Although I don’t mind if the book’s called an addiction memoir, in the course of writing it I came to think that wasn’t quite right. But naturally I wanted to write something original, so I hope my reading—as much as helping me imitate the virtues of good addiction memoirs—showed me how to avoid the form’s worst foibles. But even more than how it captures the bleakness of alcoholism, what I most value in this book is how she narrates her recovery with such brutal honesty. It’s a memoir of her addiction to alcohol, and her subsequent recovery, and her conversion to Catholicism. If calling addiction a ‘spiritual’ problem is supposed to prescribe submission to a supernatural ‘higher power’ as a formula for recovery, it’s not for me – though I know the 12-step philosophy works for many people. The book tells the story of how Knapp—a successful magazine journalist and author—hid her alcoholism, and its devastating consequences, for many years.
Alcoholics Best Books to Read – The 2024 Edition
Blackout is her poignant story of alcoholism and those many missing hours that disappeared when she had just enough to drink to wipe out her memory. In college, my friends and I joked that it’s not alcoholism until you graduate. I’ve dug into memoir after memoir, tiptoed into the hard science books, and enjoyed the fiction from afar.
This book provides an eye-opening perspective on and insight into how racism and white supremacy can lead to intergenerational trauma. The book discusses drug policies, substance use treatment, and the root causes of substance use. This book also examines the brain’s ability to create new neural pathways and lose the desire to use substances. One of the first of its kind, Drink opens our eyes to the connection between drinking, trauma and the impossible quest to ‘have it all’ that many women experience. It is well-researched, educational, informative, and at times mind-blowing.
Before her book was published in 1997, the memoir boom had produced a number of accounts of addiction with strikingly similar features. It’s not only a landmark in the history of addiction memoir, but pretty much its Platonic ideal. Present here are all the main ones I identified earlier, as well as several other tropes and common features of what we now call addiction memoirs.
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Maté
Augustine’s 4th-century Confessions, with its account of the author’s compulsive and tormented sexuality, is arguably an early example. When we spoke ahead of this interview, you said that you read dozens of them while undergoing rehab yourself. There’s no award for “Most Sobriety Memoirs Read,” so read them for yourself — let their wisdom be its own award (I can feel your eye rolls. I’m sorry.).
Best Non-Fiction Books About Alcohol Recovery
The Spirituality of Imperfection is a captivating book about alcoholics that delves into the human search for meaning and spirituality through the power of storytelling. Whether you’re sober-curious or seeking inspiration on your own journey to recovery, Gray’s honest and relatable writing will leave you feeling empowered and hopeful. The Sober Diaries is a must-read for anyone looking for a deeply personal and honest portrayal of the journey to sobriety. It is a compelling and honest portrayal of the author’s battle with alcoholism and the profound effect it had on her life. Zailckas’ unflinching honesty and introspection make Smashed a must-read for anyone seeking insight into the complexities of addiction and the journey to recovery.
Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol by Holly Whitaker
- Part memoir and part how-to, many former drinkers credit Alcohol Lied to Me with helping them to finally beat the bottle.
- The Spirituality of Imperfection is a thought-provoking and enlightening alcoholics book that offers a fresh perspective on spirituality and the human experience.
- From her first taste and throughout her young adult life, her increasing dependence on alcohol would lead to hospital trips, blackouts, and dangerous and destructive tendencies that eventually helped her see she should quit drinking for good.
- One is David Carr’s 2008 The Night of the Gun which, premised on the author’s confession that he remembers almost nothing of his addiction years, recounts instead his painstaking attempt to reconstruct them like an investigative journalist.
Excessive drinking has numerous impacts on your body and mind, ranging from mild to severe. Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is an inability to control or stop drinking despite experiencing negative consequences. This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews, or eight thousand book recommendations.
A key takeaway from this book is that learning to unplug from alcohol and go with the flow without drinking takes time. Beyond being informative, this powerful book has helped countless people dive deeper into their relationship with alcohol and make positive changes in their lives. Is it harrowing, as a recovering addict, to read other writers’ addiction memoirs, or do you find comfort or catharsis in it?
Meanwhile successful writing always surprises and challenges us, perhaps by defying the conventions of the form to which it belongs or simply by refreshing them in some way. How do you craft an ending that makes narrative sense but which feels complex and inconclusive in the way life so often is? In other kinds, as in novels, endings are artifices of form, and the trick is not to let this feel true for the reader. It’s happened again and again, in different contexts—and while it’s no fun for the person in question, it produces an interesting literary dilemma that’s been addressed by writers in various ways. I’m referring to the phenomenon of the author relapsing at some point after seeming to meet the formal requirement of overcoming addiction. But—though it would be naïve to think this impulse was absent from even the most literary instances—the lower down the artistic scale you go, the more crudely exhibitionistic, even pornographic, is the element of self-abasement as the author’s wrongdoing and degradation is flaunted for us.
Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction
But one nasty bender forced her to turn her life around. What would she do with all the free time no longer spent with booze? And then alcohol and cocaine barged in. Lisa Smith lived a lovely life in the city, rocking it as a lawyer at a prestigious law firm. Elizabeth Vargas, former ABC 20/20 anchor, revealed on air that she’s an alcoholic.
We are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life by Laura McKowen
Liptrot’s raw and honest account takes readers on a powerful exploration of her struggle with alcoholism, as well as her connection to the rugged landscape of the Orkney Islands. The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober is a must-read for anyone looking for a thought-provoking and uplifting take on the sober life. Pooley’s story is both relatable and inspiring, offering hope and encouragement to anyone who may be struggling with their own relationship with alcohol. The book is a candid and humorous account of her experiences, from the chaotic early days of sobriety to the joys and challenges of living alcohol-free. Karr takes readers on a deeply personal and introspective exploration of her struggles with addiction, family dynamics, and the search for spiritual awakening. Hepola’s writing is both poignant and humorous, and she skillfully navigates the complexities of her journey, offering insight into the mind of an alcoholic.
- In her memoir, she describes an addict as “someone who seeks physical solutions to emotional or spiritual problems.” How far would you agree with that?
- The second major problem for anyone writing an addiction memoir—and it’s often connected to the first—is how to conclude it.
- In short, she now gets to live an authentic life.
- In Recovery, Russell Brand shares an amusing yet valuable story of addiction and the path to sobriety.
- Sarah also explores how alcohol affected her relationships with her friends, family, and even her cat.
The second major problem for anyone writing an addiction memoir—and it’s often connected to the first—is how to conclude it. There’s a place for such books – they were what I needed then, after all—but by the time I came to write my own, I’d become a different kind of reader. The first is how to deal with the unusual way such books are often read – that is, by people seeking help, perhaps even in desperate need. My guess is that most addiction memoirs involve some kind of compromise between the author’s aesthetic and ethical impulses. For one kind of author, helping the reader is the whole point of writing an addiction memoir; for another, even to consider doing so would be aesthetically fatal.
Through a collection of poignant stories and insights, the book offers a profound exploration of the human condition and the quest for spiritual fulfillment. The book is a poignant and moving portrayal of the author’s resilience and determination to overcome her demons, while finding solace in the untamed beauty of the natural world. Through candid and humorous storytelling, she shares the challenges and triumphs of navigating social situations, dating, and self-discovery without alcohol. Pooley, a former ‘drinker’ herself, bravely shares her struggles with alcohol addiction and the transformative power of giving up alcohol.
Alcohol Recovery Coaching Transformed My Life
A 1996 bestseller, Caroline Knapp paints a vivid picture of substance use and recovery that every reader can appreciate, whether you struggle with substance use or not. She is sincere in her recollection of rarely discussed painful topics like childhood drinking, alcohol and sexual consent, and the ending of friendship. This powerful memoir follows Cain’s life as she navigates a gray death is the latest, “scariest” opioid drug threat substance use disorder, incarceration, and sex work over the course of 19 years.
Books by Matt Rowland Hill
Healing Neen provides a personal look into the connection between incarceration, substance use, and trauma. For anyone hiding in the shadows of shame, this book is a guiding light. Reading We are the Luckiest by Laura McKowen can quite possibly save your life. She’s brilliant in writing and shares many actionable tips and strategies. Reading her book is like sharing a cup of coffee with your wise best friend.
This book about alcoholics offers practical advice, heartfelt encouragement, and a refreshing perspective on the benefits of sobriety. Knapp’s candid and introspective writing offers a raw and honest portrayal of her struggles with addiction, as she explores the complex relationship between alcohol and her own sense of self. Reading a few chapters of a recovery-related book each day can help weave your sobriety or moderation goals into your everyday life. The book is short, easy to read, and will leave you with some immediate tools for addressing social situations, sex, and friendship while navigating an alcohol-free lifestyle. It’s a tough book to read due to the descriptions of horrific traumas people have experienced, however it’s inspirational in its message of hope.
She lives near Chicago with her cat named after Hemingway and her bookshelves organized by color. Ashley Holstrom helps make books at Sourcebooks. She drinks to cope with life’s difficulties, like the death of her parents, but it’s only after twenty years of dependency that she sees how the “cure” to her stress and anxiety is the real problem. A life without alcohol feels unfathomable until he realizes he could lose the one thing he can’t live without.
You might argue that this isn’t a formal convention so much as, quite simply, how many people’s real experience of addiction plays out. Meanwhile the reader is tacitly licensed to enjoy all this mayhem and calamity with a degree of voyeuristic relish and, equally, to take a vicarious pleasure in the author’s recklessness and transgression. Second, they contain sections describing the lurid drama and dreadful effects of addiction in unsparing detail.
