"No other writer has captured the essential truths about illness with as much clarity." -Annie Dillard

With compassion and insight, Michael Stein tells the true story of one young woman addicted to Vicodin, following her from the start of treatment, through relapse, into long-term recovery. The Addict takes us into the heart of the fastest-growing drug disorder in the United States—the addiction to prescription painkillers—and into the mind of a doctor who wants to help and understand his patients. Written in a deeply personal style from the front lines of an epidemic, it is filled with moving and thought-provoking stories about how addicts think, feel, and talk about their conditions. In this intimate story, Stein shows how common misperceptions about getting and staying sober persist at every level of the addiction-care system. And he creates a searing portrait of the personal bond between doctor and addict, which he believes can be the key to sobriety. A novelist, physician, and author of The Lonely Patient, Michael Stein has been treating addiction for more than 20 years. A professor of medicine at Brown University Medical School, he is also an international authority on substance abuse. He lives in Providence, RI.