Hell and Back

In recent months, as Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's bizarre behaviour — and revelations of his excessive drinking — made international news, the subject of alcoholism has come under the spotlight. In his new ebook, Hell and Back: Alcoholism, Addiction and the Lessons They Taught Me, veteran Toronto Star journalist Jim Coyle tackles that issue head-on as he recounts his own horrific descent into a sea of booze and his hard-won recovery. Coyle writes that he decided to tell his story because so many citizens have been looking for an explanation for Ford's “bafflingly self-destructive conduct.” His book is dedicated “to those brave enough to speak difficult truths . . . and especially to those who are yet to learn that there’s a better way to be.”

Star Dispatches is a weekly series of quality journalism in ebook form from the newsroom of the Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper.