In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction Gabor Mate MD; Knopf Canada; 2008; 480 pp $34.95 ISBN 978-0-676-97740-0

If stigma still shapes the ways we understand and respond to addictions in contemporary society - and it does - then this book deserves our attention. Gabor Mate employs both passion and reason in shaping an ambitious, sprawling book that is engaging and provocative.

The crucible that shapes Mate's views is Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, where for 8 years he has been staff doctor for the Portland Hotel Society, a remarkable agency offering "safety and caring to marginalized and stigmatized people," by housing and supporting the homeless. It is there that Mate starts and ends the book - with his patients and himself. But the journey he takes us on passes through all kinds of rough terrain to show us what addiction is, how it develops and what can be done about it.

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