In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, (Paperback)

from elmegil

This is a hard book to read. Not in its prose or style, but in content. The first hundred pages are largely a recounting of partial case histories of the addicts that Dr. Mate works with. After that, it eases up a bit with discussion of the biochemistry of addiction. Being a hard book, I have not...

from larryerick

There is both good and bad to report about this book. First, the best of the good: I highly recommend this book along with Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow, to get a thorough reexamination of America's War on Drugs. If you're still believing Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign along with m...

from emccullough

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is the most comprehensive book I have ever read about addiction. It contains moving, sensitive profiles of addicted citizens of Vancouver, BC, a profound examination of the author's own addictive tendencies, and a science- and experience-based discussion of the appro...

from hredfern

Overall, I found this book insightful and thought-provoking. Mate profiles the human side of addiction and the toll it takes on all who struggle with it. I have often lamented society's casualties of the "war on drugs," locked up in prisons instead of getting the treatment that could help them. H...

from morningwalker

I thought reading this book would give me some new insight into one of society's major problems because many, if not all of us have lived with an addicted person, known an addicted person, or been addicted to something ourselves (even if we haven't been aware of it). Therefore, I selected it in t...