Courtesy Boy

A True Story of Addiction

By: Mike Matson

Narrated by: Mike Matson

The author's young adulthood basically amounts to a how-to primer for addiction. Paranoia and impulsiveness, obsession, and manipulation. Throw in compulsion, false pride, fear and dishonesty, all driven by self-centered thinking. The gateway behavior for all the others.

Blessed with a good memory, almost granular for certain events and circumstances, Mike Matson turns his journalist's eye on his own past and the result is an honest, unflinching look at his decades-long struggle with addiction. The author's motivation is to help those suffering and their loved ones connect the dots between the destructive traits and behaviors and the potential for addiction. In so doing, infuse some fresh air into the oppressive stigma that clings to addiction.

In Courtesy Boy: A True Story of Addiction, the listener rides shotgun, as the author navigates life, and achieves professional success while battling addiction and denial. His redemption arc is hard-won and ultimately satisfying.

©2021 Mike Matson (P)2024 Mike Matson

A journey into and out of darkness with an oral storyteller’s stellar delivery

Coming from a family touched by alcoholism, and a recovering addict (food & eating disorders), this story stood out to me as one that could be both triggering and liberating. It delivered. Mike’s retelling of a slow spiral — easily rationalized and explained away until it wasn’t — followed by the scraped-knuckles, relentless crawl back up was an artistic rendering of a story way too commonly seen and ignored.

With a delivery reminiscent of broadcast great Jean Shepherd (but still all his own), Mike shared universal truths to addiction that left me feeling seen and understood, while still being approachable and understandable to those who haven’t been in these trenches. He addresses the building blocks of a self-destructive fortress, and weaves a story of the slow build and — at times, ineffectual — demolition of it. At times, I felt like I was in on an inside joke, because he so perfectly captured some of the universal truths of addiction, addictive tendencies, and the personalities that more easily manifest addiction.

In all of this, there’s a subtle humor and deep sense of nostalgia. You can smell leather and denim, you can feel the vibration of dance floors and the barely-there hum of electric equipment. I was born in 1990, but the progression from the 70’s through to the 90’s felt very real to me.

This creative memoir feels like a love letter to self-reflection and recovery, but it’s a narrative that even those not touched by addiction can fall into. Everyone loves a redemption story, and this one is a real life fairy tale where the dragon slayed is within one’s own self.

Humor, Humility, Honesty: Confronting the Power of Addiction

Mike Matson’s self-awareness and memory are nothing short of amazing. His story-telling belongs in that category as well.

In this volume, hear the author in his own voice recall the insidious spiral and powerful grasp of addiction as well as the personality traits we rely on to help explain it away.

This fast-paced and gripping audiobook is, at many times, as entertaining as it is devastating. Music and historical audio, coupled with the author’s masterful delivery will transport you to the eras and places in this story. Ultimately, it will help you gain a better understanding of the dark nature of addiction. Perhaps it will help you to recognize some of these traits within yourself as you hear raw, real examples of the vulnerability, humility, courage, faith, and sense of humor that can help you or someone you love find a way off that destructive path.