Crazy Town: Money. Marriage. Meth.

Meth, there is little good to say about it. Crazy Town: Money. Marriage. Meth. tells the story of Sterling R. Braswell and his wife. Mrs. Braswell became a user of meth, and he tells the story of her downward spiral. He also speaks on the long and dark history of the substance, including use by notorious figures and how its dangers have been known for decades. Designed as a wake up call against the substance for Americans, "Crazy Town" is a tragedy and history in one, highly recommended. --Midwest Book Review<br /><br />The cover says it all, depicting the bug-eyed, mush-mouthed drug addict at the center of this beauty-turned-beast story. Author Sterling Braswell weaves an insightful history of the worldwide methamphetamine epidemic into his cautionary tale about being blinded by love, and how it cost his fortune, his sanity -- and nearly his life -- to escape. --Jim Barnes, Managing Editor, Independent Publisher Online Drugs, violence, sex and betrayal. Sound like the tagline from the newest Megan Fox movie? Maybe, but those components are also the basis for the book Crazy Town: Money. Marriage. Meth. by Sterling R. Braswell. Published right in our own backyard by Wilkes-Barre-based Kallisti Publishing, Inc., Crazy Town is the true story of a man who thought he had it all, until methamphetamine destroyed the delicate house of cards he didn t realize he was building. In addition to being based on true events, the book is an exploration of the rise of the meth epidemic in our country, offering some very interesting insight among the twists and turns of Braswell s tumultuous past. In Crazy Town, the author provides a first-person account of his life up to the present. In short, he reconnects with and marries his childhood sweetheart, Lucille. As is often the case in relationships, Braswell is too busy seeing life through his rose-colored glasses to notice all of the glaring red flags in their relationship. Not to mention the fact that his ranch hand Clyde is operating a meth lab right on his property. Eventually, though, the author is forced to face the bitter reality that Lucille is an addict, and with her addiction comes all of the baggage associated with substance abuse. What follows is a devastatingly depressing account of the dissolution of Braswell s marriage and his personal battle with his feelings for Lucille, as well as some rocky years spent in divorce court. At first, the way the book is organized seems to take away from the personal narrative Braswell is trying to give the reader. The chapters concerning his life seem significantly shorter than those relaying the development and evolution of meth use, and the reader is always left wanting more pieces of the puzzle. After getting a bit more in-depth, however, one can begin to see a direct correlation of the history of methamphetamine use to Braswell s own story. For example, from the facts he unearthed pertaining to the development of at-home meth labs (a phenomenon with which our generation is now all too familiar), the reader is able to understand how over-the-counter medications came to be used in the homegrown meth operations around our country, and at about the same time the reader also is familiarized with the antics Clyde is up to on Braswell s property. Braswell also points out some very interesting facts that he discovered in his research. Adolph Hitler, Jim Jones, Charles Manson and Andrew Cunanan (Gianni Versace s murderer) were all amphetamine users in one way or another. While it s true that all of these people were probably unstable to begin with, it cannot be ignored that the addition of amphetamine to an already volatile cocktail probably took their degree of violence to an entirely new level. Crazy Town is a startling look at how a drug can singlehandedly destroy a person and those who love him. Though depressing at times, this intimate glimpse into Braswell s life allows the reader a new perspective on the meth crisis in today s culture. His findings and the way in which he sums up the history of the problem also make it easier to understand how and why it is becoming an epidemic. It is obvious that this is an issue close to Braswell, and this book is his attempt to shed more light on the lurking crisis. Rating: W W W --The Weekender Since I was young I had what I needed, but never what I wanted. The earliest that I could get a job, around 7 or 8 years old, I did, and I mowed lawns and weeded flower beds. Anything I could do to make money. And from age 15 on I worked at actual jobs, including all throughout my time at the university. I worked long hours and continued to put off everything else in my life for my career. And though some people call it luck, I took a job for little money but lots of stock options to work for Microsoft. And I worked 100 hours per week for years. And as hard as it was, it was also challenging and fun. So many people that I worked with could only take the life for a few years, then they would burn out. And I knew that I would eventually burn out too. But I knew that an opportunity like this would only come along once in a lifetime, so I continued day after day, year after year. And by the late 90s, I had millions in stock options and assets. I would never have to work again. By then, I had slowed down some, although I still worked at a pace faster and longer than most. But I did take time to get married to my high school sweetheart via sheer chance. We could would never have the money problems that break up so many families. Although she had experienced prescription drug abuse, she was a professional, and this is not uncommon. And she seemed to get through this time OK. Then she started using meth. The craziness of the next few years, which to me seemed even more horrible than my worst nightmares, left me almost completely broke. Financially, emotionally, and spiritually.