PDF Guts The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster Kristen Johnston 9781451635065 Books
Download As PDF : Guts The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster Kristen Johnston 9781451635065 Books
The New York Times bestseller—a harrowing and hysterical memoir by the two-time Emmy Award-winning actress from the hit television show 3rd Rock from the Sun.
“It felt like I was speeding on the Autobahn toward hell, trapped inside a DeLorean with no brakes. And even if I could somehow stop, I’d still be screwed, because there’s no way I’d ever be able to figure out how to open those insane, cocaine-designed doors.”
Actress Kristen Johnston has written her first book, a surprisingly raw and triumphant memoir that is outrageous, moving, sweet, tragic, and heartbreakingly honest. Guts is a true achievement—a memoir that manages to be as frank and revealing as Augusten Burroughs, yet as hilarious and witty as David Sedaris. Johnston takes us on a journey so truthful and relatable, so remarkably fresh, it promises to stay with you for a long, long time.
PDF Guts The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster Kristen Johnston 9781451635065 Books
"I am not much of a Hollywood Bio reader. I read this book because Ms. Johnston, has Lupus. I have Lupus, and run an online support community for people with this disease.
That said, this book is a must read. Full of grit, raw emotion, brutal self-deprecating honesty, and so much more. I was enthralled with the book from the beginning, and it just got better the more I read.
I have never read a book where the medical community was described with such succinct brilliance. I have never been to England, but do have doctors that call England home, and the descriptions are all spot on. Thank you Kristen for putting it out there like you did.
Brutal honesty.
And seriously? the title is perfect for this book. Now to read it again so I can pick up all of the nuances that I missed the first time."
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Tags : Guts The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster [Kristen Johnston] on . The New York Times</i> bestseller—a harrowing and hysterical memoir by the two-time Emmy Award-winning actress from the hit television show 3rd Rock from the Sun.</i><BR><BR> “It felt like I was speeding on the Autobahn toward hell,Kristen Johnston,Guts The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster,Gallery Books,1451635060,Actors - United States,Actors;United States;Biography.,Drug addicts - United States,Drug addicts;United States;Biography.,Johnston, Kristen,Actors,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Entertainment Performing Arts,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Rich Famous,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women,BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY,Biography,Biography Autobiography,Biography Autobiography/Entertainment Performing Arts,Biography / Autobiography,Biography/Autobiography,Drug addicts,Entertainment Performing Arts - General,GENERAL,General Adult,INDIVIDUAL ACTORS AND ACTRESSES,Non-Fiction,Personal Memoirs,SELF-HELP / Substance Abuse Addictions / Alcohol,United States,SLAM; Two-time Emmy Winner; Hollywood actress in rehab; Third Rock from the Sun actress; books about alcohol abuse; alcohol abuse; alcohol abuse and dependence; alcohol abuse and depression; best book on drug addiction; books on drug addiction; alcohol abuse and liver damage; alcohol abuse and xanax; alcohol abuse bloated stomach; alcohol abuse books; alcohol abuse consequences; alcohol abuse drug; addicted to painkillers; alcohol abuse gastric bypass; alcohol abuse gastritis; alcohol abuse health effects; alcohol abuse kills; recovery; books about recovery; celebrity tell-all; heart-wrenching,Two-time Emmy Winner; Hollywood actress in rehab; Third Rock from the Sun actress; books about alcohol abuse; alcohol abuse; SLAM; alcohol abuse and dependence; alcohol abuse and depression; best book on drug addiction; books on drug addiction; alcohol abuse and liver damage; alcohol abuse and xanax; alcohol abuse bloated stomach; alcohol abuse books; alcohol abuse consequences; alcohol abuse drug; addicted to painkillers; alcohol abuse gastric bypass; alcohol abuse gastritis; alcohol abuse health effects; alcohol abuse kills; recovery; books about recovery; celebrity tell-all; heart-wrenching;
Guts The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster Kristen Johnston 9781451635065 Books Reviews :
Guts The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster Kristen Johnston 9781451635065 Books Reviews
- There were two parts of the book in particular that made me shudder with recognition.
The first is where she describes witnessing her brothers bullying.
With no means of voicing her feelings, she violently lashes out at one of his tormentors.
Describing this as one of her many `ill advised decisions.' I felt it was actually a truthful reaction to extraordinary pain. She had no other way to express how she felt but violence.
Her feelings were demanding a release.
This type of irrational, compulsive behavior is `normal' in someone who has learnt to protect their inner world, by building a wall around themselves.
It should therefor come as no surprise that this little girl grew up to become addicted to `pain pills' as an adult. It was inevitable that she was going to find a way to numb the pain of feelings, she could never dare express.
The second incident that touched me, is when the first crack in her wall begins to show. Johnston has been admitted to a hospital in England for life saving surgery, when her intestines literally burst from all the drugs she had been taking. Because she is in so much pain and can barely move, she has to ask a nurse to help her wash her hair.
As an adult, she realizes this is the first time she has ever asked anyone for help.
Ever.
By this point in the book, her loneliness and isolation are palpable, and the simple act, of another human being tenderly washing her, is almost heart breaking.
It's clear that Johnston has never let anyone in and the sheer thought of it terrifies her.
The reason this book should be compelling reading for any addict or alcoholic, is just how much Johnston reveals of the inner life of an addict.
She rightfully claims to being completely unoriginal in her feelings and behavior, her experience of addiction is just like anyone else's.
Addicts will do anything to prevent anyone seeing who they really are, they will fight tooth and nail to defend the wall they have built around themselves. Johnston is certainly no different.
Like many addicts Johnston paints a picture of determined self-reliance. Believing she can just power through anything with her grit and determination. Unwilling and unable to face up to her reality, I believe it was no coincidence that her body finally forces her to see what her mind refuses to.
Thousands of miles away from home, friends and family; unable to work, she could do nothing but stare at the ceiling and contemplate how things have ended up this way.
Too weak to fight and with no distractions, the wall she had built around herself slowly begins to crack.
"I suppose I was also grieving for the loss of the unfeeling, jokey, impenetrable me."
Inevitably when that wall cracks; grief, loss and loneliness flood in. Johnston shares all of this with the reader. Then, for someone who has determinedly hidden her true self from the world, she begins to discover who she really is, for the very first time. Vulnerable, scared and very lost she begins the journey back to herself.
The miracle of recovery is, that despite everything we have believed about ourselves, who we really are is glorious. We don't need to hide or be alone anymore; who we really are is just fine. This book convinces you that if Kristen Johnston can discover this, then so can you. - In the interest of full disclosure I am the father of a recovering addict.
During the last several years, I've read more books about addiction than I can remember. Scientific books, self-help books, memoirs, books about rehabs, etc. If there's a book out there about addiction, chances are I've read it. Or it's on a bookshelf waiting for me to read it because my wife and I have our own little addiction library at home.
The other day, on a day off from work, I finished reading one of the better memoirs I've read. In fact, I read the entire book in one sitting, which is unheard of for me. (I'm a pretty slow reader. I'm a perfectionist and I like to read slowly so I make sure I don't miss anything. It's a sickness, really.)
The book that had me hooked right from the Foreword--and made me spend most of my day off on the family room couch--is "GUTS The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster" by Kristen Johnston.
Johnston is an actress who is probably best known for her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Sally Solomon in the late-'90s/early '00s comedy series 3rd Rock from the Sun. She currently stars as Holly Franklin in the TV Land comedy The Exes. She's also a recovering addict.
GUTS is an incredibly honest, sobering (pun intended), and hilarious memoir. Hilarious in parts for sure, thanks to Johnston's wicked sense of self-deprecating humor. But the book is very serious, too. After all, addiction in and of itself isn't really funny.
One of the most serious and honest parts of the book takes place while Johnston is hospitalized in England on New Year's eve 2006
"....I heard a loud bang. Because I'm from New York City, I almost ignored it, assuming it was just someone being murdered. Then, out of the corner of my eye, a burst of orange. I looked up from my bed out the window, and I saw the most glorious, enormous splashes of color lighting up the skyline. Fireworks! I could even hear the 'oohs' and the 'aahs' floating up from the celebrating crowd.
To this day I don't know exactly why, but for some mysterious reason, this was the moment that sanity finally chose to break through the madness that had held me in its iron grip for so many years. With no warning, I was struck by this thought
There are people in that crowd who are looking at the same fireworks I am right this very second who are STONE COLD SOBER. There are people in that crowd who don't feel the need to touch the back pocket of their jeans constantly to make sure the six pills are still there. There are people in that crowd who are simply enjoying the spectacle, without wondering if they have one refill left at the pharmacy, or if they would have to call yet another doctor. There are people out there RIGHT NOW who are with their loved ones and are just happy to be alive.
Grief overwhelmed me. True, real sorrow not for me, but for finally seeing the truth of what I was. A selfish, self-serving, loathsome creature who did nothing to better the world. I finally truly felt the weight of all the pain I had caused, all the tears that had been wasted on me, all the gifts that had been given to me that I had just carelessly frittered away, and all of the thousands of hours I had spent obsessing about something as ridiculous, boring, and stupid as me.
I don't want this life anymore, I thought. I can't bear who I've become."
---------------------------------------
That's some powerful stuff, isn't it?
So is this, which is my favorite passage from the book
"I knew that I needed to start accepting that I was me--and I needed to do it pronto--because life, it is short. And the very notion of spending the rest of my life still desperately wishing I was anyone but me? Unacceptable."
Take it from me GUTS is a book you'll start reading and won't be able to put down. And when you're finished with it, you'll admire the hell out of Kristen Johnston for putting her addiction, her life, and her soul "out there" for everyone to see. And for helping to break the stigma associated with addiction. ("I believe, without a doubt, that the shame and secrecy that shroud the disease are just as deadly as the disease itself," she says in the book's Epilogue.)
It should also be pointed out that Kristen has donated a portion of the book's proceeds to SLAM (Sobriety Learning And Motivation), a group she formed that is dedicated to starting the first sober high school in New York City/New York State. You can learn more about SLAM at SLAMNYC.org. - I am not much of a Hollywood Bio reader. I read this book because Ms. Johnston, has Lupus. I have Lupus, and run an online support community for people with this disease.
That said, this book is a must read. Full of grit, raw emotion, brutal self-deprecating honesty, and so much more. I was enthralled with the book from the beginning, and it just got better the more I read.
I have never read a book where the medical community was described with such succinct brilliance. I have never been to England, but do have doctors that call England home, and the descriptions are all spot on. Thank you Kristen for putting it out there like you did.
Brutal honesty.
And seriously? the title is perfect for this book. Now to read it again so I can pick up all of the nuances that I missed the first time.
