The Extrordinary Xavier Pierre Jr.

 

 

“It’s a strange thing to know that you are going mad.”

I was hooked from the moment I opened this book. It is a rarity to have me wanting more during the preface, but something in his tone grabbed me from the first sentence.

Lovers Anonymous is a story filled with blatant honesty and the seemingly unrepentant sigh of a young man who has lived a life of privilege and debauchery.

Set in Haiti, this book changes the face of a country known for its poverty and violence. Lover’s Anonymous shows us a side of Haiti’s elite and reminds us that even in the most prestigious of houses all is not as it appears.

We watch as the main character “Xavier” chases the next high and sexual gratification with a machine like force. This author spins a story of a young man born into prestige, but living the life of an “old-fashioned drunk.” Xavier’s behavior is too common for the lofty title of alcoholic. His grasp of reality is skewed by liquor and hashish, which fuels a dangerous mix of entitlement and substance abuse. It is this fuel that acts as a catalyst for the mental and emotional manipulation that he uses to bend any woman he decides to conquer to his will.

This is not a book for those with gentle sensibilities as it is graphic in detail, but also remarkably candid. Each sentence leads the reader down a road that screams for help while being unapologetic with regards to the journey.

From a woman’s point of view this is a disturbing look into the psyche of the male mind. He lays bare the thought process behind bending each woman to his will. He does this with such supreme confidence, skill and finesse you cannot help being intrigued, but as a woman you want to cut him.

Is this a book of redemption? I honestly cannot answer that. It is a dark and telling story that chronicles a life lead with only hedonistic pleasure and self-serving agendas as its guide. Lover’s Anonymous tells a truth that few women are prepared to understand but we all need to grasp.

I was left with an uneasy feeling, but in spite of that feeling I was reeling from the need to know and understand more. Leaving women yearning for more is a trademark of this author and I guess some things never change. I am proud to introduce you to…

 

Xavier Pierre Jr.

 

 

Questions

 

1. Your book is written without pretense. It is a blatant and honest look into the life of a man who was addicted to sex, power and substance. You end the book abruptly. Without giving anything away, how has your life transformed since your last sentence and what have you learned as a result of this journey?

That’s a good point about the abrupt ending. A few weeks before the book went to print, I considered writing an epilogue to give readers some insight into my transformation. In the end, I decided that simply mentioning that I was working on the sequel, as I do on the back cover, would be enough. Lovers Anonymous is NOT my story of redemption. It is quite simply an intimate look into what it took for one man to finally seek redemption.

The book starts where most “typical” alcoholics would have asked for help and goes an extra 7 months, to the point where I contemplate the unthinkable. That makes it a unique introduction to my recovery, as detailed in the upcoming sequel. And the many references to past events, makes it an equally good introduction to my life in general.

But more to the point, I embraced recovery once I finally acknowledged my need for it. In the twelve years since that last sentence, I have changed in radical ways. For one, I quit alcohol and drugs. Perhaps more importantly, my relationships with women changed. But those two changes were hardly parallel. The first was pretty much over night, while the second was gradual. Just as my descent in the “abyss of total moral depravity” is expressed relationship by relationship, so is my ascent to true manhood also expressed in a progression of relationships, each with a deeper level of honesty than the previous one.

2. There is a passage where you call on God and recognize He is not listening to you. How does faith play into your life? Do you feel like God is listening now?

This is such an awesome question and one that I take true delight in answering. God was present every instant of the experiences I describe. The problem is that I wasn’t listening to God, but more interested in telling God what I wanted. As all Christians know, it doesn’t work that way. From the perspective of the reader, God’s presence is not very evident, and I recognize that. But that’s a direct consequence of seeing the world through the eyes of the man I was. Trust that all of this will be addressed in the sequel.

I still remember writing these great introspective passages that I ended up having to cut out, not because they weren’t interesting, but because they didn’t fit with the thinking process of my character at the time. Those were painful decisions to make as a writer, but I’m glad I did because it makes the book that much more real.

3. Many women have experienced lies and deceit like those you perpetrated on the women in your life. Do you feel that women are raised not to see their self worth outside of emotional or sexual relationships with men? Was their hurt feelings and/or broken hearts completely your fault or do you feel how we teach our daughters played a role in their vulnerability where you were concerned?

I wrote the book for several reasons. Without going into them now, let me simply say that NONE of my reasons were compatible with publication. This book was written with the absolute conviction that it would NEVER see the light of day. Your question hits the very heart of why I made the very painful and difficult decision to publish. This book is my partial contribution to the problems our daughters and little sisters face in an increasingly complex world. But if there is one thing I have learned, it is this: The problem with our young women has less to do with mothers and a whole lot more to do with fathers. As the father of a beautiful nine-year-old girl, I’ve come to understand the critical role I play in helping her form a positive, feminine self image. That, among other things, is the role of a father. Young girls certainly do look to their moms for guidance, but more often then not; it’s Daddy’s approval they seek and need.

But even after saying all that, I take full responsibility for all my past evil deeds. Failure to do so would make me a hypocrite and render my confession null and void. I blame only myself for the choices I made, and my apology to the many women I hurt is sincere, complete, and unconditional.

4. In the book, you describe a life filled with affluence and prestige in a country traditionally thought of as third world. How did that life of privileged circumstances color how you treated people? Do you feel it was influential in creating an environment that lent itself to seeing women as property rather than valuing them as people?

 

I was raised on Long Island, NY in a working class, suburban neighborhood. The life of relative privilege I enjoyed in my late teens and 20s was a startling contrast to everything I had known before and since.

I suppose I could say the environment I was exposed to in Haiti contributed to my downfall, but the damage was done here in the US. I was the victim of sexual abuse at ages 5 and 8. It was not until I completed Lovers Anonymous that I could fully appreciate the extent of the trauma.

The very first relationship in which I was the abuser, was with an American woman in New York. After losing track of each other for 12 years, she traced my whereabouts and contacted me. The timing was providential because I was half-way through the book when she contacted. Despite suffering physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at my hands over the course of four years, we were able to make peace. I acknowledged all of my misdeeds and humbly asked her apology. The opportunity she afforded me to make amends was an important milestone in my recovery. I even gave her copies of my manuscript as I worked on the book and she gave some important feedback.

5. What can we expect from you in the future?

I’m working on several major projects, including a sequel to Lovers Anonymous, titled Twelve Steps, and a teen-friendly version of Lovers Anonymous. I hope to finish both this year.

There is also a third book planned for the series that will be titled Knight Falls, but that’s a few years out. After Twelve Steps, I plan to write some fiction. I have five outlines for novels. The one I’m most excited about will be titled Threesome. It’s the story of a man who befriends and falls in love a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder.

Writing is just one aspect of my career ambitions. As Lovers Anonymous has grown from being a book to being a fellowship, peer-to-peer counseling of fellow addicts has become a huge part of what I do. In order to reach a wider audience, I definitely see myself lecturing, doing seminars, and possibly talk radio.