Main description:

Don't Count Me Out chronicles the life of Bruce White from the beginning of his drug use in elementary school through criminal acts fueled by his need for drugs, to his miraculous recovery three decades later and involvement in the treatment of addicts, where he is now a leader in the rehabilitation field.

Rafael Alvarez's recounting of White's journey should inspire those dealing with the fallout of addiction. Alvarez, a journalist and screenwriter, allows the reader to get inside the head of an addict who was stealing alcohol from his parents at the age of nine, selling drugs and tripping on LSD and PCP by the time he hit seventh grade, and hooked on morphine before he turned fifteen. "Bruce White? I thought he was dead?" is a response encountered in many of the interviews Alvarez conducted.

Don't Count Me Out shines a spotlight on an improbable and stunning miracle. Though this is just one person's story, the contributing factors of early sexual assault, the role of permissive preoccupied parents, and the need for peer approval, among others, will resonate with many as the opioid crisis continues to haunt us.

Contents:

Introduction: Anybody Can1. The Most Interesting Book the Old Man Had Ever Read2. Birth / School: Before It Got Ugly3. Skipping Stones / Getting Stoned: Grade School4. Failing the Seventh Grade5. Ninth Grade in the Psych Ward (Until They Threw Him Out) 6. Last Chance High: The Baltimore Experimental High School7. Spanish Harlem: There Could Have Been Blood8. Big Fucking Indian9. Bonnie and Clyde10. Shootout on Ready11. The Stolen Carpet and the Fat Girl: State of Maryland Inmate No. 215-799, March 1991 to August 199412. Misadventure En Route to the Underworld: 1995 through 199813. Frank White / Inmate Junkie14. Free to Go15. Third Time a Charm16. College / Career / Shirt and Tie17. One Promise18. The D TrainEpilogue: A Day in His Best Life, Thanksgiving Weekend 2020