What the Early Worm Gets

About the Book

Alcohol Abuse (problem drinkers) and Alcoholism (drinking problems) constitute the top public health and public safety issues in America, to the tune of $220 billion in costs per year. Alcohol overuse is our number one killer and is behind more illness and ER visits than any other aspect of our society including cancer and obesity. As more people join your insurance pool this decade with health insurance reform, the amounts people drink and how they get help – if they need it – ARE your business. WHAT THE EARLY WORM GETS is a biting essay on the differences between alcohol abusers and those with Alcoholism from a writer who silently and rapidly hit bottom and bounced off it a few times. What is the disease, what isn’t, and what constitutes treatment? What happens when an “ordinary,” educated, middle-class man does hard time for drinking and driving? How does the system today fail?

About the Author

A journalist and mutual fund industry executive, Stevens has spoken at conferences nationwide. His own, candid story from secretly devouring two liters of whiskey a day to sobriety is a startling trip close to death that hits close to home. He’s the Guy Next Door, not the common but outdated stereotype of an Alcoholic. Popular alcohologists on the air have stellar credentials but they haven’t had to eat their own cooking. Stevens reveals his own gritty and emotional experience with losing sobriety and fighting his way back to it. It’s personal, but it’s no memoir: “I break out why relapse happens and what works from the styles of many counselors because I’m not wed to any of their methods to make a living but to keep living.”