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Summary: Best Alcoholism Book I've Read!
Review: I've spent 26 of the past 28 years as a sober, happy, recovering alcoholic. This is the best-written account I've seen of how it feels, how we deceive ourselves and others, the struggle of secrecy and denial, the battle of recovery, etc.
I found it very much like a long, heart to heart conversation with Caroline, and was sad when she stopped talking to me. I wanted more!
I loved it so much I immediately ordered eight copies for friends and family, and planned to write Caroline to thank her. Sounds like she'd be a delightful dinner companion! Broke my heart to read tonight that she died of lung cancer last summer...alas, probably from all those cigarettes with the booze.
I find it fascinating that 95% of reviewers think it is very well-written, magnificent,compelling---and 5% think it is awful, repetitious, boring. Can't help wondering which are alcoholic!
If you or anyone in your family has a problem, or thinks they may have a problem with alcohol, this book may save your life.
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Summary: In Memory of Carolyn Knapp
Review: I was told by my mother earlier this week that Carolyn Knapp, author of 'Drinking: A Love Story", had died of cancer at age 42. I immedietly broke down a cried- which is hard for me to do. But Ms Knapp's autobiographical book about alcoholism was so important to me, my family and my therapist, in understanding and recognizing the thinking/feelings in a functional alcoholic. I had always wanted to read more from her, but don't see that she published another book....and, of course, I always had wanted the opportunity of either meeting her at a book signing, or writing to her, to thank her for her honesty and insight into this problem.....now it is to late to say this to her directly, and I grieve...but I also celebrate the life she had, and her courage and strength in overcoming this most maddening of problems. To anyone interested in a true and thoughtful book on functional alcoholics (of which there are many of us), or to anyone who is in a close relationship with such a person, this is THE book to read.
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Summary: Not just for alcoholics
Review: If you're an extra sensitive person, a person who came from a dysfunctional childhood, or even just a person who appreciates well-written and candid memoirs, you will love this book.
All the more so if you've ever wondered if you or someone you know has a drinking problem. Without being preachy, and without drowning in the rhetoric of AA, Knapp's book is full of insights. She's especially good at navigating the tangled family legacy of alcoholism and denial, and describing the life of an alcoholic, where everything ranks a distant second to drinking, and covering your tracks, so you can drink some more.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This book changed my life, and I just wish I could thank Caroline Knapp personally. I guess I was in denial for a long time. While in a bookstore, I plucked her book off the shelf, feeling the need for some sort of literary intervention and thinking it was a short read. I started reading it with a glass of wine in my hand. As I read, I realized with horror and some degree of sadness that she was describing me, along with countless other women in the same position. From the recyling bin to the lies, I could relate on almost every level (I was not one to end up in bed with strange men). It took courage for me to read the book through to its end, and to realize what I had to do. I called my mother and told her that I was an alcoholic. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do. Both my grandfathers were alcoholics, and my mother has always "wondered" if this were passed on to any of us. I decided that I would quit, with the help of family and friends, before I got to the point where I hurt or destroyed someone I love. I haven't had a drink since. I urge anyone who feels that they might be in denial to read this book and see if they can identify with the author's point of view. I thank Caroline Knaff for opening my eyes and pointing me in the right direction. I'm not sure that people who DON'T drink to excess will get anything out of this book ... I wouldn't believe half of it if I hadn't done these crazy things myself......
Rating: 
Summary: It helped me better understand what alcoholics go through.
Review: I read this book on the recommendation of a close friend who said it was one of the "eye-openers" for her when she started to realize that she had a drinking problem. Anyone who knows someone that may have a problem with alcohol (or other addictive substances or habits such as anorexia) can gain a better understanding, through this book, of the "logic" behind alcoholism and why some people find themselves succumbing. Knapp is a very compelling writer, and her style made the book an "easy read" -- no fighting to get through sentences, paragraphs, or pages. Although the book does get a little repetitive in the middle, Knapp effectively used separate "theme" chapters (such as "Double Life" and "Sex") to describe the different facets of her experiences and keep you reading. She also successfully avoided the the tendency to make this autobiographical subject entirely chronological, instead mixing and matching! her observations and experiences from before, during, and after her most "liquid" days. I have recommended this book to several friends, and hope they find it as interesting and enlightening as I did.
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Summary: This book was right on the mark!!
Review: I myself have had a drinking problem in the past and when I was trying to sober up I bought this book and let me tell you, I thought I was reading my life. I am just glad that she had the guts to come out in public and tell her story. I would have loved to have met her. It's a shame she died before her time was up.
Rating: 
Summary: Drove me to drink
Review: I'm sure Knapp's problems would be juicy and interesting, if she would just be a little more direct in telling them. As it is, she relies too much on phrases like, "Most alcoholics will tell you" and "When you're an alcoholic ... you do this and that." We've all heard what alcoholics do and don't do by this time. Knapp does a wonderful job in tiptoeing around the specifics of her own problems and incidents. I hope she is more open than this at her meetings.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: This book is a truth telling magnificent look from the author's own life that speaks of a childhood of pain, lost in drink...and the years of battle to overcome her addiction. She shows courage and determination to survive and thrive when it would have been so much easier to give in. I am impressed with her writing acomplishments. An excellent read.
Hannah Lee
My Other Recommended reads: Nightmares Echo, Running With Scissors,Dry,I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Rating: 
Summary: Very intelligent book ..... but
Review: I read it as someone interested in addiction, having given up smoking and also cutting down on alcohol, perhaps one of the "fringe" people she mentions. This book made me realise that you don't have to be an alcoholic to abuse alcohol on a regular (or irregular) basis, and I recognised myself many times in the book. So this book was very interesting for me for many reasons. She writes beautifully and concisely at times with great insight - especially about women. Also, the last page clarifies sobriety beautifully. Yet if I have a criticism it is that I found the book on a personal level strangely emotionally flat and joyless. And for that reason I found the book, for all its insights, strangely depressing. Perhaps this was deliberate on the author's part - sharing her alcoholism - but not her self as such, which must have been her prerogative. or maybe its an alcoholic thing - you look back and see things that seemed like fun at the time with a rather cold disdainful eye (but what about her childhood? no joy mentioned there either which must surely be utterly bizarre, or just one-sided for the purposes of the book? (I don't know)). So though the book has many, many insights, I found it not as inspiring as I would have hoped or imagined. Therefore, so as far as recommending this book to someone on the road to the potential joys and self-discovery of sobriety, I find myself ambivalent about recommending it.
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Summary: A Life Changer
Review: Now three years sober, I come back to this book again and again for its fresh perspective and dead-on descriptions of addiction from the standpoint of a "high functioning" alcoholic; i.e., one who is able to achieve considerable professional success while her alcoholism escalates. The author writes with a clear-eyed but lyrical style that illuminates her drinking life without romanticizing it, and ends with the hard-earned hope--but not the guarantee--of permanent sobriety. If you have any questions whatsoever as to whether you drink too much--especially if you are a aharp, single, successful woman who "has it all together"--I urge you to buy this book. At the very least, you will be rewarded with an absorbing read and you might find that it is a catalyst for a change in your own life. In the same vein, if you are worried for a friend who drinks too much and you can not confront her, slip her a copy of this book. It might save her life.
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