Rating: 
Summary: Riveting (now all the pages are there)
Review: Drinking
Caroline Knapp
Self Help - Recovery | Delta
Trade Paperback | May 1997
14.95 | 0-385-31554-6 This is an update since writing the review below this one: Well, Amazon replaced the book with the missing pages and I have been amazed how riveting and absorbing the book is. The writer really knew how to draw you into her story and whether you are a drinker, an addict or just curious I sincerely recommend it as an educational and helpful read. If I were to place any criticism, it would be that some of the narratives ramble on in flowery or overly verbose descriptions, but still I would strongly recommend it as a good read. (Following is the old review before Amazon kindly replaced the book) I bought the book titled above for myself and a friend. On starting to read my copy I discovered that pages 17 to 48 are missing and replaced with pages 225 to 256. These pages are also in the right place later in the book thus duplicating them
Rating:
Summary: Compelling new perspective
Review: I enjoy reading memoirs on subjects I know nothing about. Alcoholism was one of those topics. I thought that you could just stop drinking, but it's like telling a depressed person to stop being depressed; it doesn't work that way. I also stereotyped alcoholics as people that didn't function on a normal everyday basis and had to struggle to do so. But this book was very enlightening into a world I knew nothing about. Alcoholics are college graduates, hold down prestigious jobs, come from upper middle class families and go to work everyday, without people knowing about their addiction. They're not all homeless or living in squalor. While this may sound obvious, it was new to me, Caroline Knapp writes about her experience with alcoholism in a way that it's easy to understand without being too fundamental or boring.
Rating: 
Summary: waiting for it to sink in
Review: I was expecting deeper insight and inspiration from this book but was disappointed. I was frustrated with the lack of depth in her narrative and descriptions of personal relationships. I found the jumps in time from her thirties back to her twenties, to recovery, back to her teens, etc., confusing. It seemed that each chapter could have offered more but kept reverting to trite phrases about alcoholism instead of her unique experience. I wish she had imparted more about her recovery phase. The ending seemed tacked on and in sum the book seemed very shiney, market-driven and aimed directly for the best-seller list. I am left wondering, however, that possibly her point is, you simply have to hear the basic truths over and over again to thoroughly understand rationalization, self harm, the nature of cyclic addiction, etc., before you can begin to recover. Some things hit home for me, especially passages about her relationship with her father and certain anecdotes (like drunken calls to friends in the western time zone - I thought that was just me). But I don't grant her much respect as a writer since she shows blatant disregard for the mentally ill with repeated references to "other people worse off" who "literally" go "crazy." I would recommend anyone struggling with alcohol supplement this with AA literature and other readings mentioned in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Compelling Read
Review: Ms. Knapp's arduous walk through her years as a chronic drinker is documented with an impressive depth of understanding. I admire her courage to expose her weaknesses both to herself and to us. She has a deft ability to clearly express her confused reactions to the undercurrents of events that wafted through her family. She owns up to her participation in her own unhappiness offering an excellent example for us to do the same.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for the woman alcoholic
Review: This is by far the best-written book on the female alcoholic - and I've read plenty. Highly recommend this one.
Rating:
Summary: Honest and finely crafted!
Review: I honor Ms. Knapp for exposing her life in such a way that illuminates the denial and distortion that accompanies this disease. I thought it was extremely well written and unsparing prose. I recommend this book to anyone who has battled with this overpowering addiction. Knapp has real talent, and I hope she remembers that when she reads some of the praise that she's received.
Rating:
Summary: Saved me from myself!
Review: As I drove over 1000 miles I read this book every time I stopped. I think it was somewhere in Iowa when I realized that I was drinking alcholiclly and needed to stop. This sudden realization hit me hard. I had begun to hide bottles around my house - never having thought of the toilet tank. I was horrified at my sudden understanding. Yes, she was a highly functional drunk. I was too. But,ultimately, it catches up to you. Her drinking was probably a major contributor to her death - if you drink and smoke cigarettes you are smoking all the time. It probably took longer to catch up with her because she wasn't poor and on the streets. Her priviledged life spared her none of the pain of alcholism. I really could relate to everything that she said, even the AA parts. AA was worse than useless for me. I tried it, it didn't work for me on any level. But it worked for Caroline, and this is her book. I would love to be able to cheer her on, but understand that she died recently at only 42. This book makes a huge contribution to the understanding of alcholism, especially for women. I would recommend it for anyone who knows someone who abuses alcohol, even themselves.
Rating:
Summary: If you think you have a drinking problem ....read this book!
Review: I cannot say enough about this book. This was THE book that helped me see that I was an alcoholic. As a woman I read this book and thanked God that Carolyn had the courage to write it. I recognized myself in almost every page. If you have ever stayed awake at night wondering if you have a drinking problem ......you do! Carolyn describes the living hell that it is to be an alcoholic.....in a way that ONLY somebody who has been there can. Her passing so early in life is very sad and so is the fact that we will never get a chance to grow in sobriety along with her. She leaves an extremely powerful book as a legacy and I strongly recommend it to all addiction counselors as a way to really feel, and maybe understand, what it is like to suffer this addiction. Alcoholism is a devastating disease, and especially so for women......I encourage women who drink, or know someone who drinks too much......please read this remarkable book.
Rating:
Summary: heartbreaking & courageous
Review: I'm compelled to write after reading numerous judgemental, scathing reviews from people who have obviously not personally suffered from the ravages of alcoholism. To be an alcoholic is to live a life of existence, of hoping and praying for the end, of needing for the end. Because Ms. Knapp was able to maintain her physical living standards says nothing about the inner torment that we alcoholics suffer. This inner torment is the one fact that connot be conveyed to normal drinkers. The isolation and devastation experienced every minute by the still suffering alcoholic is more cruel and terrifying than any of those not struck with this disease will ever be capable of understanding. That we can continue to maintain a semblance of outward functionality while living in our own personal hells is not a gift, or "luck," as one reviewer so naively put it. That our physical needs have not been stripped from us is not a blessing. I commend Ms. Knapp for this unbelievably soul-searching depiction of the hell that is active alcoholism. I would also like to chastise those who felt the right to cast judgement on something they obviously know nothing about. You should get down on your knees every day and thank God that you were not cursed with this horrific medical disease. Until you are, you are not qualified to pass judgement. Ms. Knapp is to be commended for her honesty and courage. She is truly an inspiration for all of us suffering from this torment.
Rating:
Summary: powerful
Review: Although I had been struggling with depression, anxiety, and new motherhood for some time, I was in complete denial that my alcohol abuse had any part of it. When my therapist suggested I read this book, I was shocked at how much I related to it. After the second chapter, I went to the cabinet, and poured every last drop of alcohol down the drain. I went to an AA meeting the following week, and I am in the process of cleaning up my life.
I highly recommend this for any person from this generation who has been touched by alcoholism.
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