Get Up: A 12-step Guide to Recovery for Misfits, Freaks, and Weirdos

As an atheist with a background in fundamentalism, Bucky Sinister was skeptical of 12-step groups when the time came for him to get sober. He was afraid of losing his artistic abilities and had big problems with the higher power concept. In spite of his hesitations, he stuck with the program and it rewarded him greatly. In Get Up, he shares the knowledge he gained on his journey, from being afraid of the 12-step philosophies to embracing them, motivating others to join him in their own efforts to get clean.

Sinister, a spoken word artist, poet, and performer, well-known on the West Coast for his grabbing, truthful, funny performances, puts out his own story, no frills, no excuses, and no holds barred. He offers a tough-love approach to recovery for all those, like him, who are turned off by traditional recovery books. Sinister got sober using the 12-step program, has stayed sober, and now he leads the very group he joined on his path to recovery. In Get Up, he shares the stories and the steps that come from the self-identified scum bags who just might save your life. He talks straight to readers about how to make it work if they can't buy into the program right away. For example, Higher Power can be a whole lot of things-Thor and metaphor among them. He helps readers to accept the group in spite of their differences, rather than walking away.

"I have been sober for more than 21 years, and this is the first time I have seen anyone take on the challenges of staying with a 12-Step program with such frankness. This is one of the best recovery books I have read, a whole new approach written with intelligence and honesty, and with a Buckys approach to the Higher Power concept will serve to help the millions of people out there who struggle with it every day."
Tom Callan, president of Board of Directors of Changing Echos, a drug and alcohol treatment center

"Every single person should own Bucky Sinister's 12 step book. Addict or not. It is an incredibly funny and interesting guide on how to successfully unpack one's mind when it's overpacked. Simply put, this book should replace every magazine in every plastic surgeon's office and every bible in every motel."
Amber Tamblyn, Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actress and poet