Both Martyr! And Wandering Stars feature characters plagued by addiction. What differences did you find between these addiction stories? How were they similar? There’s still a lot of stigma around addiction and in many cases it’s seen as a personal failing. What circumstances beyond their control brought these characters to substance abuse? In what ways do racism, depression, fatigue, and generational trauma factor in? What gives you hope for these characters to break the cycle?
I can’t wait to read both books! This is why my column at The Rumpus “Voices On Addiction” exists - a space for stories from across the spectrum of addiction’s impact on us all. Breaking the stigma from one small corner of our world.
A lot of great questions! I felt the most hope for Cyrus--I interpreted his journey as helping him uncover a profound will to live. The awe and wonder he observes (mindfulness?) shows the exact opposite of what the numbness of addiction imposes. In the final chapters of Wandering Stars we learn of overdose, treatment center, recovery. The character finds running as a tool to maintain sobriety and explains it in a way that shows hope in the repetition of left foot, right foot; rinse and repeat. A way to control the uncontrollable, uncertainty of life.
I am going through my own recovery of food and work addiction and these books really opened my eyes to my troubles. In ways nonfiction have never been able to do, they helped me discover my own behaviors, my own mindlessness. I have hope because of these books that I can "do things differently today."
I can’t wait to read both books! This is why my column at The Rumpus “Voices On Addiction” exists - a space for stories from across the spectrum of addiction’s impact on us all. Breaking the stigma from one small corner of our world.
A lot of great questions! I felt the most hope for Cyrus--I interpreted his journey as helping him uncover a profound will to live. The awe and wonder he observes (mindfulness?) shows the exact opposite of what the numbness of addiction imposes. In the final chapters of Wandering Stars we learn of overdose, treatment center, recovery. The character finds running as a tool to maintain sobriety and explains it in a way that shows hope in the repetition of left foot, right foot; rinse and repeat. A way to control the uncontrollable, uncertainty of life.
I am going through my own recovery of food and work addiction and these books really opened my eyes to my troubles. In ways nonfiction have never been able to do, they helped me discover my own behaviors, my own mindlessness. I have hope because of these books that I can "do things differently today."
I will read this book.
Stay in touch.
Eric S.
Yes, in programs and therapy-Learned it’s a family disease.
Complete and absolute honesty