Customer Reviews

Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Christopher Lawford has written a soul-bearing autobiography that spells out his drug addiction, his recovery and his extended family's influence over the years. While it is nicely written and funny on one level, it is revealing on another one...and not on the fortunate side.

Mr. Lawford has lived fifty years of an often confusing life. Born into the Kennedy family he has always seen himself as a "second string" Kennedy....one of those cousins who gets mixed up in the whole clan and lacks an identity. Partly because of this but also owing to his genetic makeup, he turned to drugs at an early age and treaded water for about twenty years before taking the courageous step to take charge of his life. To that end, I give him enormous credit.

There are many problems, however, with this book. It needs serious editing, for instance. Drugs and womanizing are the center of his life, but three hundred pages of this is enough to swamp a manatee. Unhappily for the reader, the final pages are not much more satisfying. Lawford becomes overly preachy about his recovery and then proceeds to recount the dissolution of his marriage. If Christopher Lawford has grown, I don't see much evidence of it. As proud as he is to trumpet to others that he is a Kennedy, it seems he always turns to them at every corner for his needs. They are his enablers and I don't get a picture that this will stop anytime soon, regardless of the author's protestations of becoming an individual apart from his family.

As he often mentions in "Symptoms of Withdrawal", Christopher Lawford has had every advantage in life without much forward success. I wish him well in his continued recovery but also had hoped that this book had been written in a better way.

A quick scan of the reviews shows this book has been controversial with mixed results. Did I enjoy and/or learn something from this book? Absolutely! Is Mr. Lawford a flawed writer? Without a question. Would I recommend this book? Yes, if you have an interest in the Kennedy legacy particularly, but also if you have an interest in recent history from the 1960s forward, discussions of interpersonal relationships or drug use, or if you have an interest in the phenomenon of celebrity culture.

By now you've probably figured out this is a biography of Christopher Lawford, son of Peter & Pat Lawford, nephew to the Kennedys. Chris gives a good summary of what it is like growing up in a family of celebrities including frequent visits from Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. Without a question his famous father had a unique charisma. From this idealic life living on the beach in Santa Monica he is quickly shuffled to New York as his parents divorce and his father's influence going forward can only be called flawed at best. Surprisingly, the role of his mother in the book is somewhat silent. Yes, he presents glowing love letters written to his mother but that is balanced by later discussions of her drinking and living abroad with his sisters. Frankly, she comes across as quite distant and one must wonder where she was during the massive drug abuse described.

As to the drug abuse, Chris projects that his best former friend, cousin, and deceased David Kennedy, as well as Robert Kennedy, were active drug users with no real repercussions from the family. Now I know it's much more complex than that but there is not one mention in the entire book of any type discipline! Come on Mom, can't you do anything????? Well, maybe not, as their family seems to have more than their fair share of addicts and other issues.

In my opinion, the person in his story that comes across the best is Ted Kennedy. Described as a typical good natured uncle who attempts to help all of his nephews/nieces in their times of need. And this is the strength of this book. If you want a look inside the Kennedy culture without attempting any salacious juice other than the drug use, then this is it. I think he handled his family legacy very well and have great respect for the nurturing nature EXCEPT THEIR INABILITY TO HELP IN THE RAMPANT DRUG USE OF THE NEPHEWS. Want some John Kennedy stories? It's all here. No dirt. Just admiration for some very famous people he was lucky enough to be related to. And when I say lucky to be related to, I mean most of us are not worried about running down our trust fund on drugs. He was.

Unfortunately, the drug use sections read much too long. Frankly, it almost borders on braggadocio, "look how many drugs I can do without killing myself". But it is sad, compelling and unexplainable. Parents with kids who have abused drugs know how difficult the struggle is. But to read this book from the point of view of the abuser, it makes you wonder what the rest of the family was seeing.

The last part of the book covers his recovery. Sorry, Chris, this is my least favorite part. I'm glad to see he righted his life, but a guy born with so many opportunities, most of which he blew, it's just hard to have much sympathy or pride in his conversion.

In closing, I found this book fascinating and I strongly recommend it if you have some of the interests I mentioned above. Does that mean I liked everything in the book? Not really. And while I may have made some caustic remarks about the author, I must applaud his candor in sharing this compelling story which I found quite engaging.

This is one of the most intense books I've read in a while. It's Lawford's account of his life as a Kennedy, Lawford and an addict. The fly leaf sets up the story with the following: What happens when you are born with the American dream fulfilled? I was given wealth, power, and fame when I drew my first breath. Now what?

The first half of the book "packs so much material on his family that a Kennedy-parasite biographer could find a career's worth of stories," writes Janet Maslin of NY Times. Then half way through we descend into the bleak world of addiction. I'm fortunate that drugs, alcohol, and addiction have not played a meaningful role in my life, but I had a few friends who became addicted 20 years ago and I spent years trying to help them before giving up. I lost both of them. As a result, the book had an unbelievable impact on me. I worked my way through the first half slowly -- it was hard to move through it very quickly.

The second half is a story of renewal, as he writes: "For those of you who bought this book for stories about my descent into darkness, the Rat Pack, and the Kennedys - you can stop reading now. For the rest, I'm here to tell you the most interesting part of my story is not what happened in the dark alley but what has happened in the sunlit room." Slowly - Lawford starts to make progress. As the period of time that he's sober and clean lengthens, he starts to address his issues, and some of his real demons. He is incredibly honest, extremely insightful, and admirable in how he takes responsibility for his actions.

This book is a journey, and what a journey it is and as Lawford says has to be read from beginning to end. There's no index...which I thought was brilliant. Five Stars *****

We give the unvarnished truth short shrift in our hold-it-together world; Chris reveals a common vulnerability we all share. How does he manage to tell the emotional truth, spill the beans, and still reflect upon his extended family members with appreciation, pride and fairness? (I found overall that this book is a paean to Senator Ted Kennedy who with humor and service keeps the legacy flickering) This reader has never been a Kennedy clan fan... "Whatever" is my response to hearing about their doings - I even have to admit rushing through Chris' narratives when it came to all those football games and rowing and various sports at gatherings.
What's the motive behind all this activity? Worthiness. All of us humans feel the need to prove ourselves worthy of this "gift" of life- how about when life gives you a movie star absent dad and a glamorous famous Mum with her own brand of white knuckle clenched teeth Irish steel will - the stuff that is necessary to "survive"? Chris meets the nexus point that practically guaranteed dramatic addiction- the psychedelic sixties and seventies at prep school -privledged, terrified- with access to hard drugs that are like candy to a 13 year old. With a genesis like this I am surprised that his active phase was a short as it was.The miracle that is brought about in surrender is a really graceful tale.I found the book exciting and perceptive from many angles, but I truly appreciated because it was his own- truth telling at it's best. Perhaps the next books will be anecdotal about life in hollywood , detailing what it is like to live in such a superficial ego driven war zone... I loved reading the few tid-bits that were included in this book. As well, Chris could write about living with sobriety one day at a time- the point is- he could , but let's leave should out of the picture- like he says at the end, LTFU.

...But as interesting as parts of Mr. Lawford's story are (especially his pre-adolescent period), I couldn't get past his issue with homonyms. I know editors play a part in this, so who was it that couldn't distinguish between "bale" and "bail", or "it's" and "its", or "than" and "then"?

Lawford also comes across to me as somewhat egomaniacal, which I guess shouldn't suprise me, since he's an addict and a Kennedy, but for that to come through in his writing was offputting at times.

The problem with "Symptoms of Withdrawal" is that, as a reader, I am left suspecting that Christopher Lawford remains in a partial state of denial. He can only look inside his psyche to a certain degree. As a result, we get only a portion of the truth. There are numerous incongruencies: Just how IS a guy who has a severe addiction to drugs and booze able to graduate from Law School? What lead him to get naked on the set and get fired? Why did he get drunk and stoned with his Dad the night before his sister's wedding? Why did he shut down so completely when his father was in the midst of what is undoubtedly one of the saddest declines in Hollywood history? In the end, the real key to the story--the similarities between father and son--he leaves alone, preferring to talk about the Kennedys. Chris and Peter seem quite similar: Intelligent, classy, talented--and flawed.If Christopher Lawford had been more forthcoming, this could have been a great book but, as it is, it is only a fairly good read.

what we are left with is another middle-aged male who had to leave his wife (who stayed through all the s**t)and children in order to "find himself". Not suprisingly in the arms of a YOUNG blonde "angel". Kudos to him for getting sober--a rasberry to him for what he has done with his soberity and to the immediate family who loved him through to it.

I was looking forward to reading this book because most of the readers here sounded very positive until I saw all the photos that show the authour's narcissism.
I don't really think this guy is that wonderful, inspirational person. The way he described the mother of his three children was kind of callous ("I had great sex every day with her for 4 years. I usually lost interest in sex with my past girlfriends after two years." or something like that. I feel sorry for his daughter or ex wife to read this.) Explanation of his impending divorse was also rough and impersonal.. trying to sound deep and sincere but so shallow that we can see through he just wanted to be a part-time daddy and to pursue other most beautiful women. He was a guy who asked his famous uncle to bail him out every single time he got in trouble after all, so irresponsible and spoiled. I have no idea why readers here thought his writing is beautiful. There is not much beautiful about it. He is kind of gossipy. Someone here said she left this book behind in the hotel room after finishing it. I wish I was reading this in a hotel room too.

I admit it, I chose this book because of my admiration and fascination of the Kennedys, particularly Jacqueline. In his writing, Mr. Lawford draws us into the world of the elite, more fascinating because of his shrug of nonchalence, just every-day life. Then we're coerced into the world of drugs (even stealing an elderly woman's purse for drug money) and addiction. Mr. Lawford's talent as a writer shows in his down-to-earth, pragmatic, and yet lyrical speech as to just how the downward spiral happens. I thought, Oh No, not another drug addiction book, just what the world needs. Yet the authors writing lifts it up out of the mundane (while keeping its ordinary base) into the voices of compassion and soul. At all times, this book is a deeply moving love story of the cousin who wasn't saved (David, who Mr. Lawford named his own son after, who tragically died from drugs). Mr. Lawford was at times almost too honest and self-scathing, he kept sharing letters from others who all commented on his kindness, but he never really acknowledges this kindness in his own words, other than in his tender yet needy love letters to his Mother. He talks about finding redemption and meaning in a life of service, but again, his stories don't really discuss this aspect of who he is. The only other area that he fails at is in the talk of his disolution of his long-time marriage. He makes a statement that women's talk of wasting their years on a man who then leaves them (for a younger blonde model) is nothing but crap, because they've gotten what they wanted. It sounds like a limited excuse to get what HE wants. His reasons for leaving his wife don't sound true. Either he left a lot of things out in order to protect his ex and children, or he still has work to do in that area of his life. He says that he got tired of cheating on his wife and not being honest, but he hasn't shared with the reader any of his skirt-chasing activities. Is he now cheating on his new girlfriend, the stereotype young blonde? Here's a whole facet of the Kennedy's that could be explored! Mr. Lawford does explain finally, to my satisfaction, what has helped create this family of social changers, and at what cost.

The best part about your book is "You didn't make soberity sound easy or fun". I quit all the fun (dancing on pool tables, running from the cops in allies, etc..) over 25 years ago. I'm only 57. I'm still growing up. My family raised me at "The Pink Lady" bar in Denver in Larmer Street. My family rejected me when I quit drinking. You really tell the story with the truth of the pain in losing everyone you love and starting over. I'm so proud to find a real person like you.