Whose Will

Whose Will

WHOSE WILL
Ordinary Person, Extraordinary Life
Harris Jr., Willie L.
Divine Order Publishing (232 pp.)
ISBN: 978-0981857206; June 28, 2011
KIRKUS BOOK REVIEW
Debut author Harris recounts his difficult childhood and his adult struggle with addiction in his memoir.
The youngest of four siblings, Harris lived in a middle-class household with parents who rarely showed him affection. Worse, his father was an alcoholic who abused his mother so badly that their kids feared for her life. When their mother finally escaped, taking the children with her, Harris continued to face household after household in which he was largely unloved. Once on his own, Harris soon found himself in debt and addicted to alcohol and marijuana and then cocaine. The most dangerous addiction, perhaps, was to his sometime lover and fellow crack addict, Dana. He tried several times to clean up for the sake of others, but his efforts only succeeded once he committed to cleaning up for himself. The author doesn’t shy away from providing dark details. He candidly describes many of his lowest points, including stories about the dangerous ways he tried to score cocaine and the sleazy things he did to satisfy his addiction. Squeamish readers might find some moments difficult to stomach, but the harsh specifics show how bad things got and how miraculous his eventual recovery was. This miraculous nature is something Harris himself points out; he frequently comments about how a guardian angel must have protected him.
An inspiring, affecting narrative of one man’s messy life and road to well-being.