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Psychiatrist and author Daniel Mierlak, who introduced us to his brand of gritty, clinical storytelling in Twelve Cases, now turns his full attention to drug and alcohol addiction in The Spanish Molecule. Through actual cases from his twenty-five years of practice as an addiction psychiatrist, Mierlak candidly describes the struggles of the addict, their loved ones, and his own as a physician enlisted to help. The ambiguities inherent in these struggles are not watered down for the reader, and while the author often questions his utility, one comes to understand that the house of addiction is full of trap doors for any and all who step inside. Mierlak has not produced a slick self-help book with boilerplate checklists but rather an unvarnished account of the front line battle against the scourge of addiction.