Wasted [Abridged, Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Mark Johnson (Author), Steven Mackintosh (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Mark Johnson’s father had LOVE tattooed across his left hand, but that didn’t stop the beatings. The Johnson children would turn up to school with broken fingers and chipped teeth, but no one ever thought of investigating their home life. Mark just slipped through the cracks, and kept on falling for years. Constantly in trouble at school, Mark began stealing at the age of seven, was drinking by the age of eight, and took his first hit of heroin at eleven. A sensitive, intelligent boy, he could never stay on the right path, and though art college beckoned, he ended up in Portland prison instead. With searing honesty, Wasted documents Mark’s descent into the depths of addiction and criminality. Homeless, hooked on heroin and crack, no one—least of all Mark—believed he would survive. And yet, astonishingly, he somehow pulled himself through, and now runs his own thriving tree surgery business, employing and helping other recovering addicts. His story is at once shocking and inspiring a compelling account of one man’s struggle to save himself, and help save others in the process. Abridged.

Editorial Reviews

Review

As gripping as it is appalling, WASTED is all you could ask of a misery-and-trauma book - it's shocking and it's haunting and it's about one hell of a life DAILY MAIL

About the Author

Mark Johnson was born in the West Midlands in 1970. After years of drug and alcohol abuse, he finally became clean six years ago. He now runs his tree surgery business and helps other recovering addicts.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group; Abridged edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405502355
• ISBN-13: 978-1405502351
• Product Dimensions: 0.7 x 4.8 x 5.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,145,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A solemn but ultimately optimistic tale, July 13, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wasted: A Memoir (Hardcover)

A life of horrors that no one should have to suffer. "Wasted: A Childhood Stolen, An Innocence Betrayed, A Life Redeemed" is the memoir of one Mark Johnson, who faced sexual and physical abuse from the age of four, and became an alcoholic by age eight, a junkie by age eleven, and a prison inmate by age eighteen. With such a nightmarish first two decades of life, trying to dig himself out of such a deep hole would seem nearly impossible, but Johnson managed to turn his life around. A solemn but ultimately optimistic tale, highly recommended for community library memoir collections.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reader's Percepton of "Wasted", August 15, 2011

By 

Alex - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wasted: A Childhood Stolen, An Innocence Betrayed, A Life Redeemed (Paperback)

I am currently in the process of reading this book, about one-half way through. Thus far, I am very impressed with the author Mark Johnson's skill at telling this story. The inclusion of how each character in the book feels is excellent, and often is described through the eyes of another. What makes this book so excellent is the style and reality that pours through. The story concerns real life, with the core being the family and it branches out from there. It shows how the interaction between individuals effects each person and their perceptions. So far, I am very impressed.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wasted, April 4, 2009

By 

John Back III "sharon back" (florence sc usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wasted: A Memoir (Hardcover)

great book couldnt put down when i started reading mark johnson done a grat job