Poverty and unaddressed mental health issues consume the family, and drug and alcohol abuse soon take hold. Yet Jollett fights back to reclaim his life, breaking free from the struggles of his childhood to enroll in Stanford University and eventually find his voice as an artist and a performer. Hollywood Park, a New York Times bestseller, is Jollett’s raw and profound memoir.
By Amy Dresner
- Through her deeply personal and introspective narrative, Hepola sheds light on the complexities of substance abuse and the journey to recovery.
- I said this convention concerned reading more directly than writing, but—since all good writing involves deep sensitivity to the reader’s experience—the two things are ultimately inseparable.
- As a child, he and his family were members of the Church of Synanon, an abusive cult that separated children from their parents.
- A person of extraordinary intellect, Heather King is a lawyer and writer/commentator for NPR — as well as a recovering alcoholic who spent years descending from functional alcoholism to barely functioning at all.
- Functioning and fun-loving, this author’s love for wine hardly seems like a problem until her attempt to cut back proves much more challenging than she had imagined.
- Admitting you have a problem — not to mention actually getting sober — is no small feat.
I remember when I first saw this title, I wished I had thought of it myself. Though mine may have been, Girl Walks Into a Bar and Stays Way Too Long. Another memoir by a woman who excelled professionally, as she hid her alcohol and coke addictions from herself and others, until it got so bad she couldn’t hide it anymore. Hepola spends hungover mornings piecing together the missing hours of the nights before and frequently wakes up with unrecognizable men in unfamiliar places. She eventually realizes a life of forgotten times and missing memories is no life at all, and she sets out to find her identity outside of drinking.
The Lost Years: Surviving a Mother and Daughter’s Worst Nightmare
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.). Augusten Burroughs’ memoir covers a decade-long battle with sobriety, with a variety of wins and losses along the way. During his days as a young Manhattanite working in advertising, he tried everything to hide his constant drinking, including spraying cologne on his tongue. — early into her sobriety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one. Thanks to an alcohol- and drug-free life, McKowen now feels all of her feelings, no longer has to balance multiple lies, and is fully present with her daughter. Shortly after accepting she had a problem with alcohol, she thought a lot about how some people are lucky enough to be able to drink normally without it controlling their life.
“Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol”
If you’re looking to break free of the social pressure of cocktails and bar hopping, this is the book for you. Addiction and recovery memoirs are great reminders that you are not alone and that many, many others have gone down the difficult road to sobriety. In addition to personal stories, many of these books delve deep into the personal and societal psychology of drinking and drug use. The Empathy Exams author’s stunning book juxtaposes her own relationship to addiction with stories of literary legends like Raymond Carver, and imbues it with rich cultural history. The result is a definitive treatment of the American recovery movement—a memoir in the subgenre like no other.
- I almost wanted to snap it shut, but instead finished it in one day and have read it at least three more times since.
- If you’re feeling down about “missing out” on life if you cut back on alcohol or got sober, read this book.
- Without scare tactics, pain, or rules, she offers a strategy to give you freedom from alcohol.
- Burroughs thought he was managing to keep it all together as a suit-wearing, hard-partying Manhattanite until he landed in rehab at the bequest of his employers.
- Having said that, I did—while reading Ditlevsen’s Dependency—occasionally need to put the book down and take a few deep breaths.
- The acclaimed author of Prozac Nation goes from depression to addiction with this equally devastating personal account.
- Whether you’re just beginning your recovery journey, started reading addiction memoirs for inspiration, or are seeking ways to maintain your sobriety, these books provide guidance, understanding, and support.
- Her personal story is inspiring, highlighting the importance of faith, community, and the love of family in the recovery process.
- Always seek the advice of a physician or qualified health provider with questions regarding a medical condition.
- The result was a tale whose bracing darkness is ultimately redeemed not by its perfunctorily hopeful ending but by the extraordinary force and beauty of its telling.
- Mikel Jollett, front man for the band The Airborne Toxic Event, has endured more than most of us can imagine.
Mary Karr’s “Lit” tells the story of her journey from struggling with alcohol addiction to finding spiritual sobriety. As a dutiful daughter and a successful author, Karr recounts her struggles, failures, and eventual transformation. Her personal story is inspiring, highlighting the importance of faith, community, and the love of family in the recovery process. Recovery from substance abuse is a journey that involves both self-discovery and personal growth.
Shortform Books
2009’s Lit is the volume that deals with Karr’s alcoholism and desperate search for recovery. It can be read alone, but why would you want to miss out on reading all three in order? Although the first two https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/choosing-sobriety-gifts-10-great-ideas-to-consider/ volumes aren’t overtly about Karr’s addiction, they show its makings in her traumatic home life and a lost adolescence. 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. Only a handful of the addiction memoirs of recent decades are also, in my view, singular works of art. The esteemed and late New York Times columnist David Carr turned his journalistic eye on his own life in this memoir, investigating his own past as a cocaine addict and sifting through muddied memories to discover the truth.
The Smoke of the Gods: A Social History of Tobacco
Teetering on the best alcohol recovery books brink, Peres realizes he must let go of his frenetic lifestyle to reclaim his life and kick his (at its peak) 60-pill-a-day habit. The social historian argues London is an intrinsically addictive city. He charts its history through its dependencies on chocolate, tobacco, coffee, and tea. Matt Rowland Hill was born in 1984 in Pontypridd, South Wales, and grew up in Wales and England. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, New Statesman, the Telegraph and other outlets. Well, of course I tried my best to steal from them whatever I could.
I related so much to Karr’s story—like mine, her only child was five when she and her husband split, thrusting her into a life of single parenting. It was the first memoir I read about alcohol abuse and the title and subtitle were the things that immediately grabbed my attention. For 25 years, I was in love with the way drinking made me feel (or better yet, not feel), so I knew I would like this book.
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
My addiction always took me to new lows, and cost me many jobs over the years. Historian and author Louise Foxcroft prescribes reading on medical practices of the past, from treatments of madness and non-existent disease, to drug use and the origins of hypochondria. Whereas my progress was from religion to addiction, Mary Karr’s was the other way around. Drug rehabilitation But though our world-views are in some ways profoundly different, few books have enriched me as a reader and a person more than hers. Admitting you have a problem — not to mention actually getting sober — is no small feat.