Memoirs of an Addicted Brain

Memoirs of an Addicted Brain - US book cover

A gripping, ultimately triumphant memoir that’s also the most comprehensive and comprehensible study of the neuroscience of addiction written for the general public.

Marc Lewis is a distinguished neuroscientist. And, for many years, he was a drug addict himself, dependent on a series of dangerous substances, from LSD to heroin. His narrative moves back and forth between the often dark, compelling story of his relationship with drugs and a gripping analysis of what was going on in his brain.

Memoirs of an Addicted Brain on Macleans bestsellers list

The book is officially a bestseller! During the week of October 10, 2011, Memoirs of an Addicted Brain was #3 on Maclean’s national bestsellers list.

Memoirs of an Addicted Brain - Canadian book cover

“From opium pipe to orbitofrontal cortex, a smoothly entertaining interplay between lived experience and the particulars of brain activity.” Kirkus Reviews

“In this meticulous, evocative memoir, … Lewis’s unusual blend of scientific expertise, street cred, vivid subjectivity and searching introspection yields a compelling perspective on the perils and allure of addiction.” Publishers Weekly – Starred Review

“An engrossing and vividly written swirl of raw personal drama, themes of despair, loss and triumph, brilliantly rendered brain science, and clear thinking on the experience and essence of addiction. Illuminating even to experts, accessible to all.” Gabor Maté, MD, author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction

“Lewis teaches us how normal yearnings and strivings can be short-circuited by drug addiction. In the end, his triumph is remarkable, and not only because he emerges from serial addictions to become a successful neuroscientist…” Prof. Don Tucker, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

“Great writers create new genres, and that’s exactly what Lewis has done in writing the memoir of his addicted brain. It’s a heartwrenching story, beautifully written, and no one should be allowed to pronounce about addiction without having read it.” Evan Thompson, PhD, Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"In this meticulous, evocative memoir, Lewis, a neuroscientist and ex-junkie, explores how narcotics affect the brain and beguile the mind. His picaresque narrative recounts a lavish drug history..."

Kirkus Book Reviews

Developmental neuroscientist Lewis (Human Development and Applied Psychology/Radboud Univ., Netherlands) examines his odyssey from minor stoner to helpless, full-blown addict.

Boston Globe Review

"In going clean, Marc Lewis didn’t abandon the defining extravagances of his baby boom youth so much as recognize the generation’s victory. A half century after Berkeley’s hallucinogenic heyday, hippie-junkie ontology...has become, from the pages of Nature to the self-help aisle, our understanding of human experience in general."

San Francisco Chronicle Review

"First and foremost, Lewis is a scientist - but he combines his research with his life experiences. His explanation of addiction is grounded in the personal, which sets him apart from many of his colleagues."

Wall Street Journal Review

"What lessons can be gleaned from Mr. Lewis’s life and brain? Foremost, his story illustrates the paradox of addiction: that even though the brain is changed by drugs, the brain-owner is not helpless. He can, if motivated, devise strategies to deafen himself to the siren call of altered states."

CBC Radio Interview

In a recent interview on The Current, Lewis discussed his new book... He calls addiction a form of corrupted learning. "It's like learning anything," he explained ... A pattern of behaviour gets reinforced by repetition ... "It becomes more articulated, more powerful, more known. And pretty soon that becomes the only game in town. That's the corrupted part."

Globe and Mail Review

"The question isn’t why some people become addicts, but why we all don't. The indelicate problem was this: Marc Lewis, the budding psychologist, would break into a building to steal drugs, especially Demerol, to junk into his arm, and then the urge would hit him."

Toronto Star Review

"Mind-altering drugs fail, in the long run, to fulfill the need for relations with others, he learned: 'Once addiction sets in, the brain will never return to the state — of innocence? — that preceded it.'"

View all press features

A gripping, ultimately triumphant memoir that’s also the most comprehensive and comprehensible study of the neuroscience of addiction written for the general public.

The book is officially a bestseller! During the week of October 10, 2011, Memoirs of an Addicted Brain was #3 on Maclean’s national bestsellers list.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Kirkus Book Reviews

Boston Globe Review

San Francisco Chronicle Review

Wall Street Journal Review

CBC Radio Interview

Globe and Mail Review

Toronto Star Review

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