Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict

by Joshua Lyon

Book Overview

This compelling, honest book investigates the growing epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse among today's Generation Rx. Through gripping profiles and heartbreaking confessions, this memoir dares to uncover the reality -- the addiction, the withdrawal, and the recovery -- of this newest generation of pill poppers. Joshua Lyon was no stranger to substance abuse. By the time he was seventeen, he had already found sanctuary in pot,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401322980
• ISBN13: 9781401322984
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Informative, not thrilling

I was hoping for more of a story and less research/stats, etc. I like when these stories get into the dirty details, and I think that's more effective to get the point across, but this didn't wow me. I found myself skimming ahead through the boring parts. The author tells about some of his experiences but I think it was missing the shock value.

Good Book

Good biography of someone addicted to Oxy and coke. Takes you thru the disease. The writer is very good.

"On Vicodin" Joshua says, "I felt fantastic."

Joshua Lyon fell in love with the euphoria produced by narcotics...but this book is much more... Like me, Joshua was no stranger to experimenting with various drugs in his younger years. He drank and tried just about anything thrown his way. Also like me, the narcotics seemed to be just the right fit. They're safe right? Doctors prescribe them so the must be. It's a false assumption made by many abusers. He discusses how prescription drugs offer this false sense of security and safety and he even presents a very nice explanation of the pharmacology of these drugs that impressed even this pharmacist- obviously he'd done his homework. Also he demonstrates how easy these drugs are to obtain. Joshua takes us on his own journey through experimentation, addiction, and withdrawl- and visits the lives of some of some other folks at various stages of their use and abuse. Amazing how many times I found myself nodding my head, relating to the things he was saying and feeling. The book kept my attention, entertained and educated me. After reading, I felt like I knew him personally- a true sign of a good memoir.

Not a lecture, thank goodness.

What makes Pill Head engaging and successful is the fact that it doesn't cling to the somewhat cult-like culture of twelve step recovery to give it a narrative. If you're not an addict - or you're not an addict of anything that makes it feel like your bones are being scraped with razor blades when you come off whatever it is you use as a crutch, then Pill Head explains the experience of addiction in a way that doesn't alienate you. Twelve step recovery can be a great thing but advocates of it often come across as self righteous and "evolved" and the tone that goes with that becomes rapidly tiresome. Pill Head is anything but tiresome.

Metro

Descriptions of a Vicodin high as inducing "zero social anxiety" and making it easy to "slip into conversation with attractive strangers" in Joshua Lyon's new, raw memoir "Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict" (Hyperion, $25) help us understand why 7 million Americans are currently abusing prescription painkillers. "Here's the thing -- drugs feel good and that's why people take them. To say anything otherwise is a total lie, and I wanted to write an incredibly honest book about the experience," says Lyon. His real, brave and relatable debut follows the author from his first time buying Vicodin -- in 2003 as research for a Jane magazine article (where he and I worked together) -- to lunging into a hazy, destructive bubble in the backdrop of Manhattan's downtown scene, and finally entering rehab. (Stories from other "Generation Rx abusers" and facts on the pill-popping phenomenon are also weaved throughout the narrative.) "It's really important to show the good and then the bad because anybody could hear these pills feel great, but what they don't hear is what they do at the end. I'm hoping that's what this book will show. Keep doing it, and here's what's going to happen," says the 35-year-old. Including a chapter on his stint in rehab at the end was imperative to Lyon, who relapsed after handing in the first draft of his book. "Any kind of addiction is an ongoing process -- it's not like everything gets wrapped up nicely in a bow. It's something you will be dealing with for the rest of your life, and I wanted the ending of the book to reflect that." - TINA CHADHA

Long Overdue

Pill Head: The Secret Life of a Painkiller Addict I am an avid reader of "addiction memoirs" and I have been searching for something like Joshua Lyon's "PILL HEAD" for years. Trust me, there is simply nothing like it out there. Joshua takes us not only through his own experiences, but through those of several other painkiller users--addicts and recreational users alike. The combination of which provides unmatched insight into the phenomenon of painkiller addiction. Brutally honest, "PILL HEAD" will no doubt open a lot of eyes. Whether you have been addicted yourself, love someone who has, or simply wish to learn more on the subject, you can't go wrong with "PILL HEAD".