"Stranded in a volatile, ever-shifting family, saddled with a mercurial mother mired in crack addiction, and demeaned daily for his perceived weakness, Joseph Earl Thomas was under constant threat. Roaches fell from the ceiling, colonizing bowls of noodles and cereal boxes. Fists and palms pounded down at school and at home, leaving welts that ached long after they disappeared. An inescapable hunger gnawed at his frequently empty stomach, and requests...

Douglas is born into wealth, privilege, and comfort. His father a superstar, his mother a beautiful socialite, his grandfather a legend. But by the age of 32 he had become a drug addict, an armed robber, and-- after a DEA drug bust-- a convicted drug dealer sentenced to five years in prison. In prison he began to reverse his savage transformation, to understand the psychological turmoil that has tormented him for years, and prepare for what will be...

"Born to hippie parents and raised in New York City's East Village in the 1970s, Lisa's early years were a mixture of encounter groups, primal screams, macrobiotic diets, communes, Indian ashrams, Jefferson Airplane concerts in Central Park, and watching naked actors on off Broadway stages during the musical HAIR. By the time Lisa was ten, Lisa's mother had them pledging their lives to the Unification Church (the Moonies) and self-appointed Messiah,...