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taygram's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5
naoki's review against another edition
5.0
The Recovering is, quite simply, one of the best books I’ve ever read. Jamison is the kind of writer I don’t even waste my time wishing to become because I know she’s in the realm of the impossible.
My dad gave me her book of essays, Empathy Exams, awhile back. I was so impressed and excited by it, albeit a little discouraged realising the author was only a few years older than me, that when I heard Jamison had written a book about addiction, and the connection between creativity and addiction, I felt like screaming. This is my jam, man! And who better than the oh-so eloquent Jamison?
The Recovering is what memoir should be. Curious. Compelling. Courageous. Jamison weaves stories of literary figures and their struggles with addiction with her own journey of recovery, and asks how do myths around addiction and creativity serve us? And what does a life of recovery mean?
Once subscribed to the trainwreck=creativity myth, I found looking at recovery and the ways in which it’s actually conducive to creativity refreshing. I’m also very attracted to the way Jamison molds journalism, cultural studies, literary criticism and personal essay into one big bomb of amazingness. Crushing hard. I love this woman!
My dad gave me her book of essays, Empathy Exams, awhile back. I was so impressed and excited by it, albeit a little discouraged realising the author was only a few years older than me, that when I heard Jamison had written a book about addiction, and the connection between creativity and addiction, I felt like screaming. This is my jam, man! And who better than the oh-so eloquent Jamison?
The Recovering is what memoir should be. Curious. Compelling. Courageous. Jamison weaves stories of literary figures and their struggles with addiction with her own journey of recovery, and asks how do myths around addiction and creativity serve us? And what does a life of recovery mean?
Once subscribed to the trainwreck=creativity myth, I found looking at recovery and the ways in which it’s actually conducive to creativity refreshing. I’m also very attracted to the way Jamison molds journalism, cultural studies, literary criticism and personal essay into one big bomb of amazingness. Crushing hard. I love this woman!
amyhungerford's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I say this everything I'm not blown away by a memoir.. BUT
I just hate reviewing memoirs. Its so stressful. I always fee like I'm saying "I'm not a fan of this woman's life." And that's just... not accurate. I'm just not a fan of this story.
This was one that I just couldn't connect with. Its fine, I just found it to be slow in the middle and overall repetitive.
I just hate reviewing memoirs. Its so stressful. I always fee like I'm saying "I'm not a fan of this woman's life." And that's just... not accurate. I'm just not a fan of this story.
This was one that I just couldn't connect with. Its fine, I just found it to be slow in the middle and overall repetitive.
micalynne's review against another edition
Library hold lapsed, was not interested enough to try and check it out again
rovwade's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
kirsten0929's review
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.