These insights can introduce a whole new dimension of healing while on a sobriety or moderation journey. Only a handful of the addiction memoirs of recent decades are also, in my view, singular works of art. For me the essential works are Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl , The Los Angeles Diaries by James Brown, The Outrun by Amy Liptrot, Lit by Mary Karr and Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man by Bill Clegg. Caroline Knapp’s love affair with alcohol started in her early teens.

• Being so close to this leaves her with a serious case of PTSD throws her into despair and later lands her in the throes of addiction.
• Bainbridge combines unique ingredients with detailed preparation to create thoughtful and flavorful non-alcoholic beverages.
• Along with support from a healthcare professional, coping tools like apps, podcasts, and books may offer some benefits.
• Probably the least-known work of the Brontë sisters, by the least-known sister, Anne’s second and last novel was published to great success in 1848.
• He also addresses his experience of feeling out of place in the music industry as a rapper who also practices a Christian faith, feeling excluded at red carpet events due to discussing his faith in his lyrics.

Having just been released from rehab nine months earlier, his relapse cost him his home, money, career and almost his life. Capturing the drama, tension, paranoia and short-term bliss of drug addiction, his book explores how the patterns of addiction can be traced to the past. Over the past several decades, books falling under the umbrella of “addiction memoir” have become omnipresent. Whether you’re well-versed in the subject or totally new to it, here are nine of the smartest and most moving examples. Survival Math is an incredible look at race and class, gangs and guns, addiction and masculinity. Mitchell S. Jackson frames the narrative around his own experiences and those of his family and community.

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

For Sarah Hepola, drinking offered a way to find courage and adventure. AA does, in fact, help many people in recovery — but it’s not right for everyone. And according to Ellis, REBT offers an alternative by teaching people new methods to challenge unwanted or unhelpful thoughts and beliefs and replace them with more helpful ones. You can find many of these books in hardcover, paperback, or e-book formats, but our pricing reflects the price of the paperback version, where available.

• In fact, memoirs can prove to be a powerful, inspirational, and motivational tool to help people move through recovery and stick with it.
• The author, Blake E. Cohen, is a certified addictions professional in recovery from addiction.
• Some new habits and practices have had to be built from the ground up.
• In a relatable style, Lush explores the ongoing addiction crisis amongst middle-aged females.
• 11 authors pickedThe Glass Castleas one of their favorite books, and they sharewhy you should read it.
• 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, only to find that she has surrendered to the powers of this magical liquid.

She went on to best alcoholic memoirs her way through four years at an Ivy League college and an award-winning career as an editor and columnist. Occasionally reminiscent of Sylvia Plath, Karr’s writing style is simultaneously unsentimental and moving. Clegg had a thriving life as a literary agent when he walked away from his seemingly-fulfilling world for a two-month crack binge.

The Best Binge Drinking Memoirs

Her protector became her lover and this is the memoir of their twenty-years-long destructive relationship. Especially not when you’re a crucial part of the cultural phenomenon called Star Wars.