In October 1994, William Cope Moyers was flat on his back on the floor of an Atlanta crack house. His father, veteran journalist Bill Moyers, had put together a search party while his desperate family waited at home, where he had abandoned them three days earlier. Many times before, his life had unraveled from the effects of marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol binges, but it was his crack addiction and relapse, he remembers, that caused his father to look into the eyes of his firstborn son and utter the words “I hate you.” He answered “I hate me too.”

Today, William Cope Moyers has been sober for 28 years. He is the vice president of public affairs and community relations for Hazelden Betty Ford based in Minnesota, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people recover from alcoholism and other drug addiction. He uses his own experiences to carry the message about addiction and recovery into the public arena, and he reaches out to addicted people and their families who need help.

In Broken, Moyers tells the story of a love affair with alcohol and crack cocaine that led him to the brink of death over and over again. A harrowing account, it paints a picture of a young man with every advantage who found himself spiraling into a dark abyss. Battling shame and self-doubt at every turn, the author finally emerges into the clear light of recovery as he dedicates his life to changing the politics of addiction. He urges others like himself to speak out and battle against the stigma that keeps many addicts from seeking recovery. Moyers’ story is a missive of hope for millions of Americans struggling with addiction, and an honest and inspiring account that is both wrenching and ultimately redemptive. He will convince you of the truth “addiction is not a moral failing, but a disease.”