My 10 Favorite Addiction Recovery Memoirs

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. Hepola gets through the darkest parts of her story with self-deprecating humor and a keen eye on what she was burying by drinking. I recently came to terms with my own problematic relationship with alcohol, and my one solace has been in books. I’ve dug into memoir after memoir, tiptoed into the hard science books, and enjoyed the fiction from afar. The following are a smattering of the books about alcoholism I’ve found meaningful.

Like most people, I read ‘To Build a Fire’ and Call of the Wild in school, and was bored senseless, wishing the hero would just freeze to death faster. Like a civilization that does not have to embarrass itself with the glorification of pathogenic poisons to prevent revolutions of the exploited masses. To instead enable its members to lead a dignified and fulfilling life so that there is no reason for the destruction of millions of lives. London concludes that it essential to be a proponent of suffragettes and emancipation to start a social change towards prohibition and a not drug-poisoned youth and no millions of suffering relatives, which is noble and worthy of imitation.

The Books I Picked & Why

I almost wanted to snap it shut, but instead finished it in one day and have read it at least three more times since. Knapp so perfectly describes the emotional landscape of addiction, and as a literary study it’s as perfect a memoir as I’ve ever read. I often think about what it took to publish this when she did, in the 90’s, as a female and a journalist in Boston. In this book, McKowen talks about her personal story along with how she faced the facts, the question of AA, and dealing with other people’s drinking. Although she doesn’t sugarcoat how difficult sobriety can be (and yes, it’s not without its struggles), she continues to write about the many blessings of living an honest life without the debilitating shame of addiction. In this memoir, Vargas recounts the childhood that led to her anxiety and panic and how alcohol gave her a release from her painful reality.

This memoir is the story of his drinking, finding recovery, and getting sober while also finding love, loss, and Starbucks as a Higher Power. Hoping to make her dreams a reality, Michelle Tea recounts her awkward attempts to gain literary fame as she smokes, drinks, and snorts her way through San Francisco. She begins to slowly grow into a healthy, reasonable, self-aware, and stable adult. Her passionate writing shines as she tells of her often difficult relationship with money, her relationships, and more. Although the details of our addiction and recovery stories may be different, the core of our experience is often the same.

john Barleycorn Must Die: Addiction Attributions In Jack Londons Alcoholic Memoirs

He would die at 40 years old three years after this was published. Apparently years of abusing liquor and injecting prescription morphine and heroin finally took its toll.

Annie’s book is so important (and she’s a wonderful human to boot). She brilliantly weaves psychological, neurological, cultural, social and Sober living houses industry factors with her own journey. Without scare tactics, pain, or rules, she offers a strategy to give you freedom from alcohol.

​​2 Im Black And Im Sober: The Timeless Journey Of A Womans Journey Back To Sanity By Chaney Allen

For Levine, Buddhism becomes as bound up in his recovery as the punk scene was in his active addiction. This book could be illuminating for anyone seeking to incorporate Buddhist practice and meditation into their own life. A theoretically based analysis of an autobiographical novel on drinking alcohol may help in examining existing models of addiction. John Barleycorn conceptualizes and supports what Lewis labels a model of learning and empowerment. Prohibition did not produce the intended effect; medicalization and pathologizing of alcohol addiction appear to share this fate. In Alcohol and You, a professional therapist describes scientifically supported methods of reducing or eliminating alcohol intake.

She wasn’t self-medicating and was able to truly feel her feelings and live honestly. We Are the Luckiest is a life-changing memoir about recovery—without any sugarcoating.

Girl Walks Out Of A Bar: A Memoir By Lisa F Smith

During the 30-day journey, Grace offers insight into addiction, includes exercises for mindfulness, and discusses how to recognize destructive habits connected to drinking. Annie Grace, the author of This Naked Mind, uses a blend of science and personal experiences to reveal reasons for alcohol addiction. She touches upon not only psychological elements of addiction, but also cultural and social expectations that contribute to alcohol abuse. To assist you in establishing resources to promote your sober goals, we have established a list of the best quit lit books and books about alcoholism that explain the science behind alcohol abuse and why addiction is so difficult to kick.

I very much related to her always feeling “less than” in normal life, and only becoming confident and alive once she poured alcohol down her throat. Former Salon editor Sarah Hepola doesn’t hold back in this book. Her account of what she remembers is savage; her fear over what she won’t ever remember is terrifying.

What Is Dry Drunk Syndrome? Common Recovery Hurdles

He recounts his story of addiction to alcohol, and eventually crack, with all the cynicism and wit that readers of his first book, Running with Scissors, would expect. While Dry is often hilarious, Burroughs is acutely aware that addiction is no joke—he describes his struggles with a kind of reverence for its sheer severity. A memoir of unblinking honesty and poignant, laugh-out-loud humor, Blackout is the story of a woman stumbling into a new kind of adventure — the sober life she never wanted. Shining a light into her blackouts, she discovers the person she buried, as well as the confidence, intimacy, and creativity she once believed came only from a bottle. Her tale will resonate with anyone who has been forced to reinvent or struggled in the face of necessary change. It’s about giving up the thing you cherish most — but getting yourself back in return. Alcohol Explained by William Porter takes a science-based approach to discussing alcohol addiction.

We want to help make a happy ending possible in your personal story. Brand, a wildly successful comedian and actor, is not satisfied with simply sharing his experiences with drug abuse. In keeping with his commitment as an activist for mental health and drug rehabilitation, Brand offers something of a self-help approach in Recovery. Looking for honesty spiced with humor and flavored with some ideas for strengthening your commitment to sobriety? Strayed’s bestselling memoir isn’t about recovery from addiction per se, though she dabbles with heroin at the beginning of the book and experiences a short but frightening addiction to it. But it is still an almost perfect account of, and metaphor for, a broader kind of recovery.

There Is No Substitute For A Loved One

This book is simply about HOW…YOU…LIVE…if you are dealing with a drinking problem. A memoir of the classic blues and rock musician, Clapton is an intimate disclosure of his upbringing, longstanding addictions, and recovery. Clapton writes about the drugs he turned to and eventually the clinic he started for substance abuse recovery. The musician also recounts his diligence when he discovered his talent for music, the origin of certain songs, interactions with other influential musicians, and musical goals he had for different periods.

• Despite being published less than a year ago, Jamison’s memoir is a gritty and honest must-read.
• Identifying with others who have been through the hell of addiction and made it to the other side can provide a cathartic sense of relief, providing both hope and the opportunity to feel seen and perhaps a little less alone.
• By Augusten Burroughs is an incredibly accurate depiction of what it’s like to be a young alcoholic in New York City.

Drunk and out on the water in the middle of the night he swims out against the tide. Out he goes with the intention of washing ashore in a few days’ time bloated and dead. A friend sees him though and with the help of others brings him ashore. London then talks about addiction recovery books the high numbers of dead friends he lost to alcoholism and drink related accidents. Of lives ruined by the drink, when kind and gentle men become drunk and consequently act rashly, either violently beating someone or else killing another in blind drunkenness.

The Sober Diaries: How One Woman Stopped Drinking And Started Living By Clare Pooley

This a different memoir because it focuses not on the road to sobriety, but on what happens with your life now that you’ve done the thing that once seemed impossible. Lisa Smith is the epitome of control… except when she is not. Beneath her perfect life and incredible success hides a girl who thought she had cheated her way out of her anxiety and stress via alcohol, but now has completely surrendered to the powers of this magical liquid. You could never tell, but she is the perfect example of a high-functioning alcoholic who looks like everything is perfect, even when it clearly isn’t.