Review by Herbstlicht -- Ripcord Recovery by T.T. Sawyer

[Herbstlicht]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Ripcord Recovery" by T.T. Sawyer.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Ripcord Recovery by T.T. Sawyer is not a book one would pick up for lighthearted entertainment. It's a memoir on battling the demons of addiction and the search for a formula for salvation. It is a true story and one that gives hope, too.

The author that goes by the pseudonym of T.T. Sawyer has a long history of abusing opiates and alcohol, whilst still managing to keep his addictions secret. He suggests he runs a successful career in the corporate world and at one instance describes himself as a mathematician. Not many personal details are revealed about his life circumstances in this book, as he seems eager to share his own success formula for achieving and sustaining sobriety. In the process, he elaborates on the different stages of devastation his addictions led him to, taking into account not only the psychological but also the physiological aspects of it, e.g. in what way opiates affect the nerve endings. Then, he tells us about a sudden relapse after decades of sobriety that makes him question the usual therapy recommended for former addicts. Around that time, he experiments with finding his way out of the death spiral and discovers a way that works for him, a self-built path, that makes him redefine the term sobriety and live a happy and fulfilled life.

I haven't read many books on addiction, so I didn't know what to expect of this one. To me, it was surprising that the author put quite a big emphasis on healing and nurturing the spiritual needs of the addicted person. I liked one sentence in particular: "I finally understand that asking why God does or doesn't do anything is the wrong question. The only question I have any chance of answering is, "where can I find Him?" (Location 432 in the e-book).

This book strikes me as a study of sorts, so I expected to stumble upon some references, too. As the tone of the book is very professional, the author makes his findings sound like facts, even the spiritual ones. That being said, some of the author's writing sounds pretty wordy. I discovered a few instances of a heavily loaded train of thought I found hard to follow. I also spotted a few errors, typos and sentences that could benefit from proofreading.

I quite liked this book and I think the author perfectly sums up the sobriety concept he introduces in the following sentence: "It's not about how long anyone's sober, it's about being happily sober today." I rate this book with 3 out of 4 stars. It will certainly appeal to readers interested in the dynamics of addiction and looking into both creative and conventional ways to fight addiction. The main reasons for not giving it a perfect score is the heavy wording that makes the book somewhat hard to read, and the missing references for fact-checking. In my opinion, the latter should be a part of every non-fiction book that deals with such a sensitive subject as this one, which may give hope and affect the lives of many people.

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Ripcord Recovery
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