The Harder They Fall: Celebrities Tell Their Real-life Stories of Addiction and Recovery

by Gary Stromberg (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2005

  $18.34

  The heady, drug-induced decades of the sixties and seventies provide the backdrop for this all-star account of addiction and recovery. Comedians Richard Pryor and Richard Lewis, musicians Grace Slick, Dr. John, and Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night), actors Malcolm McDowell and Mariette Hartley, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Franz Wright, writer Anne Lamott, and athletes Doc Ellis and Gerry Cooney are among the many celebrities interviewed for this inside look at what can happen when fame and fortune meet the recklessness and ruin of addiction. While the stories are as unique and vibrant as the individual celebrities who tell them, the irrefutable collective message is that addiction knows no boundaries. The disease strikes and topples even those who are seemingly on top of the world. Still, The Harder They Fall is a book of hope. In this modern-day version of the 1980s New York Times best-seller The Courage to Change, the famous people profiled have climbed out from the devastation of addiction to lead lives of extraordinary accomplishment.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $10.14

  Now in paperback with updated photos and additional interviews, The Harder They Fall reveals the intimate thoughts, feelings, regrets, and beliefs of celebrities in recovery. Among those profiled are comedian Richard Pryor, musicians Grace Slick, Dr. John, and Chuck Negron, actors Malcolm McDowell and Mariette Hartley, and athletes Dock Ellis and Gerry Cooney. Addiction devoured their pride and accomplishments until each found the courage to ask for help, the honesty to face their disease, and the strength - ultimately - to rebuild a life of extraordinary success. Here, legendary Los Angeles publicist Gary Stromberg gives readers an up-close look at fame and addiction, as told by the stars themselves. These are stories of greatness rebuilt - one day at a time.Its paperback format makes this already popular book even more accessible. The real-life stories offer encouragement about recovering from addiction. This book complements the authors' recent release about recovery from eating disorders, Feeding the Fame .