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Summary: I learned much from this
Review: A fascinating book that I could not put down. Carolyn Knapp wrote her story with open and unflinching honesty. I learned a great deal from her diagnosis of the ways alcoholism surfaced in her life and how she handled the problems it routinely caused. I am very glad I found this book.
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Summary: When Love's Not All You Need
Review: While most books about addiction seem to focus on the shame and torture and torment that inevitably haunt alcoholics, this book acknowledges that one of the simplest reasons it is so hard to quit drinking is because there is an intense bond between us and the bottle(s). This book remembers this bond and lends it credence. However, this is not to say that Knapp's story is a glorification of drinking, just an honest acknowledgment that drinking is a central life-relationship for many of us--hard to let go of, and painful to miss, no matter how destructive it has become. This is a great "you are not alone" book for anyone who feels they will never be happy or have fun again without their trusty life-partner. It also lets you see that you just might. I've read it twice. Well written all the way through, and though Knapp does the AA-thing at the end, she never gets too preachy. Just hopeful--always a sure sign of "recovery" after any tough break-up.
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Summary: A Rose by Any Other Name....
Review: Caroline has commented that all addictions, at their root, have the same process. The expression is different; alcoholism, bulemia, drugs, etc. depending upon the person. This is not a self help book with a lot of really cool, pithy(seemingly), and cliche directives about how to stop drinking. It is also not a self-pitying, other-blaming exegesis of how alcohol destroyed her life. It IS a book about the very real, troubling, and self-destructive life of someone who is addicted to avoiding real time life, as distinct from fastasy life. An addiction by any other name is still an addiction. Any recovering bulemic or alcoholic, or drug addict could identify with her state of mind and outlook. The insecurities and fears are all the same; our reponses to them are different: some cope, some eat, some drink, some shoot, some gamble, etc. The rose has many names and is still a rose. The wonderful thing about this book is that it is so down-to-earth in its exploration of the mind that has checked out of realtime to drink. She is bravely objective in her assessment of her life and whatever contributions her family made to her disease. She describes; she doesn't blame. This is a wonderful book to read about alcoholism. It is real, insightful, brave, honest, cleverly and perceptively descriptive. I hope Caroline writes of her years of sobriety after getting sober.
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Summary: Loved "A Love Story"
Review: Once I started reading it, I had trouble putting this book down (kind of like my experience with alcohol!). This book is powerful and compelling. Alcoholism claims many victims, as any Friday night visit to an ER will show. However, this book gives a most insightful look at the emotional and physical damage this disease causes to the alcoholic and loved ones closest to them. Non-alcoholics may not "get" the descriptiions of compulsions, mind games, and sense of powerlessness felt by alcoholics, but they can certainly understand the pain caused to lovers, parents, and others close to the addicted person.This book is sometimes funny, often sad, occasionally verges on shocking - pretty standard experiences of alcoholics, but often misunderstood by others. Although it drags a bit in the middle, time will likely make this work a classic narritive of the alcoholic experience. I encourage anyone who has been touched by this disease, either alcoholics or those close to them, to read this book. Due to the detailed description of drinking situations, I would not suggest someone in the first few weeks of recovery to read this, however. Thank you Caroline, for your courage to share your experience, strength, and hope with us.
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Summary: Confirming my own worst fears
Review: I found out about this book while watching Oprah one day and eating bon bons. I was mesmorized by this woman and her story because it was like watching myself sitting there on that stage. I went out the following day and purchased this book, voraciously reading it all in one gulp. For anyone for has ever thought they may have a problem with alcohol, this will confirm or deny it. For me, she is telling my story in a different town and state. And because of this book, my life has changed. A fabulous read!
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Summary: Drinking = A Love Story, Boooring!!
Review: As an adult child of an alcoholic, I bought this book trying to get insight into my father's alcoholism. I didn't. I kept reading and reading, trying to absorb what the writer was saying and I got nowhere. All I read was a litany of occasions where the author drank, what she drank, who she was with and whether or not she slept with them.There were times I felt I was reading an advertisement for cognac or other alcoholic beverages. I really wonder how this book should be catergorized, biography, self-help, or perhaps a skinny door stop. Don't waste your time.
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Summary: Good for drinkers and nondrinkers who need to understand
Review: I just finished this book today and I was unable to put it down. It gave me insight into what i had been searching for. I needed an understanding into the psyche of an alcoholic: an explanation that made sense to the non-drinkers mind of the denial that runs so deep. I believe this book should be read by anyone who has a simple interest in addictions or a direct relationship w/ alcohol. Wondering how the author is doing today??
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Summary: good honesty
Review: I generally loathe "poor me" books. Luckily, this isn't one of those. It is, instead, an honest look at the insidious side of alcoholism....how easily it creeps into one's life. How easily we work to disguise it once it's in residence. I believe this book will encourage anyone who has made the decision to quit drinking. But even more so, I believe this book will encourage anyone who has not yet called themselves an alcoholic....but may find a reflection in these pages.
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Summary: Are you still sober, Caroline?
Review: I'm glad that I read this book, as I have gained a much deeper understanding of what it must be like to be an alcoholic. However, I imagine that this is an even better read for alcoholics themselves- not only due to the hopeful ending, but also because it must be such a relief to discover that you're not the only one. However, upon completion of the memoir, I was left with some questions: 1. Why was there so little mention of Caroline's twin sister? It seems that having a twin would be very important in the development of identity, and in this case, perhaps the shaping of an addictive personality. Was it to maintain a certain level of privacy? With all the mention of her parents, I expected more about Caroline's relationship with her twin. 2. Caroline describes sobering up as primarily a psychological challenge. But isn't alcohol also PHYSICALLY addictive? Wouldn't the sobering alcoholic experience physical withdrawl symptoms, similar to the symptoms people have when quitting other drugs? 3. Most importantly, is Caroline still sober? And if so, has she substituted a different addiction? This book was a bit repetitious, but I highly recommend it for the alcoholic, a person with any type of addiction, or anyone who would simply like a glimpse of the world of an alcoholic, and to be able to more fully comprehend what it must be like to suffer from this disease.
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Summary: I'm no zealot, but...
Review: Caroline K. sounds like someone I'd love to hear pitch at an AA meeting; someone I'd have enjoyed getting drunk with. She documents her obsessions with zinging clarity and a genuine desire to heal herself and her reader. Why, though, does she break her anonymity, and AA's? She accomplishes a glittering fourth-step but breaks traditions eleven and twelve. (John S.)
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