My Own Asylum [Paperback]

Jacquelyn Schaffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2006

“I live in my head,” I said. Esther Agnes-Robbin’s glasses slid to the brim of her nose, her eyebrows wrinkled in a stare I tried to ignore. I hated when she looked at me like that. Like a mental case. “Tell me what you mean.” I looked away. Imagined myself chained against a cell wall. Her eyes were closed, a fragile body curled in pain. Pieces of my insides swirled in the darkness beneath her feet. Fear. Drugs. Insanity. Maybe it was time to let it out. I sighed and licked my lips. Felt a gurgle in my throat. They were words. I spoke. The girl inside my head opened her eyes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: PublishAmerica (October 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1424134927
• ISBN-13: 978-1424134922
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,269,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Inside View of Meth, May 29, 2007

By 

Hope Vincent (CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Own Asylum (Paperback)

I recommend this book to any parent of an addict, to any addict in recovery, to any addict that would like to escape the prison of addiction, and to anyone that is thinking of trying meth "just this one time". Meth is not a friend to anyone. Period.

My Own Asylum was an excellent insight into the easy and quick descent into the hell of addiction to meth. Is takes you there in the first person as the addict and explains how fast that downward spiral can soon spin out of control. The description of the "cage" of her own mind hit particularly true. As a mother of a recovering meth addict, it helps understand the lock-up in the mentality of their private hell in their mind. The numbness, the fear, the inability to change their thought process during the depth of the addiction. It helped me understand why they can't respond with feeling during the grip of this all consuming drug control. It helped me see inside what I couldn't understand.

I'm thankful Jacquelyn was able to share her story as it is one that needed to be told, and one that desperately needs to be heard. As with any parent, we all like to think of the fairy tale story of how well we did raising our kids. The thought that we may have somehow contributed to our own child's drug addiction is hard to face when we want to believe so much that we were the perfect parent. We, as parents, don't mean to harm our child, but sometimes need to face up to the fact that there may have been things we did that shared in the way our child was hurting inside enough to "need" to try to alter what they were feeling.

Jacquelyn wrote this with no blame, no pointed fingers, and no excuses. It was merely her own story and fortunately, she was able to find recovery. That, in itself, is a rare strength for anyone fighting this addiction. I admire her ability to write and share her story with us. And I am thankful she did.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a touching story, March 17, 2007

By 

book.of.the.moment "reviewer" (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Own Asylum (Paperback)

Books about the drug culture and lifestyle always intrigue me. If they're an account of a true story it just makes it that much more interesting; that being said, this one was no disappointment. Of all the memoirs I've read by recovered addicts, this one ranks pretty high up there on my favorites list.

"My Own Asylum," is based on the experiences of the author, as she began to use, abuse and eventually become addicted to drugs. Though meth was her drug of choice, she often abused others as well. Her experimentation began as a young teenager, playing around with ecstasy and pot, and by the time she headed off to college, she was a full blown addict.

Once at college, Lynn (the main character of the book) quickly loses control of her life. She skips her classes, blows off assignments, screws over her friends, steals, sells herself and more...all for that high. We follow Lynn through the good times and bad, and we are right there with her when she hits the proverbial rock bottom.

The remainder of the book is dedicated to telling the story of Lynn's struggle to regain control of her life by getting clean. The story is honest--it speaks to the heart of the fears she faces, the triumphs and the failures as she relapses. As you read, you can't help but come to admire her for her inner strength and determination. The story is touching, honest and emotional. I loved it. I can't say enough good things about it.

This is a book to be read, reread, and shared with others. I think we all know a person or two who could use a little push in the right direction, and attempt to get themselves clean and sober. This book may be able to help. The sincerity in which it is written keeps it from being preachy or condescending in any way, shape or form. It's a wonderful book, and I suggest you all go out and get a copy for yourselves.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Novel with Insight into Drug Addiction, January 27, 2007

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Own Asylum (Paperback)

A story of life on the hard side.

It's a story that appears to be at least semi-autobiographical. It's also, unfortunately, a story that appears to be all to common among todays young.

The author tried ecstacy when she was sixteen. And by the time she went to college she was addicted to meth. She has used the forum of a novel to describe a journey through addiction, depression, and eventual recovery. Perhaps it was only through a novel that she could explore the thoughts and feelings of a girl much like herself and explain drug addiction and the subsequent mental problems to herself as well as to the outside world.

The story is brutal, profane, and very, very sad. Meth started out here in the west, and is a particularily nasty, particularily addictive, especially damaging drug. This is a very timely book as meth has now moved to the East Coast and is finally getting the national attention it needs. But even with that, there is no end in sight.

Perhaps this book can do more to explain to young people or to their parents what meth can do than the normal comments by adults. The author is still in her 20's and writes in a way difficult for us older people to understand.