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Wasted

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Wasted

By: Mark Johnson
Narrated by: Steven Mackintosh
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About this listen

 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, he began stealing at the age of seven, was drinking by the age of eight, and took his first hit of heroin at age 11. Art college beckoned the sensitive and intelligent boy, but he ended up in Portland prison instead.

With searing honesty, Wasted documents Mark's descent into the very depths of addiction and criminality. Homeless and hooked on heroin and crack, no one, least of all Mark, believed he would survive. And yet he somehow found the strength to pull through, and now runs his own thriving tree-surgery business, employing and helping other recovering addicts.

Both shocking and inspirational, this is a heartbreaking and compelling account of one man's struggle to save himself, and help save others in the process.

©2007 Mark Johnson (P)2007 Hachette Audio
All stars
Most relevant  
just straight real stories about the life lead whilst using heroin and where it takes you

the raw side of heroin addiction

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I've read most of the so-called misery memoirs dealing with drug addiction. This one, for mine, is peerless.

Mark had a nightmarish upbringing and went as deep into street-homeless heroin & crack addiction as it is possible to go without dying.

The narrative is thorough yet simply-written, told in a matter-of-fact manner which flows smoothly whilst never seeking sympathy - a standout feature in books of its type.

The icing on the cake is the fact that Mark went from hopeless, emaciated street addict to a social entrepreneur with an MBE. His is the most inspiring story I have ever heard and I urge everyone to hear it. It’s a shame this version is abridged because Steven Mackintosh delivers a faultless performance. Well, except maybe for Luca. Lol.

The Definitive Addiction Memoir

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