There Is No Heroin in Heaven

For the most part I really did enjoy this book. It's an eye opener to see a memoir from the heroin addict's mother's point of view. I've read many memoirs by actual addicts so this was an easy read with an interesting view point. I like how the author doesn't seem to hold back on any of her emotions and you can feel her turmoil and strength through her words.

There is a basic generalization of addicts in this book that I'm sure some would disagree with. But the mother is jaded and fairly so. Of course not all addicts go to such extremes and very few of the addicts I have met have no guilty conscience of their negative behaviors. In fact, it's usually the opposite. .where they feel so remorseful they get into a vicious cycle of using even more to try and numb it.

Every addict is different and not all heroin addicts are despicable junkies with no shame. But this was what she went through and experienced so from her eyes I can see howthe sstereotype would fit. There was only one other part of the book that really stood out to me as being very misinformed. When the author mentions, twice, that having air bubbles in the syringe will "almost always be fatal" and many IV users have died this way. This is very far fetched and I think William Burroughs said it best "if air bubbles could kill, there wouldn't be a junkie alive today" or something along those lines. It would take a heck of a lot of air, far more than your average 100unit syringe to prove to be fatal.

All in all, it was a quick story with a lot of heart behind it. I'd recommend it to anyone that's willing to keep their mind open and know that this is a true depiction of what an addict can do to a family, but not a guarantee of what will happen.