Can a baby who's been forsaken half a world away save a wayward teen from self-destruction? Nick Rogen is your average small-town teenager until his mother's bipolar disorder interrupts his youth and forces him into a world full of suicide attempts, doctors, and memory-erasing electroshock treatments. When a battle with substance abuse leads him to a dead-end job twisting off bottle caps from expired soda bottles, he gives up on his childhood dream of becoming a writer. He tries everything from backpacking around Europe to winning a fridge on The Price is Right to help find meaning in his crumbling life. It isn't until his family drags him across the world to China that he begins to find hope and the inspiration to clean up his life through their adoption of an abandoned Chinese girl. Life isn't always fair though, and an unexpected death back home challenges him to finally face the life he's been trying to leave behind.
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Book Description
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About the Author
Nick Rogen likes to write. He's a brother, a friend, a student, a dreamer, and a writer who lives in the State of Washington. A Life Worth Living is his first book.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A heroic breakthrough that will inspire even the most desolate dreamers,
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This review is from: A Life Worth Living (Paperback)
Nick Rogen's A Life Worth Living is the fundamental search that we are all faced with at one point or another: what is my place in this world and how exactly do I live up to the expectations of myself and those around me? Lost and under the influence of anything he can get his hands on, Nick utilizes writing as a way to channel his aggravation towards his substance abuse, the helplessness he feels towards his mother, and the inability to break out of a dead end job. Nick Rogen's book is nothing short of inspirational for those who have been in his position and even for those who have not. When I read this book I could feel the pain practically bleeding from the pages. It is so easy for us all to overlook those who are in desperate need of help but Nick shows that even though no one could see how deeply he had damaged himself there are many around him who have helped guide him through his own recovery.
It really opens your eyes to the endless possibilities around you. If one guy can make it through all of this to come out exponentially happy in the end then we all can if we only just follow his example by choosing the struggles of happiness over materialism and temporary satisfaction found inside a bottle. In reading his book I want to make the ultimate decision to live for my happiness and reach for all of my dreams rather then the idea of power, money, and complacency. I commend Nick for his brave story telling and recommend this book for everyone so that we do not forget the simple things in life and to remember that a little encouragement goes a long way.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
moved to tears...,
By
This review is from: A Life Worth Living (Paperback)
This book is a deep insight into the nature and history of ones self and what it takes to strive for happieness in this ridiculous world we live in. Written in wry and lyrical humor, etched with deep heartache, this memoir is a shining gem, gleaming brighter than others of it's kind. I just read this book straight through in one sitting, my eyes are swollen and red from crying, my heart is swelling from all the places it's moved me. I look forward to Nick Rogen's sophomore publication with giddy, child-like anticipation!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Teenager's Life with a Bipolar Parent,
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This review is from: A Life Worth Living (Paperback)
A Life Worth Living is a heart- and gut-wrenching view of a bipolar mother with gambling and drug addictions, as experienced by her only child through his teenage and young adult years.
Nick Rogen pulls no punches as he relates the loss of his teenage dreams which led to subsequent addictions as he and his father confronted his mother's crises and denials to help her cope with them and the problems they created. The family traveled to Europe and to China in search of healing for Nick and his mother. When healing came, it showed itself in most unexpected ways. Many books are written by parents who raised a child with a disability. This is a seldom heard story of what the child of a parent with a mental disorder faced, and the extreme measures he and his family undertook to help both Nick and his mother regain their lives.A Life Worth Living
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