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Gun, Needle, Spoon
This memoir follows a punk rock pioneer on his slide into drug abuse and life as an armed robber, all the way through life in recovery and what it's like to look back on those times, knowing all the while that he is still under the threat of three strikes, a twenty-five-to-life prison sentence waiting. He has no choice but to deal with it all drug free.
300 pages, Paperback
First published February 10, 2015
17 people are currently reading
776 people want to read
About the author
Patrick O'Neil
9 books153 followersPatrick O’Neil is the author of the memoirs: ANARCHY AT THE CIRCLE K (Punk Hostage Press, 2022), GUN, NEEDLE, SPOON (Dzanc Books, 2015), and HOLD-UP (13e Note Editions, 2013). He is the co-author on two instructional writing manuals, WRITING YOUR WAY TO RECOVERY: HOW STORIES CAN SAVE OUR LIVES (Independent Press, 2021), with the author James Brown. And PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program's, THE SENTENCES THAT CREATE US: CRAFTING A WRITER'S LIFE IN PRISON (Haymarket Books, 2022). His writing has appeared in numerous publications including: Juxtapoz, Salon, The Fix, Decibel, and Razorcake.
O'Neil is a contributing editor for Sensitive Skin Magazine, a Pushcart nominee, a two time nominee for Best Of The Net, avid supporter of PEN America, and a former Emerging Voices Mentor. His novel, LA COUNTY - the first book in a trilogy of noir crime novels set in LA - is currently making the rounds for publication.
O'Neil holds an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles where he is adjunct faculty for their Continuing Education program. He also teaches at a Los Angeles community college and various rehabs, correctional facilities, institutions, and workshops. You can find more of his writing, music, and films online at patrick-oneil.com
O'Neil is a contributing editor for Sensitive Skin Magazine, a Pushcart nominee, a two time nominee for Best Of The Net, avid supporter of PEN America, and a former Emerging Voices Mentor. His novel, LA COUNTY - the first book in a trilogy of noir crime novels set in LA - is currently making the rounds for publication.
O'Neil holds an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles where he is adjunct faculty for their Continuing Education program. He also teaches at a Los Angeles community college and various rehabs, correctional facilities, institutions, and workshops. You can find more of his writing, music, and films online at patrick-oneil.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
July 30, 2015
Yes, I gave my own book five stars! Don't be a hater...
August 18, 2015
I've read a lot of junkie fiction and nonfiction but none that has as much hardboiled criminal activity as O'Neil's story from the streets of San Francisco. For a period in the '90s the selfie king of the LA lit scene was, how shall we put it, not a nice man. Searing and pitiless, Gun, Needle, Spoon is a reminder that everything is negotiable in the mind of an addict. For a certain kind of reader who makes a daily effort to stay on the sunny side of the street, this book will make you grateful for every last thing you have.
June 19, 2015
Here exists Patrick O'Neil's life of drugs and armed robberies. As gritty as it is, it's full of touching emotions in relation to his mother, his friends, living and lost, and his life after his addiction and crimes. O'Neil has the tremendous ability to bring the reader in, almost casually, relaying the step-by-step process of using heroin and robbing various stores to fuel his addictions. The cities, the guns, the drugs, the getaway cars--they all become vital characters in this memoir of obstacles. Though the work is full of dark, haunting memories, the author has an amazing way of combining these events with gentle thoughts--amidst the struggles, where it seems like hope doesn't exist, he is able to get through and share his story. O'Neil lets us into his head and we swirl around inside, hoping that this wild ride is just a dream.
June 11, 2015
I waited a long time for this book to come out (in English!) I first became aware of Patrick O'Neil through Goodreads a few years ago--I saw one of his (always awesome) book reviews and looked at his profile and recognized a kindred spirit. Among other things, Patrick and I share an appreciation for dope fiend books, especially memoirs, and now he's written one of the best I've ever read.
GUN, NEEDLE, SPOON captures all the despair, exhaustion, and anxiety that comes with addiction. It's hard to articulate feeling like your soul is fucking dying, but Patrick does. He digs up all the dirt and ugliness, then describes his redemption in a way that made me want to cry. I'm a bit overwhelmed after finishing the book. It's really, really good--you should read it.
GUN, NEEDLE, SPOON captures all the despair, exhaustion, and anxiety that comes with addiction. It's hard to articulate feeling like your soul is fucking dying, but Patrick does. He digs up all the dirt and ugliness, then describes his redemption in a way that made me want to cry. I'm a bit overwhelmed after finishing the book. It's really, really good--you should read it.
April 10, 2015
(click the image below to watch the video review)
This is a bit of a different format for my review videos. As I explain in the video, I’m trying to streamline the process of uploading videos while at the same time making the reading process itself more enjoyable. Let me know what you think.
So, what is Gun, Needle, Spoon? It’s basically a drug memoir written in a vignette style. The lack of narrative “glue” doesn’t detract from the impact nor from the sheer craziness of the events in O’Neil’s life. If you like drug memoirs, definitely pick this one up.
This is a bit of a different format for my review videos. As I explain in the video, I’m trying to streamline the process of uploading videos while at the same time making the reading process itself more enjoyable. Let me know what you think.
So, what is Gun, Needle, Spoon? It’s basically a drug memoir written in a vignette style. The lack of narrative “glue” doesn’t detract from the impact nor from the sheer craziness of the events in O’Neil’s life. If you like drug memoirs, definitely pick this one up.
August 24, 2015
Patrick O’Neil shouldn’t be alive. Statistically, at least, he should be either dead or locked up for the rest of his life. That he is neither dead nor in jail given the life he’s lead is a testament to the power of the human spirit.
That, and a good lawyer.
I first “met” Patrick in that causal online way you do these days, following him on Twitter and Facebook, over on G+ (yeah, it still exists for those bold, or lazy, enough to be there). At first, he was simply someone whose wry observations on daily life and self-deprecating humor made the online experience a little more pleasant, and unusual—seriously, his recounting of his ongoing “battles” with the TSA are worth the follow alone.
But then I started to dig a little deeper, beyond the witty tweets and goofy selfies, and began exploring his writing via his Los Angeles and San Francisco essays. From there, I ventured into his blog, Full Blue Moon Dementia, which Patrick has been writing for over a decade at this point. It quickly became apparent this was a person who’d lived an immensely interesting, complex and challenging life. He’d been in at the ground level during the early punk scene in San Francisco, struggled with eating disorders and drug addiction, and done some questionable things to support that drug addiction along the way. I thought I had a pretty good handle on who Patrick was.
I didn’t have a clue.
"Whether these memories actually happened exactly as I recall is possibly subject to discussion. Yet it isn’t as if I’m lying, or just sort of making shit up as I go along. Given a polygraph test I’d pass. In a court of law I’d swear on a bible. And from me to you—this is my truth."
Patrick O’Neil’s truth comes in the form of Gun, Needle, Spoon, a memoir so raw and intimate in its recounting of a life gone off the rails it is sometimes difficult to read, the feeling of being a voyeur bordering on overwhelming. Too often, memoirs about a life as dysfunctional and hectic as O’Neil’s has been end up at one extreme or the other: wallowing in self-pity, or blurring the rough edges into a revisionist romanticism. Not O’Neil.
Using the same wit and wry observation on display daily in his social media, O’Neil matter of factly describes his descent from art school graduate with a burgeoning career in the music industry into the life of a dope addict so broke and strung out he spent time living in a camper shell on the back of a pickup and committing crimes almost daily to support his heroin habit. Along the way he sees friends die from overdoses, lies to, begs, borrows and steals from everyone he knows, including his family, and escalates from simple thefts and shoplifting to armed bank robberies. It’s not many people who can say ending up in jail was the best thing that ever happened to them, but in O’Neil’s case it may well be the truth.
After spending nearly two decades chasing the dragon, and suffering no fewer than half a dozen ODs in the process, O’Neil’s criminal escapades finally caught up with, landing him in jail for over two years while his case worked its way through the legal system. Forced to get straight while inside, O’Neil left the system drug free, but with a new monkey on his back. As part of his plea deal, O’Neil ended up with two strikes on his record—one more and he goes to prison for life. Motivated now by not only the desire to live life unencumbered by addiction but also to stay out of prison, O’Neil has been clean for over fourteen years. The process he went through to get there, first falling to the deepest depths and then climbing out of the hole he’d dug for himself, is a remarkable story of survival.
Gun, Needle, Spoon is a work of tremendous courage, one which strikes a perfect balance between bluntness and beauty—O’Neil is a truly gifted storyteller—and gives readers a peek behind the curtain of a life most have only ever seen in fiction. And as the saying goes, O’Neil’s unvarnished, unsentimental look back at his struggles demonstrates all too graphically that truth is often far stranger, and more outrageous, than fiction.
That, and a good lawyer.
I first “met” Patrick in that causal online way you do these days, following him on Twitter and Facebook, over on G+ (yeah, it still exists for those bold, or lazy, enough to be there). At first, he was simply someone whose wry observations on daily life and self-deprecating humor made the online experience a little more pleasant, and unusual—seriously, his recounting of his ongoing “battles” with the TSA are worth the follow alone.
But then I started to dig a little deeper, beyond the witty tweets and goofy selfies, and began exploring his writing via his Los Angeles and San Francisco essays. From there, I ventured into his blog, Full Blue Moon Dementia, which Patrick has been writing for over a decade at this point. It quickly became apparent this was a person who’d lived an immensely interesting, complex and challenging life. He’d been in at the ground level during the early punk scene in San Francisco, struggled with eating disorders and drug addiction, and done some questionable things to support that drug addiction along the way. I thought I had a pretty good handle on who Patrick was.
I didn’t have a clue.
"Whether these memories actually happened exactly as I recall is possibly subject to discussion. Yet it isn’t as if I’m lying, or just sort of making shit up as I go along. Given a polygraph test I’d pass. In a court of law I’d swear on a bible. And from me to you—this is my truth."
Patrick O’Neil’s truth comes in the form of Gun, Needle, Spoon, a memoir so raw and intimate in its recounting of a life gone off the rails it is sometimes difficult to read, the feeling of being a voyeur bordering on overwhelming. Too often, memoirs about a life as dysfunctional and hectic as O’Neil’s has been end up at one extreme or the other: wallowing in self-pity, or blurring the rough edges into a revisionist romanticism. Not O’Neil.
Using the same wit and wry observation on display daily in his social media, O’Neil matter of factly describes his descent from art school graduate with a burgeoning career in the music industry into the life of a dope addict so broke and strung out he spent time living in a camper shell on the back of a pickup and committing crimes almost daily to support his heroin habit. Along the way he sees friends die from overdoses, lies to, begs, borrows and steals from everyone he knows, including his family, and escalates from simple thefts and shoplifting to armed bank robberies. It’s not many people who can say ending up in jail was the best thing that ever happened to them, but in O’Neil’s case it may well be the truth.
After spending nearly two decades chasing the dragon, and suffering no fewer than half a dozen ODs in the process, O’Neil’s criminal escapades finally caught up with, landing him in jail for over two years while his case worked its way through the legal system. Forced to get straight while inside, O’Neil left the system drug free, but with a new monkey on his back. As part of his plea deal, O’Neil ended up with two strikes on his record—one more and he goes to prison for life. Motivated now by not only the desire to live life unencumbered by addiction but also to stay out of prison, O’Neil has been clean for over fourteen years. The process he went through to get there, first falling to the deepest depths and then climbing out of the hole he’d dug for himself, is a remarkable story of survival.
Gun, Needle, Spoon is a work of tremendous courage, one which strikes a perfect balance between bluntness and beauty—O’Neil is a truly gifted storyteller—and gives readers a peek behind the curtain of a life most have only ever seen in fiction. And as the saying goes, O’Neil’s unvarnished, unsentimental look back at his struggles demonstrates all too graphically that truth is often far stranger, and more outrageous, than fiction.
April 1, 2017
I don't really know how to review a memoir because it almost feels like reviewing a person's life, but this was really interesting to read and it amazes me how far O'Neil has come in order to be writing about his experiences. One of the things that struck me about this book was the vivid detail and well-crafted language that it was written in. The images and emotions that O'Neil describes are so graphic and strong that at times it almost felt like too much for me to process. The kind of life he was writing about was so hard to imagine for me, but I think his writing gives people a taste of what that must have been like. At the beginning of the book, O'Neil is just starting to use heroin and as the book continues and his habit increases, I found it more and more remarkable that he had pulled himself out of that hole he was digging himself into. This book was profound and really a testament to how someone can bring their life around and power through difficulties.
As a book.. (full review at http://shehlagrr.blogspot.com/2015/06...)
As a book.. (full review at http://shehlagrr.blogspot.com/2015/06...)
January 18, 2016
It's cliched to say something's an incredible read from start to finish, but not only does Patrick O'Neil's memoir live up to such hype, it goes way beyond that with a sense of humor as sharp and piercing as the needle. His writing style is unapologetic. Time slips away in this hurricane of narcotics and crime, death and despair, and the desperate longing to get out of the situation he's gotten himself into.
O'Neil himself would say there's no message to this book - neither glorification nor condemnation - but by the end, facing a possible life sentence that just about everyone is certain he'll end up with, he resolves to turn his life around, close this hellish chapter in his life, and move forward with the kind of relief and freedom that comes from facing your inner demons. Because the best kind of fuck-you is proving all the doubters wrong.
O'Neil himself would say there's no message to this book - neither glorification nor condemnation - but by the end, facing a possible life sentence that just about everyone is certain he'll end up with, he resolves to turn his life around, close this hellish chapter in his life, and move forward with the kind of relief and freedom that comes from facing your inner demons. Because the best kind of fuck-you is proving all the doubters wrong.
September 15, 2015
A really "real" look at addiction, and all the horrors that come from it. Written in an honest, authentic voice, Patrick exposes all his demons to us with the filter totally off. Punk rock, heroin, bank robberies, and prison make up his life's journey, and I really felt moved by his story. Doubly impactful for me, as I live in the Bay Area and have 10 years sobriety myself!
December 15, 2015
This memoir had me every step of the way. Authentic, refuses to glamorize the junkie life--unflinching. Patrick's story is one worth telling and hearing. He has an eye for the right details and explores all the right moments. This is a terrific book you won't be able to put down.
December 28, 2017
One of my favorite addiction memoirs. My only disappointment was a moral one— that he too seemed to pass so much judgment on those wrapped up in the criminal justice system.
June 5, 2018
Here exists Patrick O'Neil's life of drugs and armed robberies. As gritty as it is, it's full of touching emotions in relation to his mother, his friends, living and lost, and his life after his addiction and crimes. O'Neil has the tremendous ability to bring the reader in, almost casually, relaying the step-by-step process of using heroin and robbing various stores to fuel his addictions. The cities, the guns, the drugs, the getaway cars--they all become vital characters in this memoir of obstacles. Though the work is full of dark, haunting memories, the author has an amazing way of combining these events with gentle thoughts--amidst the struggles, where it seems like hope doesn't exist, he is able to get through and share his story. O'Neil lets us into his head and we swirl around inside, hoping that this wild ride is just a dream.
June 28, 2015
Patrick O’Neil new book “Gun Needle Spoon, “is brilliant, a must read. O’Neil lays it all out, his personal wasteland and makes it personal. He plunders hell so that we don’t have to. There’s a kind of voyeuristic pleasure in another’s decent; we savor the intensity. For those of us in recovery, O’Neil’s humor, and courage peels toxins off our wounds. It is not a pretty story, the drug addicted mind. It’s madness - the betrayal of self. I’ve been there, “towards the end of a dark chocolate stream.” “Gun Needle Spoon” is a literary ride through the nightmare of addiction, fascinating, disturbing and seamless in its ability to puncture the walls of our self-absorbed lives.
July 14, 2015
In crisp language through carefully built scenes, O'Neil takes us at a breakneck pace through a storied life full of bad choices, regret and the overall absurdity life throws your way when drugs come into play. O'Neil notices the important details and has a way of anchoring us in a scene through rich description, amping up the pace with tension and then slyly ripping our hearts out.
October 12, 2015
I have been a fan of Patrick's writing long before this book came out. I wish I could write as well as him...this book is raw, gritty, and bloody honest! It has a "noir"feel to it but it is real life. It was intense and I had to read it in small doses. The memoir offers redemption and hope. A definite must read!
Ps: I could totally see this becoming a movie!
Ps: I could totally see this becoming a movie!
February 12, 2016
Really amazing book. I love books that make you sit down and finish it one sitting.
October 11, 2016
no bullshit
December 28, 2019
Dirty, gritty, beautiful. What a stunning account of punk rock life and overcoming addiction.
May 28, 2023
It’s never too late to turn your life around . Wow .
January 18, 2023
A day in the life story ala "Drugstore Cowboy" (James Fogle) and William Burroughs "Junkie" told with the flat eyed stare you'd expect from a memoir with Gun, Needle and Spoon in the title. Other books in this vein (no pun intended) like "American Junkie" by Tim Hansen and Mark Lanegan's memoir "Sing Backwards and Weep" left me gutted from the start but O'neil is a winner for the mea culpa he offers to the court, not for one of his many criminal appearances but during a stint as a juror in another case long after he'd cleaned up his act.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2017
Patrick has written a book that all teenagers should read and learn from. He has spared himself no blushes and my heart kinda broke as I read - the sweet, kindhearted soul who becomes an addict and then has to mask so much of who he is to keep scoring, keep feeding his habit. The fall becomes so normal that getting a gun is an option, even if it scares the jeepers out of him.
I was moved to tears, as I usually am by addicts. It's a disease, and yet one is still accountable. Patrick learned denial, ducking and diving, and his family learned it too. Even his therapist bought into his denial. (Some therapist.)
I am so proud and happy that Patrick has been pardoned this year. He has counseled recovering addicts, taught writing courses to recovering addicts and loads more.
This book is the way addicts live. Not all get a gun. They just use other ways of financing their highs that are just as unpleasant for others.
If you are 14 or over, you should read this.
I was moved to tears, as I usually am by addicts. It's a disease, and yet one is still accountable. Patrick learned denial, ducking and diving, and his family learned it too. Even his therapist bought into his denial. (Some therapist.)
I am so proud and happy that Patrick has been pardoned this year. He has counseled recovering addicts, taught writing courses to recovering addicts and loads more.
This book is the way addicts live. Not all get a gun. They just use other ways of financing their highs that are just as unpleasant for others.
If you are 14 or over, you should read this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2015
I am in awe of how a narrator can be so damn hardboiled and yet so tender and vulnerable as Patrick O'Neil is in the moments when he steals glances in mirrors to size up his body or worries about how his girlfriend is handling her arrest. It's incredible he lived to tell this tale but even more incredible that he can tell it like this. With a story this dramatic, it's easy to say, "Oh, he just had a great story to tell" and write off, well, the *writing.* But Patrick O'Neil couldn't have written a memoir like this one without incredible skill as an author.
I want Gun, Needle, Spoon taught in criminology classes. Theory is one thing, but reading a real person's story is quite another. It would make an incredible addition to any number of discussions in that field. (Former criminology student here, natch.)
I want Gun, Needle, Spoon taught in criminology classes. Theory is one thing, but reading a real person's story is quite another. It would make an incredible addition to any number of discussions in that field. (Former criminology student here, natch.)
January 15, 2016
I was initially brought to this book due to the connection with San Francisco where I live and punk rock which is one of my passions. While the link to punk rock is at best a side note, this book way exceeded my expectations.
This is just a brutal recount of a junkies life. Nothing more, nothing less. It is written beautifully and neither glamorizes nor unnecessarily bashes the junkie lifestyle. It simply was the author's life for a long period of time. As the story is told, you begin to feel the emptiness and the lack of options the author had in his life at the time. It really gives you a clear perspective into a junkie's mindset.
I'm happy the author found the strength to turn his life around, but his writing shows just how difficult it was and you can imagine how many people out there could not or would not find that same strength.
This is just a brutal recount of a junkies life. Nothing more, nothing less. It is written beautifully and neither glamorizes nor unnecessarily bashes the junkie lifestyle. It simply was the author's life for a long period of time. As the story is told, you begin to feel the emptiness and the lack of options the author had in his life at the time. It really gives you a clear perspective into a junkie's mindset.
I'm happy the author found the strength to turn his life around, but his writing shows just how difficult it was and you can imagine how many people out there could not or would not find that same strength.
April 27, 2024
Great prose. O’Neill starts his book with a quote from Apocalypse Now, referring to his time as a road manager with Flipper and TSOL:
“ … and when it was over, I never wanted another.”
The subsequent chapters document his own personal heart of darkness in San Francisco through the 80s and 90s, as he finds different ways to support his habit, and survive in a city that was forever changed in the 90’s by the first dot com boom.
An amazing journey through depravity, desperation, and ultimately redemption. As a former San Franciscan, I appreciated his attention to detail describing 6th Street, and making an assumption here, Tu Lan Vietnamese restaurant. His writing reminded me of the smells, tastes and great memories of that place.
Patrick, can’t wait to read more of your stuff. You are a true talent.
“ … and when it was over, I never wanted another.”
The subsequent chapters document his own personal heart of darkness in San Francisco through the 80s and 90s, as he finds different ways to support his habit, and survive in a city that was forever changed in the 90’s by the first dot com boom.
An amazing journey through depravity, desperation, and ultimately redemption. As a former San Franciscan, I appreciated his attention to detail describing 6th Street, and making an assumption here, Tu Lan Vietnamese restaurant. His writing reminded me of the smells, tastes and great memories of that place.
Patrick, can’t wait to read more of your stuff. You are a true talent.
July 24, 2016
There is a character trait clearly evident in Gun Needle Spoon on every page—rigorous honesty. You get a clear-eyed, non-blinking look into the abyss of heroin addiction and some glimpses of the way out. What should you expect to find when you read this memoir? Let me put it this way. If Patrick O’Neil had guided Dante through Hell instead of Virgil, there would have been more circles of suffering written into The Inferno. Thanks for sharing, Patrick.
December 28, 2021
I was riveted by Patrick O'Neil's epic-like, multi-city spanning, non-linear tale depicting a litany of insane, risk-riddled criminal acts along with a descent into high-octane self destruction (driven by a ferocious heroin habit.) Fortunately, and miraculously, Patrick didn't end up where many, sadly, have gone and his story has a powerful redemptive arc. The book also entertains with its wry observations that bring humor into a dark world. Well worth checking out.
May 3, 2016
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. I found it to be an honest, unflinching and thoughtful account well worth reading.
January 23, 2017
The final essay was great, an extended meditation on moving on from chaotic drug use and finding a place in the world. But I wasn't particularly interested in the first two thirds of the book, which was graphic description of drug use without a lot of reflection or processing.
October 14, 2015
I rob banks, not for smack, that's junkie low flow, no-go. I give the money to indigent folks. They call me God, not Jesus, he was a speed freak, real grimy, second-story, burglarizing him.
I will lay down in one succinct paragraph how to hit a bank, steady-ready and walk out with enough money to take that Miami is nice trip and lay down mad American C-notes, South Beach style. Ready, set go:
Two minutes burn cray fast.
Bank robbery is for the hard eyed boys. Get in, takeover the bank. Two minutes burn quick. Herd everyone into a corner, ninety-seconds, count down. Get the manager, in the safe, out. Scoop and bag drop the tills. Check for dye packs and tracking devices. One minute. Cut phone lines and take cell phones from vics. Thirty seconds. Toss smoke canisters, disorient vics. Fifteen seconds. Out the door, dive into the getaway car, no seconds to spare. Dillinger who? He got capped by the G-Men. You're going to live forever.
Chris Roberts
I will lay down in one succinct paragraph how to hit a bank, steady-ready and walk out with enough money to take that Miami is nice trip and lay down mad American C-notes, South Beach style. Ready, set go:
Two minutes burn cray fast.
Bank robbery is for the hard eyed boys. Get in, takeover the bank. Two minutes burn quick. Herd everyone into a corner, ninety-seconds, count down. Get the manager, in the safe, out. Scoop and bag drop the tills. Check for dye packs and tracking devices. One minute. Cut phone lines and take cell phones from vics. Thirty seconds. Toss smoke canisters, disorient vics. Fifteen seconds. Out the door, dive into the getaway car, no seconds to spare. Dillinger who? He got capped by the G-Men. You're going to live forever.
Chris Roberts
July 7, 2015
I sat down and began reading this remarkable story and went straight through it with ony a slight break to sleep for a while. I was amazed and moved by the author's humanity and humility, by his strength and his victory over a life that really had become unsustainable. Some of the episodes are hairy indeed; some moved me to tears. The life of a heroin addict is tragic because it narrows down existence to waking up, getting money for drugs, taking the drugs, sleeping and repeating the procedure over and over again. Cuture, art, nature -- the richness of life fades away. I was particularly affected by the segment where O'Neil describes his realization that he had nearly forgotten how to read and write. His reclaimation of his life, when so many around him died, is an act of personal heroism. This book will stay with me for a long time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews