4.0 out of 5 stars Gripped by Lancelot, February 19, 2008

Imagine your grandmother sitting in the back of a patrol car in handcuffs. That's how author Marilyn Lancelot chose to introduce herself in this riveting, heart-wrenching true tale of a gambling past time gone terribly wrong. From the first sentence, she dumps her reader squarely into the most humiliating moment of her life - no explanations, no excuses.

Yeah, I know. Everyone has a sad story, but it's a rare few who are willing to tell it with such uncompromising honesty and ownership that it makes the reader wince and at once wonder how a woman with so much integrity could possibly have sunk so low.

Gripped By Gambling is more than a tale of the specific events leading to the addiction that swallowed Lancelot's life and spit it back out on the side of the road. It's a collection of valuable insights into the mind of compulsivity. This book is a must read for anyone who's ever gambled to excess, anyone who's ever had an addiction, and EVERY person who just doesn't "get" addiction. If you've ever asked the stupid question, "Why don't they just stop?" READ THIS BOOK.

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While you are reading this paragraph, someone you know may be embezzling money to support their gambling problem. This story is not only for compulsive gamblers, but should be read by anyone who gambles.  If the pattern of the gambler in this book doesn't fit every reader, it may help someone you know who may have a gambling problem.  The Mississippi Council for Problem and Compulsive Gambling, purchased 500 copies of the book and placed them in the High School, College, and University Libraries.  Several other libraries are also carrying the book and  Scotland has the books available in their libraries

The book will also help family members who have unanswered questions.  The number of problem gamblers increases daily and this hidden addiction tears at the fabric of society.  During the past ten years, several books have been published by psychologists, psychiatrists and research teams; books filled with statistical information and surveys on the gambling population. This book has been written by a compulsive gambler in recovery for 17 years and she shares the steps that enabled her to arrest her gambling addiction and turn her life around.
 

What others have to say
Gripped by Gambling hits like a ferocious summer monsoon storm as Lancelot's life spins off its axis and scatters like dry leaves. It's a tight and often painful read, written by a woman of courage and integrity. Observe a recreational gambler, a grandmother, a loyal employee, fall into the abyss and climb out again. Lots of women don't make it out. She did and this book chronicles her path back to normal life after prison.

James Bishop Jr., author of   Epitaph for a Desert Anarchist, life and legacy of Edward Abbey.

Gripped by Gambling captures the emotions of the female gambler and weaves the progression of the gambling disease with Marilyn’s life story. It is an easy-to-read, descriptive story of the addiction to gambling and continues on through years of a productive life of recovery.

Mike Brubaker of Michael Brubaker Consulting, and co-author of Deadly Odds, The Compulsion to Gamble.

Gripped by Gambling is a well written and a graphic description of the decline and fall of the problem gambler. It should be required reading for anyone whose gambling is more than a passing whim. 
 
Julian Taber, Ph.D.,  author of  In The Shadow of Chance, the Pathological Gambler.