Customer Reviews

I Romanced The Stone

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are an educator of our youth then you simply MUST READ this book!

Next to going down the lonely and terrible road of crack cocaine addiction yourself, this is the closest you will ever get to a firsthand experience of how devastating this drug can be.

As a public educator of middle school and high school students for 24 years I have seen many children grow from childhood to adolescence and on into adulthood. Over the years I have celebrated as I witnessed dozens of incredible success stories where former students have gone on to do great things with their lives. Conversely though, imagine how difficult it has been for me when I have seen shining-star pupils with the potential to do literally anything with their lives end up jobless, on the streets, or even worse, dead because of an addiction to drugs or alcohol. If only I had a tool such as Marvin D. Wilson's book "I Romanced The Stone" sooner!

Once you start reading this book you won't be able to put it down. You will become totally and fully immersed in the shadowy world from which Wilson almost didn't emerge. You will personally feel the physical and emotional pain that he admittedly caused himself and his family. You will shake your head in disbelief at how a drug could get a hold of an intelligent, educated, talented, and morally upright man and shake him literally to the core of his soul until he had become someone not even his closest family members could recognize. And then, you won't be able to stop smiling as you read the manner in which he, with the help of his God and those who love him the most, picked himself up by his bootstraps and methodically climbed out of the pit into which he had allowed himself to fall.

I will be keeping a few copies of "I Romanced The Stone" around my desk to give to the student who would benefit from reading this incredible story. It just might save a young life. It is hard-hitting, doesn't pull any punches, and has plenty of spicy language, so it probably isn't appropriate for most children under the age of 15 or 16, but it is an invaluable tool for the adolescent who displays the tendencies of addictive and/or self-destructive behavior. I have two children, aged 20 and 22 who don't appear to have any such tendencies, but they will be getting a copy of the book from me as well!

Buy it now, read it, and I'm sure you will agree. "I Romanced The Stone" is a story that everyone should read!

This book should should be required reading in every school. Follow the path of a man who got caught and trapped in the world of drugs with little hope of escape. Wilson tells of the creeping destuctiveness that drugs can cause and offers himself as an example of how not to live your life. Only through personal courage and the support of family and friends does the author live to tell his tale. Help our youth not make the same mistakes and spread the word about this book!

I enjoyed Marvin's tale of how he overcame crack. I was curious to hear a tale about how a person with a great job, business, family and friends falls into this situation. Marvin sets the story up by explaining his normal life pre-crack, and his take on the status quo and religion, his love of music and his vintage Les Paul guitar. As a reader you can relate to him, except you do get a sense that he is opinionated, especially politically and religiously. Midway through the story, I was wondering what this guy looks like and was pleased to see a photo of the author in the back of the book. The author is a handsome, yet average white man. His dialogue with the dealers and hookers had me wondering. the story is not what I would call intense. Anyway, the story is great, but I was turned off by a lot of the religious writing. If you want a good story without the Jesus speak, don't read this book. If you do, here it is. I gave it 3 stars because it was too preachy for my taste.

Little did I know when I sat down to read Marvin Wilson's I Romanced The Stone" I would be reading about myself and my addictions. Different drugs of choice, of course (computer, television and procrastination), but addictions nonetheless. Anything that keeps you from being your true and total self and anything that keeps one from finding their true inner peace is a drug. And just when I had "serious doubts about my ever being whole again", here comes a book so poignant, so deep, and so apropos I now know that healing is possible. To experience the joy of being healed, delivered and set free has to be an awesome feeling. A must read for everyone who is addicted or not! Rosa Ferguson author of LOVED TO DEATH: A Different Kind of Love Story

I am a mother of two children in their early twenties and an educator. I found the book, I Romanced The Stone, riveting! I simply couldn't put it down. Marvin brilliantly took me places I hope to never go personally.

Like any great author, Mr. Wilson allows you to feel, smell, and see everything that is happening to him during those dark, confused times. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next and, thankfully, it was an awesome ending! A true testiment of the miracles God preforms in today's troubled times.

You must read it!

"I Romanced the Stone" is the story of a descent into what I would call Hell on Earth. If you're like me and think, Oh, that could never happen to me, think again. Marvin Wilson was a successful, white, middle-aged family man with everything going for him. Yet he descended down into the world of crack cocaine and nearly lost it all. If it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone, but for the Grace of God. I agree with another reviewer's comment that the religious proslyetizing at the end of this memoir was not to my personal preferences, but that doesn't take away any of the power or punch from the story and the way it's told. A must-read for anyone who ever thought about trying drugs, anyone struggling with a drug addiction, or the family members of someone with this problem. It is an eye-witness account from the inside out of the devastation this drug wreaks on one's body and psyche. And it is a crucial lesson in the seduction of that world.
Karen walker

Marvin D. Wilson is a fairly average looking fellow. Great smile, youthful, twinkling eyes, but if you passed him in a crowd he'd pass as a fairly typical fifty-something-year-old grandfather. If I told you that only three years ago he'd been a strung-out crack-head who'd lost his family and nearly his life, you'd be amazed - I was. I Romanced the Stone is the title bestowed upon Wilson's tell-all account of his rapid descent into drug addiction as well as his subsequent deliverance from it.

From hippie to Buddhist minister and successful entrepreneur, Wilson lays out the background for his fall by relaying the worldview and beliefs that eventually led to his slippery slide into full-blown dependency. With his trademark tongue-in-cheek humor Wilson relates his condescending views of the "Just Say No" war against drugs, yuppies, capitalism, Jesus etc. Life is good for him, secure in his own prejudices, financially comfortable. A sudden economic crisis followed by depression, an extra-marital affair with a prostitute and a single hit from a crack-pipe quickly send his life into a downward spiral.

With a deep desire to expose the dangers of crack cocaine, Wilson delves into the depths of the desperation and depravity he experienced while avoiding graphic details. Readers are made aware of his adultery, the lengths he went to for a hit, the frequency, size of stones and the stupendous difficulties faced while coming clean. Already somewhat familiar with Wilson's written work through his blog, I was shocked to read his, "five minutes out, holla atcha when I'm gettin' short." Somehow I can't picture him saying that, but then again the man I read now is a completely different fellow from the one he was then.

Wilson does spare us from graphic sex scenes and excessive cursing (though it is used for emphasis, the actual usages must have been much higher.) It should be noted that descriptions of the consumption of crack cocaine are shared with enough detail to enable readers to pick up the `works' - the paraphernalia required to smoke rock cocaine - themselves. The utmost emphasis must be placed upon Wilson's admonition in the preface, "NEVER TAKE THAT FIRST HIT!" If you know or suspect that a loved one is succumbing to addiction, I advise you read I Romanced the Stone immediately. The first hand account will enable you to watch for signs of dependence and respond firmly and lovingly.

All is not dark, however, and through the courageous faithfulness of a loving family and above all - an encounter with the living God - this man was born anew. Whole healthy, awash in love, restored, forgiven - with God all things are possible.

As a survivor of recreational drugs myself, I'm amazed at the coherence with which Wilson writes. This work was rapidly completed within the ten weeks following the end of his addiction. I did find some awkward phrasing and word choices throughout the book, but when I think back to my own mind-melding experiences with drugs, I'm amazed that Wilson was as equipped to write as his book demonstrates. His ability to write well is nearly as miraculous as his own deliverance!

Written as a brand-new follower of Jesus, Wilson's conclusions need to be read with some discernment. I remember my deeply flawed understanding of the ways of God at ten weeks post-conversion, and I'm thankful I never wrote them down. I would have resonated with Wilson's somewhat pluralistic statements mingled with an enthusiasm to introduce others to Christ; I've had nearly identical conversations with my own husband a couple of weeks after meeting Jesus. In truth, even now Wilson and I hold wildly divergent doctrinal positions, but I can see God's hand at work in his life.

While Wilson was already one of the most vibrant personalities I've met online, the opportunity to know him better through this autobiographical work has meant much to me. If you'll journey with him in print I think you'll feel the same.

Raw, down-and-dirty, and unfiltered, "I Romanced the Stone" is the story of an aging hippy and his descent into the madness of becoming a crack user. Marvin Wilson had used just about every drug known to man during the Peace and Love Years of the 60s so what would one little experimental hit from the crack pipe hurt? He soon found out that smoking crack cocaine wasn't the same as smoking marijuana, the main drug of choice for the "tune in, turn off, and drop out generation." Marvin is a very lucky man in the fact that he is still alive to tell this compelling story. "I Romanced the Stone" is a must read for all who have even THOUGHT about taking that first hit from the crack pipe.

Kristie Leigh Maguire
Multi-published, award-winning author
[...]

Marvin Wilson transports you into the world of a drug addict with the art of a writer. This is a well written book and a testimony to the resiliency of the human spirit in crisis.
He lost everything before he was forced to face his demons. He faced them head on and won the fight. This book speaks to everyone who has known his agony or had known someone who has walked the same path as he.
This book is a must read.
Pamela Templin

Marvin Wilson destroys all the stereotypes of drug use on both ends of the scale. He is neither part of the Hollywood/New York "elite" associated with upscale drug abuse, nor is he a part of the underclass. He is just an average middle class guy who fell into a bottomless pit.
His recovery from drugs and the recovery of his marriage is an inspiration for anyone who has felt that their lives had become hopeless.
His book takes the reader on a ride of emotions as he shares a truly remarkable story of despair and redemption.
This is a must read.