GUTS

I don’t normally write book reviews.
1. I stink at them unlike Tammie who is really very good at them.
2. well, see number one, I stink at them.

I read this book in one day.
I couldn’t put it down no matter how many times Rick or the dog insisted on bothering me, interrupting me or asked me to stop reading.
I put it down but would pick it back up again instantly.

The book I just read is GUTS by Kristen Johnston.
(the endless follies and tiny triumphs of a giant disaster)


You may know her as the gorgeous woman from 3rd Rock from the Sun.
This book was fearless, honest, gut wrenching and funny as hell.

She gives you some great back story about her childhood.
At one point she told a story about the pretty mean girl in school who tortured her for years and made her life a living hell. I thank my lucky stars ever time I hear these stories that I never had this happen to me.

She ran into this "mean girl" after she became famous while at home for holidays visiting her family. Her sister and she were at the local mall and this fat overly made up horror show was screaming at her. She just thought, "oh it must be a fan on 3rd Rock"
So she did what most gracious famous people will do and put a smile on her face even though she didn't want to.
Her sister whispered to her who it was and Kristen's jaw dropped.
What she writes after this is simply hysterical and every persons dream when meeting your tormentor years later. I won't spoil it here. But this made me like this broad even more.

Kristen had severe issues with alcohol and opiates.
She liked to call herself a functioning addict.
But she was seriously slowly killing herself.
From all the abuse she gave her body she actually ripped her intestine open.
While on the toilet no less – as she calls it an Elvis moment.
She passed out and the rest of this story is unbelievable.

The ripping of her intestines lead to her intestinal contents spilling into her abdominal cavity.
As the doctor was telling her this he ended with, “you could die at any moment.”
She was in enormous pain but still just thought if she could score some viocodin or better she’d be fine.

She obviously survived the surgery and the serious infection that followed.
All too close for comfort.
It made her face her demons and it was pure hell.
But she tells this with such honestly and humor.
None of it is pretty that is for sure. 
But it will make you think and laugh and be thankful you don’t have a serious addiction that can kill you. 

She said something in the book that I read aloud to Rick.
Then the next day we talked about it again.
It really made me “see” the addicts perspective.
She put me there and I understood it in a way in which I have never understood addiction before.

I really enjoyed her book.
Scary shit but I have learned even to someone in the middle of all that awful addiction reading this  book won’t save them, make them stop or come “to their senses”

It all  just made me thankful that while I can tend to have an addictive personality the other part of my stubborn strong nature hasn’t allowed me to go there.
Whew.