Leith's book is a powerful read for anyone who has grappled with compulsive behavior. His memoir reads like a stream-of-conscious odyssey of a bright guy struggling to master his relationship to external desires for food, alcohol, drugs, and women. In the end, he discovers that his goal of mastery may have been misguided, and that his compulsivity may be more about his need for emotional calm than external pleasure. Leith's book is funny, intelligent, and, in the end, optimistic. While the book tends to get bogged down when the author spends too much time explaining the ins and outs of the Atkins diet and the theory that supports it, it is a generally fast moving read that engages the reader.