Customer Reviews

A Path to Sobriety, The Inside Passage: A Common Sense Book on Understanding Alcoholism and Addiction

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

 

 

I found this book simple to read, I was not checking for grammar or whatever, but for substance, and it has that. I have noticed on many other sites this book is rated high, and it has out sold most in its field; it has helped my friend, and thank goodness someone has written a book common folks can understand.

It is a very helpful book for somebody who is really looking for a recovery (from alcohol or drugs.) A family member after read this book start his recovery. Now I could say he is not a drunk anymore. Thank Mr. Siluk!

Reading this book I found my way to recovery from alcohol. I recommend this book to somebody looking for a recovery from drugs or alcohol. It helps me a lot.

The writing style is convoluted and overly wordy. Grammar aside, I learned nothing new about understanding alcoholism and addiction. To be fair (fair, and not fare is the correct spelling here), the author did work for a number of years as a licensed psychologist, and draws upon his vast array of experience. However, the work is written in such a disjointed manner that the reader loses focus from the topic: overcoming addiction. In one paragraph he refers to bulimia, then a couple of paragraphs later, he's on something else. His facts are not supported by other experts or studies. He cites no experts or references. He uses no statistics or charts to underline his main or strongest points. Moreover, he should have focused one or two addictions, not dozens of them. Trying to address all of them, or as many as possible, hurt the quality and focus of this work. The book had such potential (in its subject matter), but the author didn't quite carry through. In addition to being poorly written, the work is self-gratuitous. The author means to relay his knowledge and experience in the field, yet the reader learns more about the author than alcoholism and addiction. (Ex: then I did this, then I did that, etc.) All writers in this field weave in their personal experiences and some case studies, but Siluk isn't quite able to master this art.

First of all, let me say, I noticed in reading the reviews a little controversy growing, which I think is fare, it should be a two-way street. But to insult all the reviews is a bit rude. Second, I read the book, I admit I have read better written books, but I doubt I would find a more down to earth book, and to the point, written book, that is, than this one. And it might be fare to say, this of course is not a novel, and cannot be written like one, in a like manner,I doubt you will get what you want out of this book if you are not interested in the subject, that being: either the person recovering, trying to recover or wanting to know about the recovering process. I am the last of the three, wanting to know about it, and to be honest, I think I would have gotten more out of it if I was the recovering person, or a co-dependent; but I can see as in many books I read, and I do read a lot, if you are looking for something to smash you'll find it. I doubt as one person had said, a rival is looking this book to smash, I think possible a less inclined person would do it.But I don't want to take away from that reviewers perspective either, for he or she may be right, again, I'm not in the book business, or recovery, just trying to gain knowledge.

This is, without question, one of the worst-written books I have ever come across.

I don't know if the author is foreign or what, but he can not write in English. Every page - every single page - was riddled with typos, grammatical errors, run-on sentences, misused words. Honestly, this book is unreadable. We are returning it. Our first return ever with Amazon.

If this author does know the subject matter, he is unable to put it to paper. What this book needed was an editor. I have no problem with "vanity press" self-published books if they're useful, but they have to be readable.

I am very suspicious that the glowing 5-star reviews here were all written by the same person. And you'll note they've all got their share of spelling mistakes and bad grammar as well.

Do not waste your time with this book.

I had ordered several of these books in the past for my Aftercare group, and they are used not only at the VA hospital, along with a few other hospitals, I know of, and can only give praise for this book, unlike the person who gave it a low rating. I'm a counselor, and know the author, and can only think it was one of his clients who relapsed to write such nonsense. But then each to his own; I know this book has out sold many of the drug and alcohol books on the market, and has been a close contender to any and every book on drugs and alcohol available,and you can't beat them odds.

Having just entered into the world of alcoholism as a lay person, via my son's addition,I was hoping to find through Mr. Siluk's book a clearer understanding of my son's world and the world of addiction in general. Mr. Siluk, while proclaiming years of experience in counseling different forms of addition, writes his book as if he, himself, is under the influence. While there are more gramatical errors and misspellings than can be counted, to add insult to injury, Mr. Siluk also felt it necessary to curse throughout the book, chase rabbits, and go off on tangents that no one elementary in their understanding of this disease could have dreamed of following. The book is disapointing not only from an informational standpoint, but is so unprofessionally written that if Mr. Siluk does, in fact, have the credentials he boasts, one would wonder how any publisher would underwrite such an endeavor.

I've just read the book, and the reviews; the one reviewer that gave it a one star must be drunk, I doubt he read the book. I see he gave no name, so I'm pretty sure it was a rival of the writer. I didn't realize it was a vanity book, but then so did Faulkner, Twain and a few others resort to that. For myself, I'm a recovering person, and if there were some mistakes in the book, I guess I didn't notice, nor care, it got the point across, and gave me what I needed, which was not Shakespear, or a professor in English. I suggest he read Edgar Rice Burroghs, or James Joyce's first editions, it took the editors 20-years to get all the erros out of their books; this is a self-help book not a grammar course.

The best overall book on addiciton I've ever read. It was an easy read to boot. I particularly liked that he came from the same addictive world I came from, it made it easy to understand him, he really was there. Good advice.