Ninety Days - Hardcover

Bill Clegg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0224094246 ISBN 13: 9780224094245

Publisher: Jonathan Cape, 2012

Synopsis

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 and no intention of succumbing again, Clegg returns to New York to begin rebuilding his life.

As Clegg wanders familiar streets, he confronts memories of his two-month binge and struggles against the powerful cravings for crack that still threaten to overcome him. To combat the almost unstoppable urge to backslide, Clegg attends two or three meetings each day. It is in these refuges that he befriends his closest allies: the seemingly unshakably sober Asa, and Polly, who struggles daily with her own cycle of recovery and relapse.

Despite the precautions he takes and the supportive friends surrounding him, Clegg relapses for the first time with only three days left, turning his calendar back to day one. Written with uncompromised immediacy, NINETY DAYS begins where Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man ends--with the remarkable story of Bill Clegg's escape from the pull of an addiction that left him broken, and his search for the strength to reclaim his life.

About this title

About the Author

Bill Clegg is a literary agent in New York. He is also the author of Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man. He lives in New York.

Review

"Clegg follows his gut-wrenching Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man with an equally stark tale of the hard and ongoing work of recovering from addiction."―Vanessa Bush, Booklist

"Clegg's spare, nearly minimalist style complements the drama inherent in his material: it's addition through subtraction. . . .With understated craft, Clegg has written a harrowing story."―Publishers Weekly

"Standing out among the many similar works on addiction and recovery, Clegg's intellectual story of his never-ending struggle for sobriety and his heartfelt, passionate revelations will directly touch the hearts of readers. His personal perspective also nicely supplements the many helpful guides to addiction recovery from professional therapists that target the friends and family members of addicts."―Library Journal

"This sequel is about [Clegg's] recovery - the circular pattern of stupefyingly tedious rehab and harrowing relapse. And yet it's suspenseful: We come to care about Clegg, whose voice is engaging and who never gets mired in self-pity."―National Post

"[Clegg] tells the story in plain, innocence-drenched sentences that bring to mind the wonderful Edmund White, as if to adorn the events would be dishonest. It is a bedtime story for adults, filled with first names only-Jack and Polly, Jane and Jean, Asa and Madge, Luke and Annie. A soothing and intimate book, and we hope Clegg has found peace at last."―The Daily Beast

Edition details

• Publisher: Jonathan Cape
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0224094246
• ISBN 13: 9780224094245
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 193