Description
Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker and The Boston Globe
An authoritative illuminating and deeply humane history of addictiona phenomenon that remains baffling and deeply misunderstood despite having touched countless livesby an addiction psychiatrist striving to understand his own family and himself
Carl Erik Fishers The Urge is the bestwritten and most incisive book Ive read on the history of addiction In the midst of an overdose crisis that grows worse by the hour and has vexed America for centuries Fisher has given us the best prescription of all understanding He seamlessly blends a gripping historical narrative with memoir that doesnt selfaggrandize the result is a fullthroated argument against blaming people with substance use disorder The Urge is a propulsive tour de force that is as healing as it is enjoyable to read Beth Macy author of Dopesick
As a psychiatrist in training fresh from medical school Carl Erik Fisher found himself facetoface with an addiction crisis that nearly cost him everything Desperate to make sense of his condition he turned to the history of addiction learning that our societys current quagmire is only part of a centuriesold struggle to treat addictive behavior
A rich sweeping account that probes not only medicine and science but also literature religion philosophy and public policyThe Urgeintroduces us to those who have endeavored to address addiction through the ages and examines the treatments that have produced relief for many people the author included Only by reckoning with our history of addiction Fisher argues can we light the way forward for those whose lives remain threatened by its hold
The Urgeis at once an eyeopening history of ideas a riveting personal story of addiction and recovery and a clinicians urgent call for a more nuanced and compassionate view of one of societys most intractable challenges
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