Editor's Note: People have been writing books about addiction and recovery for generations, but, over the last decade or two, the addiction memoir has become one of the fastest growing genres in publishing. Maybe more of us are falling prey to addiction. Maybe we have become, as a society, more accepting of the fallen. Whatever the reason for the genre's explosive growth, it's not difficult to imagine why so many readers have come to find so many of its titles so compelling. They let us know that our experiences of addiction -- direct or indirect -- are not totally unique.
This article originally appeared on TheFix.com.
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Sam Lansky is a writer from New York City. He writes about entertainment and culture for MTV.com, Billboard, and The Huffington Post.