Kory Hurst

“If you are a victim of crime, a police officer, politician, lawyer or judge; if you are the parent of an addict, child of an addict, or a recovering addict yourself; if you believe that drug users are simply immoral or weak; if you are like millions of other angry citizens, read In the Realm ofHungry Ghosts. I cannot begin to tally how many revelatory, shocking and reassuring words, lines, paragraphs and whole pages I have highlighted in this astonishing book.”
Susan Musgrave, writer and poet

The following are a bunch of excerpts from “The Realm of Hungry Ghosts Close Encounters with Addiction” by Gabor Mate. This is not meant to summarize the book as it is filled cover to cover with revelations. These are just some passages that I found particularly profound. I have included section and chapter titles in order to provide some context. The page numbers are from the first edition. There is no intent to infringe on copyright although given the length of this post, it might seem so. In fact, I recommend that you get a copy at Amazon. Of course you could also sign it out at your local library. For reference, the page numbers are from the first edition.
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Recently a friend sent me this article by David Zirin on Facebook. I have since become a David Zirin fan; however, being a Vancouverite, I disagreed with David’s perception of our fair town and the current mood, so I thought I better set the record straight. Read more »