The original Side Trips From Cowboy (subtitle, Addiction, Recovery and the Western American Myth) was published in 2009. This new edition, with the addition  of “Revisited,” to the title, is also heavily revised. There was a lot of material in the older version that just didn’t need to be there, and some new material added that did.

So far, this book has taken over three decades to write, rewrite, edit, re-edit, design and re-design. This new version is a better book and a better resource for both recovery from addiction and Western “mythtory.” Plus, it has a prettier cover.

In the past almost four decades, I have pursued and achieved  abstention and continued recovery from addiction, which is an ongoing process that I expect to last the rest of my life. Some days, it’s not much fun, but the other alternatives — death, insanity or prison — seem much less attractive. 

If you have an addict in your life, whether it’s you or someone you know, you may wish to take a side trip into Side Trips. It could save a life, maybe even yours.