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kirsten0929's review against another edition
4.0
This kind of book is right up my alley - “memoir plus”, I would call it - and this one didn’t disappoint. Jamison tells the story of her own relationship with alcohol addiction and recovery but weaves throughout that the stories of other famous writers (mostly). She explores not only the individual’s relationship with alcohol and recovery (or not) but also more broadly how the people struggling with both are treated by society and how that treatment has always been unjustifiably dependent on race, gender, and economics. Her descriptions of the struggles of alcohol addiction are vivid and visceral; her tone calm and compassionate. She covers a lot of ground in this one and I found it engaging throughout.
lovelyday2day's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. The author is a very good writer. I marked a lot of passages that I found interesting and in general just thought about the book a lot over the past few weeks while reading. The scope covering her personal story and the addictions of other artists and writers was a highlight, especially as she weaves gender and race into the book.
amylureads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
samdawnpaul's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
nicole_bookmarked's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
blankcrayon's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I struggle sometimes with rating memoirs, because it’s someone’s life story and they have a lot invested in it. With this book, it felt like there were three books being written at the same time, which I didn’t care for. I could’ve done without the dissertation on literary figures and their alcoholism/recovery, and think the book would feel less discounted just as a personal memoir and reflection on AA.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
Moderate: Eating disorder
grantelope's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0