Memoir
Charles Manson dead at 83 but there’s a brand new memoir by the Manson Family’s youngest member, Dianne Lake. Like so many young girls before her, she was mesmerized by Manson. Her hippie parents gave her permission to become one of “Charlie’s girls.” Co-written by Deborah Herman for HarperCollins, this disturbing and fascinating memoir tells of rape, survival and recovery.
After Cannibal Cop Gil Valle served 21 months in prison, the judge, Paul Gardephe, shocked everyone by overturning the verdict. Now Valle has written a memoir, Raw Deal: The Untold Story of NYPD’s “Cannibal Cop.
‘How to Murder Your Life’ by Cat Marnell is what every addict memoir should be: adventure-packed, shocking, darkly humorous, and gut-wrenching—the only thing missing is sobriety. You’re likely to read it in one fast sitting. It’s a fascinating, yet disturbing, tale about Adderall addiction.
“A huge part of my alcoholism was anxiety,” 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas told me. “I had panic attacks since kindergarten.” During our interview and in her new book, Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction, the veteran newscaster was candid about almost losing everything.
Opiate addicted Dr. Peter Grinspoon said, “Coercing people into addiction treatment is a controversial topic. I was forced into treatment because I wanted to get my medical license back. I think the coercion is part of what helped me. I didn’t have it under control at all. I cannot think of anything that anybody could have said or done, that they didn’t already say or do, that would have helped me.