Bobby's book
By: Emily Davidson and Robert B. Powers ; photographs by Bruce Davidson
Contributors: Powers, Robert B.
Edition: Seven Stories Press 1st ed.
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 184
ISBN-13: 9781609804480
Subjects: Patients; Health; Recovering alcoholics; Recovering addicts; Biography; Substance abuse
Description: Through the words and reflections of the former drug addict and petty criminal, this book relates the long, agonizing journey from youthful urban violence and despair to the life of a committed and generous professional. Beginning in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood in the mid 1950s where alcohol abuse and poverty were rampant, Bobby Powers went from being an illiterate gang leader and notorious drug dealer to a destroyed individual who had lost everything, including family members, close friends, and himself, all presented in his own words and in grim detail in this book. At a critical turning point in his life, recognizing the threat of his behaviors to survival, he entered detox and embarked on the arduous path to recovery and self-understanding. This process involved not only acknowledging and coming to terms with the injuries he had inflicted on his children and others, but also asking for their forgiveness. Having achieved a new way of life as a responsible and caring adult, Bobby Powers is today, at 69, a nationally respected drug addiction counselor who has aided a wide spectrum of people, including former gang members. His story represents a brutal and inspiring lesson in human frailty, degradation, and transformation From publisher description.