An officer and a junkie: from West Point to the point of no return

Michael Winder longed to be a part of America's elite--"to stand in The Long Gray Line as an officer in the United States Army. His quest for academic, athletic, and leadership excellence began as a cadet at the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point. But before the end of his sophomore year, Winder buckled under pressure, and in search of an escape, he turned to alcohol and recreational drugs--"eventually plummeting into debilitating and self-destructive abuse. Despite his inability to function without hourly doses of narcotics and alcohol chasers, Winder managed to graduate from West Point and earned a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army. __An Officer and a Junkie__ is Winder's documented cautionary tale of his battle with substance abuse and dependency. With episodic, straightforward narrative, he pulls no punches in his confessions of what he did (and did not do) both inside and outside military walls, revealing his innermost delusions and most shameful acts. Once the years of self-neglect finally began taking their toll, the consequences were disastrous; Winder came to believe he was the reincarnation of Mexican impressionist painter Frida Kahlo and ultimately Jesus Christ. When Winder finally does give up drugs and embraces sobriety, he receives what his doctors assure him is a lifelong sentence of antipsychotic and mood-stabilizing medication. But his fine intellect remains, as does his brutal honesty and his riveting and unforgettable account of his descent into madness. Whereas Jim Carrolls 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 spiral 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, hes medically 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. The strength in the authors redemption is inspiring, as he moves into recovery and eventually is able to go off his anti-psychotic drugs prescribed by his psychiatrist. R-day -- Plebe -- Yearling -- Cow -- Kool -- Not So Kool -- Spring Break -- April's Fool -- Ecstasy -- Porter -- Scab -- Too Nice -- The Holy Grail -- Hawaiian Trip -- K-hole -- Graduation -- Music And Animals -- Hear No Evil -- Bliss -- Juice -- Gambling -- Customs -- Pushing Through -- A Complete Mess -- White Angel -- Ward 3a -- Winder Wonderland -- Clean And Sober -- That's Dog Shit! -- Vincent -- Back In The Saddle -- Over The Hill And Through The Woods -- Me Love You Long Time -- The Green Fairy -- Final Out -- The Boulevard Of Broken Dreams -- The Routine -- The King Of Drama Queens -- Adderall -- Frida -- Flip The Switch -- Pez -- Corpse Pose -- Diego -- The Rich Housewife -- The Flamboyant Weirdo -- The Force -- Jesus -- Commitments -- Indecent Proposal -- Fuck You, Weirdo -- A New Day Rising. Michael Winder. A Documented Memoir--cover. The author traces his painful voyage through a wide variety of substances that twisted his priorities, his psyche, and his perception of reality in a candid memoir that depicts the penalty of addiction and his journey back to a new life. Original. 25,000 first printing. Details the life of a cadet at West Point who became a United States Army officer despite abusing drugs and alcohol while at the academy, and describes his recovery after psychotic episodes.