Check out my review at:
http://www.shannonsbookbag.blogspot.com/2012/07/ninety-days-clegg.html ( )

Talk about a time when I did NOT need a good cry, but finished this book and had one anyway. Bill Clegg is so talented. ( )

Description:

Ninety Days is the true story of Bill Clegg's recovery - crack addicted to clean and sober. This memoir is the follow-up to his first book , Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, and begins where it left off - after seventy-three days of rehab.

Review:

A raw and highly emotional look into the life of a once prominent businessman and his strenuous journey to sobriety, Ninety days is an intense, yet simply-written, look into recovery from addiction. It feels like I am reading Clegg's journal, and the entries have a lot of impact. His writing style is honest and full of poignant prose, his ordeal a glimpse into a torment of the human condition. The interactions and dialogue are well-written, but the sections about his relapse(s) are some of the most engrossing. I am very moved by his story, however, I feel like Ninety Days should be read after Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, because it feels sort of incomplete alone. Recommended for those who have struggled with their own addictive behaviors and/or readers interested in the drug rehabilitation process; also appropriate for older teens.

Rating: Bounty's Out (3/5)

*** I received this book from the author (Little, Brown and Company) in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. ( )

A one day read.
Tells the heartbreaking story of Bill's attempt to get sober (booze and crack addict) and then relapse and then again, and again and again until he is drug and alcohol free for 90 days (although the relapses may takes days, months or even years to happen. ( )

Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery by Bill Clegg
Published by Little Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
Publishing Date: April 10, 2012
ISBN-10: 0316122521
ISBN-13: 978-0316122528
At the request of The Hachette Book Group, an ARC TPB was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

Synopsis (from publisher): The goal is ninety. Just ninety clean and sober days to loosen the hold of the addiction that caused Bill Clegg to lose everything. With seventy-three days in rehab behind him he returns to New York and attends two or three meetings each day. It is in these refuges that he befriends essential allies including the seemingly unshakably sober Asa and Polly, who struggles daily with her own cycle of recovery and relapse.

At first, the support is not enough: Clegg relapses for the first time with only three days left. Written with uncompromised immediacy, NINETY DAYS begins where PORTRAIT OF AN ADDICT AS A YOUNG MAN ends—and tells the wrenching story Clegg's battle to reclaim his life. As any recovering addict knows, hitting rock bottom is just the beginning

My Thoughts and Opinion: A raw and emotional look into the life of one man's journey and battle for sobriety. This book was read in one sitting as I learned how a white collared businessman lost everything to come back from rehab with nothing. He fought to stay clean for 90 days but the drugs had a stronger grasp, that he kept relapsing within the goal of ninety days to stay clean and sober. The guilt and embarrassment he felt when he did relapse and once again try to reach the goal was palpable. He introduces those in his life who befriend and support him but the need for the drug is too powerful. We read and hear of this every day and the disease does not discriminate.
I had mixed feelings on this book. It was a simple read yet poignant. This was the sequel to his first book, Portrait Of An Addict As A Young Man, which I did not read but did read the rave reviews for it. Because of that I had high expectations that there would be more from this book than a very simplistic digest of him trying to win the war of drugs and alcohol. He makes reference to another book that was an Oprah" book, which I did read. And even though it turned out that that story was embellished, it was a more detailed look into the life of an addict.
This is my opinion, and only my opinion, but I expected more from this book, both in substance and writing style. It may be due to the fact that I did not read the previous book and/or my expectations that the composition would be more complex than what I came away with, which was I thought, just a short story.

My Rating: 2

(2012 Challenges: Off The Shelf, FreeReads, Where Are You, A-Z, 52 in 52, Outdo Yourself, 100+) ( )