Press Release -
Atlantic City, NJ/August, 2014 --- Jim Anders is pleased to
announce the publication of his first full-length book, All Drinking Aside
($18.95/Amazon.com, $8.95 Kindle). Denial, anger, fear, depression, self-pity,
doubt: a toxic cocktail of emotions inflamed by alcohol, narcotics and
prescription drugs. Where does one begin? Where will it all end?
In this 286-page,
90-piece orchestration of autobiographical flashbacks, the author describes his
descent into alcoholism while three fictional alter egos (unnoticed by him)
discuss his prospects for recovery. This intense, introspective and
illuminating fiction looks at alcoholism and addiction from the inside out and
back again. In three parts, the Destruction, the Deconstruction and the
Reconstruction, the alcoholic beast is revealed.
The vicious cycles of
alcoholic addiction: hospitals, detoxes, rehabs and relapse. Repeat, repeat,
repeat. A textbook case of chronic chemical dependency, All Drinking Aside will
provoke, deceive, disturb and annoy you while it entertains and informs. All
Drinking Aside is Everybody's
Autobiography if you're an alcoholic and Someone You Know if you are not.
Book Reviews
Source: Amazon
Review Date: November 5, 2013
As a Registered Nurse,
I have worked in the fields of psychiatry and addictions for 28 years. I am also
a grateful member of the recovering community. The author's portrayal of his
struggle to free himself from his obsession to repeatedly seek oblivion is
imaginative and certainly thought provoking. The question is always
"why". Why do some people have no control over their self destructive
drinking? Why do some people feel the need to continually anesthetize
themselves, long after the pleasure in the activity has dissipated? Why do some
people have to lose everything in order to merely contemplate change? The war
between Jim's three alter egos is a creative and captivating means of
expressing the ongoing internal conflict that must happen in order for that
contemplative process to proceed. All Drinking Aside is one man's
struggle to rejoin the living. If you do not suffer from any type of chemical
dependency, I'll just bet you are related to or friends with someone who is
trapped in this affliction. This book is a must read!
Source: Amazon
Reviewer: Eloise
Review Date: March 2, 2014
Written as an
autobiographical fiction, the author discusses his long struggle with alcohol
addiction, his gradual acknowledgment and understanding of the disease, and his
eventual journey into recovery. This book read for me as a meditation of sorts,
due, I think, to the various powerful and dynamic literary devices the author
uses. Interspersed within each section of the narrative (there are 90 sections)
are pithy metaphors, quotes and proverbs, bits of poetry, morning & evening
meditations, questions for the day, etc. These techniques are used to reflect
on the author's life events, his feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, his
relationships with others, how he finally comes to acknowledge his addiction,
and on the lessons and truths garnered from his life in recovery. The best of
these literary devices is, for me, the clever and brilliant inclusion of three
fictional alter egos who stand by listening to his story as it unfolds
(unbeknownst to him) and discuss with each other their opinions of him and
their differing views on how he is relating his story. This stepping back from
the narrative not only offers periodic distance from its intensity, but reveals
differing perspectives that lend insight into the various facets of addiction
and recovery as well as insight into the perspective others might take as they
look in on someone addicted to alcohol. This intelligently written book should
be of great interest to anyone at any stage of addiction--or simply, to anyone,
since it brings forth useful insights and truths necessary to living a healthy
life. And so, I do highly recommend this book to anyone!
Author Bio
Jim Anders is a former advertising copywriter and graduate of Moravian
College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This is Jim’s first full-length published
work. His drinking career ended nearly a decade before this autobiographical
fiction. He currently resides in Atlantic City, New Jersey and is diligently at
work on his second book.
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