I liked this book a lot for it's clear and dispassionate evaluation of theories of addiction that are now being further illuminated by the advances in neuroscience research. It is clearly a good time to evaluate this with so much more information and the ineffectiveness of many treatment programs. The author shows how neuroscience research can support the disease model, but also how this is an incomplete picture. He mentions the positive parts of treatment programs, including AA and NA, along with some of the ways that new work suggests alternatives or changes may increase effectiveness. He allows for genetics, trauma and particular personalities to make certain people more susceptible. He did not just promote his theory in a vacuum. Marc Lewis has the authority to speak to the topic as a former addict and as a Neuroscientist, and the stories he chose to exemplify his points are compelling and help bring them to life.

One of the parts I most enjoyed was the extensive discussion of neural pathways that change in the formation and treatment of addiction. For a non-neuroscientist, there is a lot of science discussed, but at a level that is mostly accessible. If that does not float your boat, you can skim over the details, and get the main points that things change in the brain with addiction, and there are biological reasons for it. I think hearing that with authority will be helpful to many addicts who want treatment but are still struggling. The plasticity of the brain allows humans to become addicted easily with things that are initially highly desirable, but also paves the way for hope, because those neural pathways can be modified over time. No one single, simple solution, but a pathway that can differ for each person fighting with addictions of many types.