A review by ninjakiwi12
The Urge: Our History of Addiction by Carl Erik Fisher
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Fun(ny) fact(s): I first learned about this book from the PBK's 2023 summer reading list of all places?
Favorite quote/image: "Addiction is profoundly ordinary: a way of being with the pleasures and pains of life, and just one manifestation of the central human task of working with suffering. If addiction is a part of humanity, then, it is not a problem to solve. We will not end addiction, but we must find ways of working with it: ways that are sometimes gentle, and sometimes vigorous, but never warlike, because it is futile to wage a war on our own nature." (pg. 300)
Honorable mention: "Science can be a powerful tool in social movements, and scientific stories about substances are easily twisted to fit the dominant prejudices of the time...the actual science didn't really matter; it was all retrofitted onto the existing story of possession. Science was just being used to bolster claims that seemed self-evident." (pg. 90-91)
Why: Interweaving his own personal story of addiction with a global history of addiction, Fisher brilliantly and compassionately tells a story of humanity's response to addiction, highlighting different frameworks for understanding addiction, policies, and treatments, challenging readers to question their own stereotypes of addicts and where those preconceived notions came from. As a psychiatrist himself, he offers critical insight into attempts to understand and treat addiction, but also as a recovering addict himself, he shows the human side of suffering, making this about people and not just statistics. This is book is not just about the addiction of a few, but a story about power of a few and the suffering of many, especially in communities of lower socioeconomic status and of color.
Favorite quote/image: "Addiction is profoundly ordinary: a way of being with the pleasures and pains of life, and just one manifestation of the central human task of working with suffering. If addiction is a part of humanity, then, it is not a problem to solve. We will not end addiction, but we must find ways of working with it: ways that are sometimes gentle, and sometimes vigorous, but never warlike, because it is futile to wage a war on our own nature." (pg. 300)
Honorable mention: "Science can be a powerful tool in social movements, and scientific stories about substances are easily twisted to fit the dominant prejudices of the time...the actual science didn't really matter; it was all retrofitted onto the existing story of possession. Science was just being used to bolster claims that seemed self-evident." (pg. 90-91)
Why: Interweaving his own personal story of addiction with a global history of addiction, Fisher brilliantly and compassionately tells a story of humanity's response to addiction, highlighting different frameworks for understanding addiction, policies, and treatments, challenging readers to question their own stereotypes of addicts and where those preconceived notions came from. As a psychiatrist himself, he offers critical insight into attempts to understand and treat addiction, but also as a recovering addict himself, he shows the human side of suffering, making this about people and not just statistics. This is book is not just about the addiction of a few, but a story about power of a few and the suffering of many, especially in communities of lower socioeconomic status and of color.