Raised by Wolves, Possibly Monsters: From Mobster to Reiki Master

Raw, compassionate, and perceptive, Michael Swerdloff’s memoir RAISED BY WOLVES, POSSIBLY MONSTERS is a vital excavation of toxic masculinity’s rot—and an urgent call for individual and cultural transformation. ~Edward Sung for IndieReader

He learned early that power meant violence.

That love could not be trusted.

And that vulnerability was weakness.

So Michael Swerdloff became exactly what the world around him trained him to be: dangerous, dishonest, emotionally disconnected, and spiraling toward self-destruction.

But RAISED BY WOLVES, POSSIBLY MONSTERS is not just a memoir about surviving abuse, addiction, and toxic masculinity—it’s about what happens when a man decides to stop running from himself.

In a story that moves from criminal underworlds to spiritual awakening, from chaos to compassion, Swerdloff takes readers through an astonishing transformation that includes recovery, deep inner work, meditation retreats, healing practices, and encounters that would change his life forever.

Brutally honest and deeply moving, this memoir offers something rare: a portrait of male accountability without excuses—and proof that even the most damaged people are capable of change.

This is not a story about perfection.

It’s a story about choosing humanity, one painful step at a time.

An extraordinary journey that includes 10 days with the Dalai Lama, a four-month silent retreat, and a solo backpacking expedition in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.

If you are ready for a raw and impactful memoir with redemption and transformation through personal and spiritual healing, Raised by Wolves, Possibly Monsters is the memoir for you!

Michael Swerdloff has been a Counselor, Coach, Social Worker, Community Organizer, Educator, Writer, DJ, and Reiki Master for over twenty-five years. He laughs often, hugs deeply, and practices meditation, Reiki, yoga, and dance daily. Michael facilitates retreats in New England and globally. He lives by the water in Rhode Island, which is not an island.

Jane Gerhard has a PhD in American Studies from Brown University. She is the author of Desiring Revolution: Second Wave Feminism and the Rewriting of American Sexual Thought, 1920-1982 (2001) and The Dinner Party: Judy Chicago and the Power of Popular Feminism, 1970-2007 (2013). She is a co-author of Women and the Making of America with Mari Jo Buhle and Teresa Murphy (2008) and Citizen Woman with Dan Tucker (2020). She is currently a full- time writer living in Providence, RI.