By: Michael Winder
Paperback Edition
March 2008


Whereas Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries painted a chilling picture of a drug addicts world, An Officer and a Junkie crosses all boundaries. It is the memoir of Michael Winder, a West Point cadet who took so many mind-altering substances that he came to believe he was Frida Kahlo. Winder tells his story chronologically, weaving from month to month across the four basic stages of the substance abuse and recovery cycle (use, abuse, rehabilitation, relapse), as it narrates his disastrous foray into drug and alcohol abuse. An Officer and a Junkie shows what drug-induced psychosis looks like from the inside. Its a startling glimpse at a promising life that becomes a train wreck and then gets even worse. When Michael finally does give up drugs and embraces sobriety, its too late. He's legally required to take strong antipsychotic medication for the rest of his days. But his fine intellect remains, as does his brutal honesty and his riveting and unforgettable account of his drug-fueled descent into madness.