Take the Long Way Home: Memoirs of a Survivor

Take the Long Way Home: Memoirs of a Survivor Susan Gordon Lydon (HarperSanFrancisco, $22) In Narcotics (and Alcoholics) Anonymous, there is a process called sharing: a confession of gritty and often tragic stories that helps the recovering addict to purge him- or herself of guilt and also bond with other members who have been in the same murky, delirious state. In her first book, Take the Long Way Home, veteran magazine writer and essayist Lydon unifies her myriad confessions into one seamless autobiography of her life as a hard-core junkie. The account recalls her experiences as a self-described ''mother, Jew, mystic, feminist, and writer,'' and as a ''dope fiend thief, prostitute, liar, and con.'' While the strength of the book lies in its honesty-Lydon is able to specify each moment and subsequent emotion of her 25 years as an addict and 6 years of recovery-that same brutal veracity becomes a ; liability, as Home falls prey to sometimes tedious minutiae. B- -Sandra Heddon