Addict Nation: An Intervention for America [Hardcover]

Jane Velez-Mitchell (Author), Sandra Mohr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2011

Americans are being lured into addiction. And what we're hooked on isn't necessarily illegal or even hard to come by. Prescription medications are making us high. Fast food is making us fat. The Internet keeps us constantly distracted with everything from gambling and porn to compulsive social networking. Television bombards us with glamorized violence. From billboards, to online pop ups, to commercials. . . we're seduced into buying more stuff we don't need while we drown in growing debt. Massive profits fill the pockets of a handful of 'pushers' at the expense of everyone else. Corporations, government, and the media are creating the illusion that the more we have, the better we are, and so we crave whatever they're selling and become addicted to their products in the process. Americans are being seduced into self-destructivebehavior on a mass scale. It's time to take our power back. In her trademark no-holds-barred style, Jane Velez-Mitchell asks, 'Do you really want to be a slave, existing just to make someone else rich and powerful?' If the answer is no, then read this book. Addict Nation is our blueprint for change, but first we must see what is really going on. This is an intervention!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Velez-Mitchell (iWant: My Journey from Addiction and Overconsumption to a Simpler, Honest Life) condemns addictions to crime, celebrity, food, technology, sex, and other things in the same no-holds-barred style of her popular television show. The author targets anyone dependent on or devoted to such disparate dysfunctions as obsessive cleanliness, sexual exploitation, prescription drugs, the need to overpopulate, and technology. Drawing from her own life, the author illuminates how the government, private sector, and media (she never slips into irony) justify, romanticize, and promote addictions-essentially becoming "pushers." Each chapter focuses on an addiction and begins with an anecdote either personal or popular before shifting into intervention mode. The woman knows her facts, and her text is stuffed with statistics and anecdotes, but a few of her ideas, and her condescending tone, may turn some readers off. "Gay is the new green" proclaims the openly lesbian author in a chapter on "breeders" (addicted to procreation), and she lays guilt on non-vegans. Velez-Mitchell's intentions are equally admirable and suspect; the authority she so boldly assumes comes not from a degree or years of casework but from personal history and TV.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review

Addict Nation is a great read; I couldn't put it down. In fact, I read it over and over, and I can't wait to read it again. I think I'm hooked. But in a good way. --Joy Behar, Host of The Joy Behar Show on HLN and Co-Host of ABC's The View

Addict Nation is the most comprehensive "Blueprint for Green Living" ever produced. I see it as number one and a must read for every woman, child and man. ----Jonathan Lake, Founder of GreenTV.com

JVM breaks it down so we can not only understand addiction, but we can beat it! ----Nancy Grace, Host and Star of Swift Justice with Nancy Grace

Jane Velez-Mitchell deserves an honorary psychology Ph.D. for her insights on the human psyche. ----Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Clinical Psychologist and Author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to a Healthy Relationship

Addict Nation
Jane Velez-Mitchell
Health Communications, Inc.
3201 S. W. 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442
9780757315459, $24.95, www.hcibooks.com

Addiction runs deep in American culture, and it's not just drugs. "Addict Nation: An Intervention for America" is Jane Velez-Mitchell's call for America to fight its addictions, and she's not just talking illegal drugs. Everything from food to pornography to social networking she claims is taking control of our lives and its up to each American to shake the monkey off of their own backs. "Addict Nation" is a fascinating and very solidly recommended pick for anyone concerned about America's overall health.

(Midwest Book Review )

Addict Nation
Jane Velez-Mitchell & Sandra Mohr
Health Communications Inc.
3201 S.W. 15th St., Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8190
0757315453, $24.95, www.hcibooks.com

ADDICT NATION: AN INTERVENTION FOR AMERICA analyzes how addictions have robbed Americans of their basic freedoms of choice, with freedoms coming through marketing and packaging designed to get us hooked on everything from drugs to shopping. ADDICT NATION comes from a recovering addict who asks if addiction is being marketed by big business - and how to resist its lure. Health and social issues collections alike will find this a thought-provoking 'must'.

(Midwest Book Review "California Bookwatch" )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: HCI; 1 edition (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0757315453
• ISBN-13: 978-0757315459
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating, pleasurable read, February 4, 2011

By 

Christine Beatty (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Addict Nation: An Intervention for America (Hardcover)

Authors Velez-Mitchell and Mohr pull back the covers on America in a book replete with surprising revelations, thoughtful examination and useful solutions for a society mired in a panoply of diverse addictions. The first step in recovering from any addiction is to face the truth, which this book unflinchingly and entertainly presents.

With a decade and a half of sobriety under my belt, I didn't expect to learn as much as I did about other forms of addiction, some of which I'd not considered until now. Packed full of factual information and seasoned with insightful celebrity examples -- from Lindsay Lohan to Tiger Woods to "Octomom" -- I couldn't stop turning pages once I'd started. Even were I not a recovering addict I would still have taken great interest from a social standpoint. This is a book that should cross over from psychological and health studies to the realm of sociology.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one I will read a second time!, February 8, 2011

By 

Kayla Mayeux - See all my reviews

This review is from: Addict Nation: An Intervention for America (Hardcover)

Wow! What a book. I had to read a chapter and sit with it a while before moving on. It was packed with information. Some of the chapters I related to and could feel myself evolving as I learned through them. I am certainly going to be a much more conscious consumer! Other addictions I could see my friends and their husbands lost in. The most frightening ones she talked about were the cultural ones that are literally putting our planet at risk. These addictions are so ubiquitous in our culture that we can't even see them. Jane says "it is like an undiagnosed fatal cancer growing inside of us." America certainly could use an intervention. I am going to start rereading it immediately.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Journey" into Addiction, February 4, 2011

By 

April Evans (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Addict Nation: An Intervention for America (Hardcover)

I was a little surprised to read everything from the details of Michael Jackson's prescription drug overdose, to a case for giving trees and oceans "rights." And then there is the whole Tiger Woods sex addiction story (more information than I wanted to know!) Brace yourself for a journey.