5.0

This book was SICK (in a good way). I cannot believe how much I enjoyed reading this. I don’t traditionally gravitate towards autobiographies, although I did love Tina Fay’s and Mindy Khaling’s, but I saw @theskinnyconfidential post about this and it was so random I decided to give it a try. No hold on Libby either!

We all know Danny Trejo, and you probably knew he’s a reformed convict, but his full story is so fascinating.

Danny did his first drug deal at age 7, was arrested at 10, and spent 11 years in and out of prison. He grew up in a very machismo family where the men in his life as well as his peers were heavily involved in gang activity. Danny details his abusive upbringing and how it led to his incarceration in multiple prisons in California for assault, drugs, etc. Danny knew how to work the prison yard and generally act like the scariest person in the block, but decided to get sober after years of alcohol, heroin, and other drug use started to take its toll. He devoted his life to helping others in recovery, landing him in unexpected places like the movie set where he was offered a job as an extra. From there, he became a movie star but still struggled to become a better person to his family, particularly to the women in his life and his kids, who were already using. He’s now well over 70, but I can’t imagine he’ll be slowing down any time soon.

The whole story is just wild. His prison years are obviously so interesting because we all know there’s sort of a morbid curiosity to it, but his experiences afterwards are just as compelling. His belief in God also played a huge part in his recovery which was so wonderful to read.

5/5, already on my favorites list.