{"product_id":"rattlesnake-in-a-petting-zoo-9781953103789","title":"Rattlesnake in a Petting Zoo","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA gripping literary memoir that bridges punk history, addiction recovery, and criminal justice, Rattlesnake in a Petting Zoo follows Patrick Sean O’Neil’s extraordinary journey from the chaos of touring with iconic punk bands to incarceration, sobriety, and a second career helping others rebuild their lives.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his twenties, Patrick Sean O’Neil lived at full speed as a road manager for legendary punk bands including Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, and T.S.O.L. The underground music scene offered freedom, chaos, and community—but behind the noise and adrenaline was a growing dependence on heroin that would eventually unravel his life. By forty, addiction had led to heroin withdrawal, desperation, and a series of bank robberies that landed him in a California prison. Behind bars, reading and writing became the tools that helped him survive and imagine a different future.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDecades later, with twenty-five years of sobriety, an MFA, and a pardon from Governor Jerry Brown, O’Neil returns to locked institutions—not as an inmate, but as a drug and alcohol counselor and creative-writing instructor. Working inside California’s rehabilitation and correctional systems, he helps others tell their stories while continuing to examine his own. From celebrity clients and former gang members to exhausted counselors and the absurd realities of bureaucracy, Rattlesnake in a Petting Zoo explores the human struggle for change. It examines addiction, incarceration, recovery, family, mental health, and the complicated relationships that shape who we become.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA powerful literary memoir about second chances, this book asks what it means to rewrite a life—and how the act of telling our stories can become the first step toward transformation.\n\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Patrick Sean O'Neil","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68279705272571,"sku":"9781953103789","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/9781953103789.jpg?v=1792159405","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/rattlesnake-in-a-petting-zoo-9781953103789","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}