughter closer. Whether you want to help your daughter resist the overwhelming pressures to drink, smoke, and use drugs; have discovered or suspect that your daughter may be using substances; or want to help her develop a strong and positive identity in response to negative peer pressure, this book shows how the lure of today’s teen “party” culture puts you in your most powerful position ever to connect with and influence your daughter.