The writer, comedian and podcaster Alex Wood discusses addiction, and his new memoir Float Like a Butterfly, Drink Mint Tea: How I Kicked the Shit Out of All My Addictions (Robin’s Egg, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Float Like a Butterfly, Drink Mint Tea by Alex Wood (Robin’s Egg, 2021). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Float Like a Butterfly, Drink Mint Tea

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Out today is a new book from the Robin’s Egg Books imprint edited by Charlie Demers. It’s called Float Like a Butterfly, Drink Mint Tea. It is a memoir by Alex Wood, who in very frank detail discusses the multiple addictions that he’s recovering from. It took a health crisis, ulcers and pancreatitis, to force changes in his life, but he does so with gusto, honesty, and faith. He also decides to chronicle them in a podcast, Alex Wood Quits Everything, which provides his narration (as well as interviews with others) of quitting in no particular order: alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, caffeine, red meat, dairy, sugar, social media, smartphones, porn, credit cards, nail-biting, social media, and gossip. He also looks at what his childhood was like, and highlights what might have contributed to the various addictions, like abuse and the ensuing PTSD. It is a childhood though that establishes early on Mr. Wood’s reverence for comedy, and affection for boxing. I’ll get Alex to tell us as much as he’d like about what’s in this book, and more. I ask Alex about the misconceptions people have about addiction, and relapsing. Alex Wood is a comedian, writer, and podcaster. He has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, Kevin Hart’s LOL, Vice, and SiriusXM Radio. This is his first book. He joined me from Toronto last week. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Alex Wood; Mr. Wood, good morning.

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