If you were living in England and struggling with addiction issues, this book might change your life. An autobiographical account of a life controlled by alcohol and drugs for decades, it's well-written and (I suspect) well edited. It's written in the present tense, which gives the vivid and often strikingly original descriptive passages real immediacy. There's an astounding amount of detail that either indicates this is one dude whose long-term memory has made it through drug abuse unscathed, o More...

In this memoir, Mark Johnson candidly recounts his life as a born addict. Through a childhood as an abused, emotionally neglected, thieving street-running boy, he grows into a man who turns his life into a drug-fueled party. But after years of what seems to be a "manageable" habit that he continuously justifies to himself, he fathers a child. When he overdoses and wakes to find the needle still in his arm, his two-year-old son crying hysterically, dirty diaper falling off, the mother banging on More...

I've read this book a while ago, and I really really enjoyed it. As I have an aggresive father who is alcoholic as well, it was interesting to read it from the inside out. This book exactly describes how it feels for a drug or alcoholaddict to be addicted. And for a child to be abused, and have nobody that loves him.

Does that sound depressing? Well yes. And the people who call this book depressing are right. But hey, this story isn't fun. It's not happy and full of unicorns and rainbows. This i More...

|At first I thought, "Oh no, another account of abused children at the hands of an alcoholic father." But it is remarkably and candidly writted by a man who chronicles his own search for the love he needs through spent relationships, transience, jail time, alcohol and drug use, and right down the shaft of a dirty heroin needle.Chronicled are the struggles with rehab, and his attempts to stay clean for his own children. I would not suggest this for the struggling addict in rehab because the love More...

Wow, this book is depressing but amazing at the same time. A real story of triumph over adversity.There's a whole lot about his addictions, especially drug use, so don't read it if you think you'll be offended!!

I didn't care for this book. It went on and on about his years of addiction and then his rehab years we're only a couple chapters. It is amazing how addictions change people.

"Wasted: a childhood...a life redeemed" was a riveting account of a heroin addict's lifestyle, what rock bottom looks like, and what it takes to get clean.

I really liked this book. Lots of gritty detail about drugs etc but as I work in a prison it gave me an insight into the life of an addict

Super depressing look into complete addiction - living on the street, decaying body, stealing to support his habit. An eye-opening look at the total hell of addiction.

it'll be difficult to find a more engulfing book...once started, i didn't stop until finished! an awesome weekends read

Well worth a read I take my hat off to mark johnson for getting out of a life of abuse
Well done mark and a great book

Wow! The main question I had after reading this book is how is Mark Johnson still alive? I usually don't read books written by authors from England but I really enjoyed "Wasted". I would recommend this to anyone looking for a book on addiction.

A stark, powerful memoir of abuse--at the hands of his father as well as his own self-abusive behavior addicted to drugs and alcohol. Does not pull any punches.

Wow, everyone should read this incredibly honest account of seeming hopelessness and despair. An extraordinary emotional roller-coaster of a read but a journey so worth taking, life changing stuff!

Excellent book, realy makes you wonder how some kids survive!

I flew this book in record time. An amazing and quite a depressing story of how someone can truly hit rock bottom and then somehow manage to turn their life around.

i loved this book, how honest and british it was. fascinating read.

scary. sad. gross. fascinating. a peek into another world.

This book--Wow. The journey that Mark made is absolutely incredible, as well as the rawness with which he recounted it. He described his struggle so poignantly that I was brought to tears several times throughout the book.

Kaisa

Brutally honest book about drug abuse.

Best book I have read in a while.