drinking

Drinking: A Love Story
$16.00
The "gift of desperation" is what this author calls what gave her the strength and motivation to quit drinking. A while ago, out of curiosity, I checked out this book from the library and never forgot it. I recently decided to add a copy of the book to my own library and I am so glad I did! It's all that I remember it being and more! It is truly an easy read and very well written. What I love about this book is that it gives me an insight into the world of someone who drinks. It helps to put a human face on the addiction of alcohol instead of a judgment call or simply seeing the addiction as a weakness in another person. I so much appreciate the author's truthfulness. I would highly recommend this book for those under the influence of alcohol-who want to break free, their families, friends and even just the curious. I've given this book as a gift and would do so again. Please consider this book if alcohol, in any way, affects your life- it's worth its weight in gold!

The Joy of Drinking
$14.95
"THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NUTRITION claims that a moderate beer drinker-whatever that means-swallows 11 percent of his dietary protein needs, 12 percent of the carbohydrates, 9 percent of essential phosphorous, 7 percent of his riboflavin, and 5 percent of niacin.

Should he go on to immoderate beer drinking, he becomes a walking vitamin pill."
- THE JOY OF DRINKING p. 15

In this, yet another wonderful, though too short (148 pp.), book, Barbara Holland again informs and entertains the reader. This time with arcane bits of information about drink, drinking, and drinkers from the beginnings of civilization's discovery of the warmly pleasant effects of fermented fruit and grains on the body and soul to modern man's search for the perfect martini, with her customary intelligence and wit.

I've only read two other books by Ms. Holland, WHEN ALL THE WORLD WAS YOUNG and ENDANGERED PLEASURES: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences, but have come to really enjoy her way with words.

I wholeheartedly recommend this little book to anyone who has ever enjoyed a drink of anything containing alcohol, from ale to the vodkatini.

A Drinking Life: A Memoir
$13.95
Pete Hamill may be a good newspaper reporter, but he "buried the lead" with the title of this memoir. It has actually very little to do with drinking--at least the kind of egregious, alcoholic drinking that Fitzgerald did--and unless the author is not telling the whole story, it's not about alcoholism. Maybe it wasn't meant to be, but then, he shouldn't have called it "A Drinking Life".

Aside from the fact that I found neither the story nor its style to be particularly compelling, the main problem is the author's lack of self-reflection. There is no agonizing over his problem, no soul-searching, no cataclysmic event in which a moment of clarity leads him to sobriety. It's as if he decides one day that he's allergic to peanuts and decides to give them up. In which case, there really isn't any story here worth mentioning, at least about drinking.

Carolyn Knapp's "Drinking: A Love Story" is a much better first person account about alcoholism, and "Angela's Ashes" is one of the best books ever written on the insidiousness of alcoholism as a family illness.

However, if you're looking for a memoir about an NY Irish kid who grows up to be a reporter, this might be the book for you.

The Easy Way to Stop Drinking
$14.95
First off, anyone that has rated this poorly surely didn't read it, or read it closed minded only to dispute it.

The book offers up a lot of what you already know but don't, or try not to, think about.

I have a kegerator plus bar in my dining room and was up to at least a pitcher of beer per night every night (and much more sometimes) while drinking my entire weekends away. I am 40 and have been centering my activities more and more around drinking.

One thing I have done for over 5 years (to convince myself I didn't have a problem perhaps) was to go completely dry every January. It has become tougher every year to do that. The month seems longer every year and from day one I have looked forward to February 1st so I can grab that first beer. I have known, for a long time, that I really needed to cut back or stop drinking all together. Even though I controlled, to a certain extent, my drinking, it definitely was a problem.

Somewhere online one day a few months back I read a blog that was talking about AA. I have never liked AA (not that it may not be right for you), but I was sent there after a DUI and couldn't stand the BS the, "old timers," told. To me it was more of a free therapy session for old drinkers than anything that could really help me quit. And the smoking killed me. Finding non-smoking AA meetings was almost impossible. Again, it may work for you and I'm not knocking it for everyone, it just wasn't at all right for me. Anyway, I was online and someone was talking about their drinking and going to AA. Someone posted a response that just said, "if you really want to quit drinking, just read Allen Carr's easy way."

Intrigued, I looked it up after reading these very reviews and bought it. I didn't really believe a book on this would be a life changer. But I wanted to see what it was about.

When it arrived I started on it right away. Looking back, there is nothing miraculous here, but miraculously I lost my urge to drink completely. For the first time in years I came home, looked at the kegerator and passed it by. His writings made so much sense to me that I kept finding it difficult to understand how I didn't realize it all these years. The more it made sense, the less I wanted to drink.

Years of drinking, so much anticipation in January to get to February. Sitting at work looking forward to getting home so I could start drinking. Going to my kids baseball and football just hoping it would be a quick game so I could get home to my precious kegerator! Avoiding getting more education or going on trips that could interfere with drinking (all of my trips were all-inclusive so I could drink as much as possible). Finding friends that could share my drinking with me and excluding most of those that didn't.

All of those great drinking years and traits were wiped out in about a 100 pages of reading. Something that I didn't really think could happen. And the best part, I have no desire to touch the stuff. Once the desire is gone, the problem is gone. I stopped and looked at my bar this morning, and instead of thinking of a drink, I thought to myself that I should sell it. Same fate that the kegerator is going to meet.

The bottom line is that this book works and is great. I have passed some big tests. Halloween party where all my friends were drinking. I didn't even come close.

I have a trip scheduled that is not all-inclusive. I'm going to get my scuba certification while there. I have wanted to for a long time but because it took up three full days, it would have ruined my drinking time. Not now!

I'm in to my second month now. This would have been unimaginable three months ago. My brother asked me why I wasn't drinking. I told him because I'm done thanks to a book. He asked to borrow it, he read it, and he's over a month now without drinking.

I can't say enough about this book. It is great!

Buy it and start living your life again.