Russell Brand on Recovery

Russell Brand is a comedian, and an actor, and by his own admission, an addict. A recovering addict.

Also, he swears a lot. A whole lot. Like every other word starts with F. So that makes quoting him very hard, but I want you to trust me on this: Russell Brand is smart and funny, and he has a great recovery message.

His newest book is called, “Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions.” 

And it is his take on our program of recovery.

Basically, it is a memoir—his crazy story of being self-destructive and then recovering, and it’s also a work of translation: Brand takes the Twelve Steps and basic recovery principles and puts them into his own words, hence sentences filled with the word that starts with F.

Here’s an example: 

Step 4: “Write down all the things that are F-ing you up or have ever F-ed you up and don’t lie or leave anything out.”

Sound like a tough sponsor? Yeah, kinda like that.

Or Step Three: “Are you, on your own, going to un-F yourself?” 

Maybe this isn’t the first recovery book you want to give a newcomer, but then again, maybe it could be. No holds barred, no sweetness, and it is pretty dam funny. If you are later in your recovery you’ll be a teeny bit shocked at first, but then you’ll be calling your recovery friends and reading to them what Brand has to say about surrender, and meetings, and yeah….his version of Step Six.

Ok, yes, all that bad language. You can’t leave his book on your coffee table if you have kids (or a mother, mother-in-law, nosy neighbors etc.)  But you will find yourself dipping into Brand’s book for a fresh perspective or fast first aid in any emotional crisis.

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 ...and yes, there is also this other great book about long-term recovery (my book, no swearing) published by Central Recovery Press: