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1.0
Distilled Spirits: Getting High, Then Sober, with a Famous Writer, A Forgotten Philosopher, and a Hopeless Drunk by Don Lattin
★ ½
This is a memoir about a religion journalist who struggled through drug and alcohol abuse for many decades until cleaning up his act in the 2000s. Along the way he intertwines his story with the famous writer (Aldous Huxley), the forgotten philosopher (Gerald Heard), and the hopeless drink (Bill Wilson – co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous). The search for spirituality and peace are primary in this book. Sounds interesting, right? Well…no. It wasn’t. Don Lattin’s struggle rarely comes out during this book, leaving me feeling no attachment towards the actual writer. Everything is muddled with the story of these people and with plenty of others added in, it just became a mess. It was hard for me to concentrate or care for the most part. There were some interesting tidbits and humorous parts but not enough to redeem itself. I think the book had potential but it was lost in trying to add so much into such a small book (270 pages). It often just felt like the ramblings of someone and I often skimmed, then having to go back because I had no idea what happened…not that I particularly cared, I was just hoping I had missed something to redeem this. No luck there. Oh well, on to bigger and better things I hope!
★ ½
This is a memoir about a religion journalist who struggled through drug and alcohol abuse for many decades until cleaning up his act in the 2000s. Along the way he intertwines his story with the famous writer (Aldous Huxley), the forgotten philosopher (Gerald Heard), and the hopeless drink (Bill Wilson – co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous). The search for spirituality and peace are primary in this book. Sounds interesting, right? Well…no. It wasn’t. Don Lattin’s struggle rarely comes out during this book, leaving me feeling no attachment towards the actual writer. Everything is muddled with the story of these people and with plenty of others added in, it just became a mess. It was hard for me to concentrate or care for the most part. There were some interesting tidbits and humorous parts but not enough to redeem itself. I think the book had potential but it was lost in trying to add so much into such a small book (270 pages). It often just felt like the ramblings of someone and I often skimmed, then having to go back because I had no idea what happened…not that I particularly cared, I was just hoping I had missed something to redeem this. No luck there. Oh well, on to bigger and better things I hope!
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