Cracking Up. Este artículo no está disponible.Cracking Up

Gordon Lownds's career was peaking. He was fearless. Invincible.

But fate-and cocaine-intervened.

A reckless, experimental hit on a crack pipe quickly morphed into a raging, hard-core, shooting-up junkie experience. He became trapped in unfamiliar territory, desperately trying to navigate the sordid, violent drug world-all while coping with a psychotic girlfriend, overdoses, and drug busts.

Lownds barely survived the soul-destroying and death-defying events that unfolded over just 1,000 days. But he managed to crawl out of the gutters of despair-only to find even greater trials ahead in recovery. It took many hard years for him to earn back the respect he'd once had and the trust of those he'd let down.

Cracking Up reveals the darkest side of success and the hidden struggles faced by a distinguished Canadian entrepreneur. It's a brutally honest account of how even the most successful can fall, and of the universal challenges faced by all addicts trying to reclaim their lives.

Gordon Lownds, a visionary Canadian entrepreneur, had a distinguished career in retail and investment banking prior to cofounding Sleep Country Canada in 1994. He was CEO during its formative years, but during that time, he spiraled into a life-threatening drug addiction before hitting rock bottom and seeking treatment.Clean and sober, in 2003 Lownds cofounded ListenUP! Canada, a successful hearing health-care chain. He was named one of York University's Top 50 Graduates in its first 50 years and earned Ernst & Young's 2012 B2C Entrepreneur of the Year award. He is now retired and living quietly on Vancouver Island, B.C.