Winner of the PEN / E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award

Moving and inspiring.... Hart's memoir, especially his description of meeting his now-adult son, is deeply honest and often painful. And his account of the ways in which scientific evidence has been ignored in the war on drugs is as alarming as it is fascinating. -- Boston Globe

High Price is the harrowing and inspiring memoir of neuroscientist Carl Hart, a man who grew up in one of Miami's toughest neighborhoods and, determined to make a difference as an adult, tirelessly applies his scientific training to help save real lives.

Young Carl didn't see the value of school, studying just enough to keep him on the basketball team. Today, he is a cutting-edge neuroscientist--Columbia University's first tenured African American professor in the sciences--whose landmark, controversial research is redefining our understanding of addiction.

In this provocative and eye-opening memoir, Dr. Carl Hart recalls his journey of self-discovery, how he escaped a life of crime and drugs and avoided having a life of addiction, the kind he now studies. Interweaving past and present, Hart goes beyond the hype as he examines the relationship between drugs and pleasure, choice, and motivation, both in the brain and in society. His findings shed new light on common ideas about race, poverty, and drugs, and explain why current policies are failing.

AND THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS . . .

I saw a Korean woman walking along the road carrying a bundle of sticks on her back. I thought to myself, Life is like that. We all carry around bundles of stories starting from our childhoods and going through the rest of our lives. Some of the stories we have forgotten and others we will never forget. Some of these stories have influenced our lives. Others have had little effect on us.

In this book I have pulled from my bundle of stories to share fifty-two of them with an added moral for each one. I have heard many people who would stand and tell their stories, hoping it would help someone else along life's journey. I hope you will find these stories interesting and the moral of each one helpful.

Carl Hart has served as chaplain, pastor, teacher and administrator. He served as the first Director of Chaplaincy for the Department of Corrections in the state of Tennessee. For sixteen years he was on the staff of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, serving the last nine of those years as Director of the Division. He then served as Director of the Chaplaincy Department for Allied Systems, Ltd. His work through the years has taken him and his wife to many parts of the world. He holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Southeastern Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Divinity Degree from Union University.

High Price is the harrowing and inspiring memoir of neuroscientist Carl Hart, a leading researcher in the field of drug addiction, who grew up in one of Miami's toughest neighborhoods and, determined to make a difference as an adult, tirelessly applies his scientific training to help save real lives.

WINNER OF THE PEN/E. O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD

Young Carl didn't see the value of school, studying just enough to keep him on the basketball team. Today, he is a cutting-edge neuroscientist--Columbia University's first tenured African American professor in the sciences--whose landmark, controversial research is redefining our understanding of addiction.

In this provocative and eye-opening memoir, Dr. Carl Hart recalls his journey of self-discovery, how he escaped a life of crime and drugs and avoided becoming one of the crack addicts he now studies. Interweaving past and present, Hart goes beyond the hype as he examines the relationship between drugs and pleasure, choice, and motivation, both in the brain and in society. His findings shed new light on common ideas about race, poverty, and drugs, and explain why current policies are failing.

I'm seeing this girl who lives with another bloke, I think she's the love of my life but she's only interested in me every other time we see each other, I'm off my head most weekends, a couple of weeks ago I had a turn. a few weeks before that I ran into a canal because I thought it was a road when I was with Eva, you remember her, the ex, she keeps popping up. Larson's twenty one and not ready to take on the the world but the world keeps insisting on putting him in the ring and his only defence is to batter his mind with weed, pills and as much booze as he can cope with. This is his story as he battles through as many mishaps and as much madness as anyone can take, will you listen?