Life and How to Live It, Vol. 1: Begin the Begin

by Chaz Holesworth

Life and How to Live Volume Begin the Begin is the first volume in the life story of Chaz Holesworth. He was born and raised in some unusual and unique circumstances; he was raised by a heroin addict father and a born-again Christian mother in the slums of Philadelphia. They were dirt poor growing up and had gangs and drug dealers on every corner. This story is to show some of the horrific things that happened to him and how he overcame them and kept moving forward. On his journey of survival, he found his most important outlet in music, especially the music of R.E.M. and Tori Amos. He also found comfort in friends who became like family to him. His memoir is both heart-warming and heartbreaking at times. He hopes to inspire others who may be in dire circumstances to rise above and succeed.

About the Author
Chaz Holesworth was born and raised in Philadelphia. He currently lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with his wife and beloved dog. Holesworth is passionate about many social issues, especially the rights of workers and animals. Chaz also enjoys live music, good beer, and travel when he gets the chance. Life and How to Live It is his first novel.

416 pages, Hardcover

Published January 5, 2024

Reviews

[Literary Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life and How to Live It by Chaz Holesworth is a raw and heartfelt memoir that chronicles a tumultuous upbringing in Philadelphia’s rough neighborhoods, shaped by addiction, poverty, and faith. The book delves into Holesworth’s family history and personal struggles, weaving a tapestry of generational trauma, resilience, and identity. Through vivid storytelling, the author paints a detailed picture of life in Kensington and beyond, offering insights into the human condition while candidly exploring themes of hope, despair, and survival.

Holesworth’s voice is brash, honest, and unfiltered. He doesn’t shy away from the messy details, like the chaotic dynamics of his family or the stark realities of addiction. His recounting of his father’s battle with heroin is both heartbreaking and maddening, as are the glimpses into the dysfunction that shaped much of his early life. The anecdotes about roach-infested homes and shared bunk beds might make you squirm, but they ground the story in gritty authenticity. Holesworth’s self-deprecating humor provides relief amid the heaviness, making the book feel personal and relatable.

The storytelling shines brightest when Holesworth dives into his parents’ lives, particularly their courtship and struggles. His mother’s transformation into a devout born-again Christian and the impact on the family dynamics added layers of complexity to the narrative. The depiction of his father’s pride and resilience, despite his flaws, was deeply moving. One moment that stayed with me was the bittersweet memory of bonding over Star Wars—a rare slice of normalcy in a chaotic childhood. It’s this ability to juxtapose light and dark moments that makes Holesworth’s writing compelling.

The book occasionally lingers in its detailed storytelling. While the depth helps to create a vivid and immersive portrait, certain sections—such as the descriptions of neighborhood gangs or the intricacies of church culture—are revisited often in the book. These stories clearly hold deep meaning for the author, but streamlining a few of the less central anecdotes would have enhanced the flow for me. Still, these tangents often carry a charm that only someone reflecting on their life can pull off.

Life and How to Live It: Volume 1 is a testament to resilience and self-discovery. Holesworth’s journey from a troubled boy in Kensington to someone capable of reflecting on those experiences with humor and insight is inspiring. I’d recommend this book to anyone drawn to memoirs that don’t sugarcoat reality. Just be prepared to laugh, cringe, and occasionally gasp as you follow Holesworth through his highs, lows, and sideways moments.

[Booksbyhanna11 · Rating 5 out of 5]

BOOK 📚- LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT

AUTHOR ✍️- CHAZ HOLESWORTH

RATING - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

BOOK REVIEW ✍️-

✍️"Life and How to Live It: Vol 1" is the first installment of Chaz Holesworth’s memoir, offering a profound exploration of his life shaped by extraordinary and harsh circumstances. Raised in the heart of Philadelphia’s impoverished slums, Chaz's upbringing was marked by an intense struggle against the odds. His father, a heroin addict, and his mother, a fervent born-again Christian, created a volatile home environment where addiction and religious fervor clashed amid severe financial hardship.

✍️The narrative details Chaz's early experiences growing up in an environment fraught with crime and social instability. Surrounded by drug dealers and gang activity, his childhood was anything but conventional. Despite these challenges, Chaz’s story is one of perseverance and self-discovery, showcasing his ability to rise above his circumstances.

✍️Central to his journey was the solace he found in music. Artists like R.E.M. and Tori Amos became his emotional lifeline, offering him a means to escape and process his turbulent experiences. Music provided not just comfort but also inspiration and a sense of belonging that was otherwise lacking in his chaotic world.

✍️In addition to his musical refuge, Chaz's narrative highlights the pivotal role of his friendships. Friends who became like family offered him support and stability, serving as a crucial counterbalance to the instability of his home life. These relationships were instrumental in his emotional and personal growth, helping him to navigate the difficulties he faced.

✍️"Life and How to Live It: Vol 1" is more than just a recounting of hardships; it is a moving testament to Chaz’s resilience and his unwavering spirit. Through moments of profound heartache and joy, the memoir paints a vivid picture of his journey and serves as an inspiring message for others who may be facing their own struggles. Chaz Holesworth’s story is a beacon of hope and a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is potential for growth and success.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 📚✍️

[Bookbuff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life and How to Live It: Volume One – Begin the Begin by Chaz Holesworth is a deeply moving and honest memoir that explores the author’s early life growing up in the harsh realities of Philadelphia’s slums. With a drug-addicted father, a devout Christian mother, and a world filled with violence and chaos, Chaz’s journey is one of survival, music-fueled hope, and the strength of chosen family. This first volume captures the pain of the past and the power of resilience, offering readers a story that is both heartbreaking and incredibly inspiring.

1. Honest and Gritty Narrative:
Chaz shares his story with raw authenticity, holding nothing back. His writing captures both the brutality of his upbringing and the emotional depth of his experiences.

2. Complex Family Dynamics:
The stark contrast between his heroin-addicted father and born-again Christian mother creates a tense and unpredictable home life. This duality adds emotional complexity to the memoir.

3. Vivid Setting:
The slums of Philadelphia are depicted with striking realism—gang violence, poverty, and instability form a constant backdrop, shaping Chaz’s worldview and daily struggles.

4. Music as Emotional Anchor:
Music plays a pivotal role in Chaz’s survival. Artists like R.E.M. and Tori Amos aren’t just background noise—they’re lifelines. Music helps him express, cope, and dream beyond his environment.

5. Unflinching Vulnerability:
Chaz doesn’t shy away from his emotional scars. His openness about pain, confusion, and longing adds layers of relatability and makes his growth even more powerful.

6. The Power of Chosen Family:
In a world where blood ties often fail him, Chaz finds strength and stability in friendships that evolve into deep, lasting bonds—his chosen family.

7. Overarching Theme of Resilience:
At its heart, the memoir is about resilience. Despite the odds, Chaz keeps pushing forward, showing readers that even the darkest pasts can lead to hope and healing.

[G. W .Bookreviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life and How to Live It by Chaz Holesworth is a very real and emotional story that talks about growing up in a broken family and finding hope in the middle of pain. The author shares his childhood in Philadelphia, where life was not easy at all. His father was struggling with drugs, his mother was completely lost in religion, and his surroundings were full of poverty and violence. From a young age, Chaz had to understand pain, confusion, and loneliness but he also learned how to stay strong and keep moving forward.

The book takes you on a deep and honest journey through his early life. Chaz writes everything with truth and emotion, not trying to make it look better than it was. He opens up about his family, the challenges, and how he managed to survive all of it. You can feel the pain in his words, but you can also see his courage and his will to fight for a better life. The way he describes his childhood makes you feel like you’re right there with him, watching everything unfold.

One of the most touching parts of the book is how music becomes his comfort. Listening to R.E.M. and Tori Amos gave him a way to escape the chaos around him. It shows how even the smallest things can give hope when life feels heavy. The friendships he builds also bring warmth to his story they show that love and care can come from the people we choose, not just the ones we’re born to.

I would strongly recommend Life and How to Live It Begin the Begin to anyone who likes honest, emotional, and inspiring books. It’s a story that teaches you to never give up, no matter how difficult things get. This book will touch your heart, make you think deeply about life, and remind you that strength can come from the darkest times. 🌟

[Sourav sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chaz Holesworth’s memoir, Life and How to Live It, is less of a self-help manual and more of a deeply personal reckoning—a story told with honesty, vulnerability, and just the right amount of grit. From the first chapter, Holesworth pulls you into a life shaped by contradiction: a heroin-addicted father on one side, a fiercely religious mother on the other. The result is a raw and layered narrative that never asks for pity—it simply asks to be understood.

What’s striking is how Holesworth balances the darkness of his early years with moments of unexpected beauty. Music, especially R.E.M. and Tori Amos, doesn’t just serve as a soundtrack to his life—it’s a lifeline. There’s also humor in the chaos, and glimpses of tenderness in unlikely places. It’s these small, sincere moments that make the memoir feel so alive.

The writing is conversational and unfiltered, as if Holesworth is talking to you directly over a late-night coffee, telling you how it all went down. But beneath the storytelling is a quiet strength—a lesson in resilience that never feels forced or formulaic.

This is a book for anyone who’s ever tried to make sense of a messy past, who’s looked for meaning in the music, and who knows that sometimes surviving is its own kind of success. Holesworth doesn’t give you all the answers—he just shows you his truth. And that’s more than enough.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘You’re so poor you’re PO ‘cause you can’t afford the OR’ – A tough life begins

Pennsylvania author Chaz Holesworth offers his initial novel as the first volume of an ongoing series – LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT – a memoir of his own life that began in the slums of Philadelphia with a heroin addict father and a religious mother. The immediacy of his writing is evident as he opens with ‘I am a good example of why not everyone should have a kid. I cannot fully detail my progression through depression, anxiety, drugs, Jesus, love hate, humorous dancing, and my love for R.E.M.’

Holesworth quite adroitly retraces his heritage with insights into his grandparents, his parents, the difficulties of living under tough circumstances both financially and personally, the depths of heroin addiction with his father, the ‘born-again Christian’ journey of his mother (‘The born-again faith is filled with broken people with low esteem’) – all related with a sense of wit and perspective rarely found in autobiographies. ‘Our household was separated by religion, lack of communication, and different coping strategies.’ Reading this first volume initiates interest in following the subsequent books. Immensely interesting!

[Prisha Rohra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chaz Holesworth introduces readers to the insightful world of unusual and unique circumstances. This book is a heart-warming and stunning journey through the lens of the author. The goal of this story is to highlight the terrifying experiences he endured and how he managed to overcome them to move forward.

He was raised in the Philadelphia slums by a mother who was a devout Christian and a father who was addicted to heroin, facing extraordinary and challenging circumstances. Surrounded by extreme poverty, drug dealers, and gangs, he found his main refuge in music, particularly the songs of R.E.M. and Tori Amos, which became his source of solace during his struggle to survive.

He also found comfort in his friends, who became like family to him. His autobiography is both poignant and uplifting, aiming to inspire those facing tough circumstances to overcome their challenges and find success.

[Jessica K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book, but wow, it completely pulled me in. Chaz Holesworth lays his life bare in a way that feels both brutal and beautiful. The descriptions of growing up in Kensington are so vivid, I felt like I was there, walking those cracked sidewalks with him. What struck me most is how he blends pain with humor, never letting one cancel out the other. It’s not an easy story, but it’s the kind of memoir that stays with you.

[Irma D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this felt like sitting in a dimly lit bar, listening to someone spill their life story, except that someone happens to be a natural storyteller. Chaz is candid, flawed, self-aware, and often funny in the darkest moments. I think anyone who’s dealt with family addiction or cycles of hardship will find something that resonates here.

[Maria C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir reminds me of Angela’s Ashes but set against the backdrop of Philly grit. The family struggles, the addiction, the neighborhood dynamics, it all felt painfully real. What I appreciated most was the honesty. There’s no attempt to make himself look better or to glorify suffering. Instead, Chaz gives us the raw, jagged edges of his life and lets us draw strength from it.

[Barney J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chaz’s story is heartbreaking, but it’s also strangely comforting. Comforting because it shows you you’re not alone in the struggle. The raw detail about his parents, his father’s addiction, and the chaos of his childhood hit me hard. But I admire how he never loses his ability to laugh, even at the absurdity of tragedy.

[Christine P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing I’ll remember most about this book is the way it balances despair with resilience. There are moments where it feels like everything is stacked against him, poverty, drugs, violence, fractured families, but still there’s this pulse of hope running through. It’s a reminder that even in the toughest places, people survive, and sometimes even thrive.

[Austin Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

It felt so raw and personal, almost like I was reading a private diary someone never meant to share. That intimacy made me feel close to the author’s struggles, like I was walking alongside him through every setback and every breakthrough. Few memoirs pull me in that deeply, but this one did, it blurred the line between story and confession in the most powerful way.

[Felicia Crest · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most real memoirs I’ve read in a long time. It’s unflinching in its honesty, gritty, emotional, sometimes even funny, but then suddenly devastating. What stood out most to me was its authenticity. Chaz doesn’t try to make himself look perfect; instead, he lets us see the raw truth of his life, and that honesty is what makes the book unforgettable.

[Laura D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t just a memoir, it’s also a portrait of a city. Philadelphia is alive in these pages, both its vibrant energy and its darker corners. I found myself fascinated by how much the neighborhood shaped the people who lived there, for better or worse.

[Mark L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think what sets this memoir apart is how unfiltered it feels. So many memoirs polish things up for the page, but this one feels like the author is talking straight to you, no buffer, no softening. That rawness makes it powerful, and sometimes hard to read, but always worth it.

[Margarita J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tough read, but a necessary one. Addiction, poverty, trauma' they’re all here, and they’re not romanticized. But at the same time, there’s humanity and even humor woven throughout. It’s a survival story, but also a love letter to resilience.

[Jane D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What struck me was how much the little details mattered. The neighborhood jokes, the family sayings, the way music and pop culture wove into everyday life. Those touches made it more than just a sad story, they made it feel like life itself, with all its messy layers.

[Sylvia K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could feel the influence of books like The Glass Castle, but this one has a sharper edge, a Philly identity that makes it unique. The story of his father’s heroin addiction and the generational cycles of pain could have been overwhelming, but the writing pulls you through.

[Claude I. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hurt to read in places. The abuse, the neglect, the addiction, it’s heavy. But there’s also a strange kind of beauty in the honesty. Chaz never tries to make it sound prettier than it was, and that’s exactly why it resonates.

[Richard A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want a memoir that doesn’t flinch, this is it. Some scenes were so vivid they stuck in my head like a movie, especially the descriptions of Kensington life. It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s unforgettable

[Raymond D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me why memoirs matter. They’re not just personal stories they’re windows into lives and communities most of us never see. I came away with a deeper appreciation for both the struggle and the resilience it takes to survive such an environment.

[Rich A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the things I loved most was the humor. Even in the darkest chapters, Chaz finds a way to crack a joke or tell a story that makes you laugh out loud. That’s not easy to do when writing about trauma, but he pulls it off.

[Merle A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The family dynamics in this memoir are both painful and fascinating. I found myself thinking about how cycles of trauma pass down through generations, and how hard it is to break free from them. Chaz doesn’t have all the answers, but his willingness to confront it head-on is inspiring.

[Oliver R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I admired was how Chaz makes space for both his own pain and the humanity of the people who caused it. He doesn’t excuse them, but he also doesn’t flatten them into villains. That nuance made this memoir stand out to me.

[Robert M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, this was about more than one man’s life, it was about resilience in the face of impossible odds. It’s a reminder that stories like these matter, not just for the writer but for everyone who needs to see that survival is possible.

[Betty R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes this memoir stand out is the way it blends raw truth with unexpected humor. I found myself laughing one moment and heartbroken the next. The voice feels unfiltered and real, like a late-night conversation you’ll never forget.

[Yolanda J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book captures Philadelphia in all its grit and soul. I loved the way the city wasn’t just a backdrop but a living, breathing character in Chaz’s story. His struggles feel inseparable from the neighborhood that shaped him.

[Laverne O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of the messy complexity of real life. Chaz doesn’t try to tie everything up neatly, and that made it more believable. There’s no perfect redemption arc here, just survival and honesty.

[Nancy J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very honest and very human book. It’s rough around the edges, but that’s exactly what makes it real. I don’t think I’ll ever forget some of the stories in here.