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A Stunning Memoir about Recovery from Addiction
Author Christopher Keeley offers hope for drug addicts to get clean, to start over, and have a wonderful life

Washington, DC – (Release Date TBD) – Addiction to drugs is like a lover that you crave for – the more you give in to it, the harder it is to let go. This unhealthy obsession can cause horrible consequences, not only to yourself, but also to your family and the people you care about. Author and award winning photographer Christopher Keeley shares how he quit this nasty habit through Paradise Life, a profound collection of personal stories and photographs that inspire a spirit of recovery.

Paradise Life is the author’s personal memoir of an addict overcoming addiction and the miracle of recovery. Keeley’s photographs deal with the many facets of obsession and speak to the internal search many individuals undergo during the lifelong quest for meaning and self-awareness. Drawing on his own inner obsessive quest for knowledge as inspiration, Keeley captures pain, longing, torment, despair, hope, and love within the faces and forms of his images. His pictures are unsympathetic and communicate the inner emotional trauma of the homeless, the addicted and the lonely as well as the strength of human bonding experienced by addicts in recovery. By revealing the essence of his subjects, the works magnify with often unsettling clarity the pain of discovery, joy of friendships born of pain, or the turmoil of new journeys that resound within each person. Through these poignant images, Keeley challenges the viewer to look within one’s own heart to question, affirm, accept, or reject, leaving one with valuable insights into our own places in humanity.

Keeley declares that any addict can get clean, stop using drugs, and find a new way to live, offering his personal experience as a living example. He aims to help educate the public that addiction is a humanistic disease from which the addict and family members suffer, no matter what supportive opportunities are provided. The disease of addiction is completely profound in the aspect that help can only be obtained through a miraculous process of Recovery otherwise known as Grace. As he shares the horrors of his life and how wonderful it has become today, he hopes to help alleviate the pain and suffering of addicts and those close to addicts by being exposed to his work of art. Paradise Life will bring to light the love and truth about the feelings of an addict who has found joy, happiness and freedom.

This memoir is an excellent resource for all Professional ''Healers'' or Health Care Providers. Health Professionals, Educators and Health Services Administrators would benefit from Paradise Life. Advocates, Addiction Therapists and Mentors would also benefit from Paradise Life. A must read for any human being who cares about other human beings.

About the Author
Christopher Keeley is a resident of Washington, DC. He holds a master’s degree in social work (National Catholic School of Social Service) as well as a bachelor’s degree in fine arts (The Corcoran School of Art). Since 1997 the author has been working as a social worker supervisor in the child abuse and neglect family Court system of Washington DC. Keeley has appeared several times on television and continues to be active in photography. He has exhibited his social documentary photography internationally. He has won several awards for his work. ( )