Addiction and recovery are, at their core, about the meaning of life. Life on the Rocks is the first book to address addiction and recovery from a Western philosophical perspective, offering a powerful set of tools sharpened over millennia. It introduces some of the core concepts and vexing questions of philosophy to help addicts and those affected by their addiction examine and perhaps transform the meaning they make of their lives. Without assuming any familiarity with philosophy, Dr. O'Connor illuminates issues all addicts and their loved ones face: self-identity, moral responsibility, self-knowledge and self-deception, free will and determinism, fatalism, the nature of God, and their relations to others. Life on the Rocks is an indispensable guide to the deeply philosophical concerns at the heart of every addict's struggle.
"O'Connor is a gifted writer who has a most unique take on addiction and recovery. She makes Life on the Rocks accessible and fascinating, using practical insights--not only from the wisdom of philosophers but also from personal experience--to put a new spin on old clichés about what it takes to live a rich, meaningful, and joyful life beyond addiction."
Anne M. Fletcher, Author of Inside Rehab and Sober for Good
"Peg O'Connor brings her training in philosophy--and her passion for it--to bear on the nature of addiction and, more importantly, recovery from it. Both addicts and philosophers will learn much from her book, as will those who are neither. Her creative use of Nietzsche's notion of the 'Will to Power,' which she distinguishes from 'willpower,' points the way to a life not just lived, but lived wel
Francis Seeburger, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver and Author
"A wonderful, personal, lyrical book, reflecting on O'Connor's own alcoholism and what it has taught her about honesty, integrity, escapism, self-deception, trauma, and the meaning of life. O'Connor accomplishes the feat of revealing the particulars of her own fascinating life [while creating] a conversation with Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein and others. The book is a down
Owen Flanagan, James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy at Duke University
