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Thirty-Thousand Steps
- Author
- Jess Keefe
- Narrator
- Mia Hutchinson-Shaw
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 15 December 2022
- Run Time
- 8 hours 49 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
After Jess Keefe ended things with her long-term boyfriend, she moved in with her brother Matt in hopes that family could help her not only heal from the break-up but also evolve into a healthy adult. But that fantasy ended when Matt’s heroin addiction came roaring back after lying dormant for years, leading to a fatal overdose on a warm October night.
Thirty-Thousand Steps is a powerful and transformative memoir that interweaves the author’s obsessive training to becoming a distance runner, along with her singular, focused research into the science of addiction in the shadow of grief after the death of her brother.
In the year that followed Matt’s death, Jess lived alone for the first time in her life while struggling with a loose, bereaved mind. She became obsessed with what happened to her brother and how things could have been different. She dove into research about addiction and drugs. She excavated their shared childhood and young adulthood for clues.
During this time, she was also learning how to become a distance runner. Jess pushed her body to its limits to quiet the chaos in her mind. After losing Matt, she knew she’d never be the same.
With a propulsive narrative, a unique voice, empathy, and even humor, Jess weaves her grieving experience together with explorations of the social, political, and scientific drivers that influenced what happened to her brother. Thirty-Thousand Steps explores the psychosocial risk factors that lead to addiction, the cudgel of Catholicism, the joy and shame in the early-aughts queer experience, and the extent to which one can push mind and body to regenerate after a major loss.
Critics Review
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“Mia Hutchinson-Shaw’s narration is intimate and candid, creating the quality of being told a story by a friend…Even with its heavy subject matter, this audiobook is hard to stop listening to…A must-listen.”
Library Journal (starred audio review)
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“Keefe’s remembrances of her brother are touching, and her explanation of the science of addiction and medical professionals’ failure to treat it as a medical condition and not a personal vice give broader context to Matt’s story. The result is a poignant exploration of addiction and loss."
Publishers Weekly
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“A beautiful tribute to a lost brother and to running toward, not away from, our lives.”
Maia Szalavitz, author of Undoing Drugs
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“This book is a profound act of love, a hand to hold in the dark, and a road map out of hell.”
Leigh Cowart, author of Hurts So Good
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“A lot has been written about the opioid epidemic but nothing as tender as Jess Keefe’s debut.”
Tessa Miller, author of What Doesn’t Kill You
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“Peels back the misunderstood layers of addiction’s impact on those most affected—loved ones…A powerful reminder that there is life and purpose after loss.”
Ryan Hampton, addiction recovery advocate
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Jess Keefe
- Narrator
- Mia Hutchinson-Shaw
- Duration
- 8 hours 49 minutes
- Release Date
- 15 December 2022
- ISBN
- 9798212239134
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Memoirs, Biography: general, Gender studies: women and girls, LGBTQ+ / Gay and Lesbian Studies, True stories of heroism, endurance and survival
Synopsis
After Jess Keefe ended things with her long-term boyfriend, she moved in with her brother Matt in hopes that family could help her not only heal from the break-up but also evolve into a healthy adult. But that fantasy ended when Matt’s heroin addiction came roaring back after lying dormant for years, leading to a fatal overdose on a warm October night.Thirty-Thousand Steps is a powerful and transformative memoir that interweaves the author’s obsessive training to becoming a distance runner, along with her singular, focused research into the science of addiction in the shadow of grief after the death of her brother.In the year that followed Matt’s death, Jess lived alone for the first time in her life while struggling with a loose, bereaved mind. She became obsessed with what happened to her brother and how things could have been different. She dove into research about addiction and drugs. She excavated their shared childhood and young adulthood for clues.During this time, she was also learning how to become a distance runner. Jess pushed her body to its limits to quiet the chaos in her mind. After losing Matt, she knew she’d never be the same.With a propulsive narrative, a unique voice, empathy, and even humor, Jess weaves her grieving experience together with explorations of the social, political, and scientific drivers that influenced what happened to her brother. Thirty-Thousand Steps explores the psychosocial risk factors that lead to addiction, the cudgel of Catholicism, the joy and shame in the early-aughts queer experience, and the extent to which one can push mind and body to regenerate after a major loss.
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